CRM4002 Classical School and Positivist School

CRM4002 Classical School and Positivist School

GENERAL ESSAY GUIDANCE

• Please note: When asking us to check your work before submission, we will read over ESSAY PLANS only, not full drafts of your essay.

• Further guidance and suggestions for how to approach each question is provided in a separate document.

• The below information is helpful for formatting your essay.

Assessment criteria:
1. Structure
A well-structured piece of work has an introduction that minimises unnecessary detail and sets out the direction of the discussion or argument; a main body that is logically and coherently organised, with the progress of the discussion being clearly signposted to the reader; and a conclusion that summarises the main points of the discussion and unambiguously answers the question.

2. Knowledge and Understanding
Knowledge is best evidenced through the referencing of issues, debates and points of fact that comprehensively cover the subject of investigation, with no significant omissions or errors of fact. Understanding is best evidenced through the use of knowledge in constructing arguments or proffering logical observations.

3. Evidence of Analysis
A well-analysed response uses an analytic framework that breaks down the subject of investigation into a number of distinct themes or issues. Analysis of literature and other sources is facilitated by comparison and contrast between sources

4. Sources
A wide range of academic sources (e.g. academic monographs, edited collections, peer-reviewed academic articles), at an appropriate level, should be drawn upon, and important key sources should not be omitted.

5. Referencing
Sources for all arguments, discussions, quotes and other forms of evidence should be cited in the text, and a full reference list should appear at the end of the essay. This should include all books or articles referred to in the text of the essay. When referencing, CCJ students are expected to use the Harvard system, both through the text of the written assignment and in the separate list of references at the end of the assignment. For further queries about the Harvard system, you can access guidance from: http://plymouth.libguides.com/referencing and www.citethemrightonline.com

6. Presentation
A well-presented piece of work follows the assessment format criteria below; it is well written with proper English syntax, punctuation and use of paragraphs and is free from spelling and grammatical errors.

Assessment format requirements
Please note that the way an assignment is formatted informs the aspect of the assessment criteria that is ‘presentation’ (point 6 above). Also note that your online submission should be in Microsoft WORD format only.

TITLE PAGE: Your title page should include the following information:

• Module Code and Title
• Full Assignment Title
• Word Count – insert a word count (excluding the content of your list of references and any appendices)
• Please do not include your name as marking is completed anonymously.

PAGE NUMBERING: insert page numbers into your work at the bottom of each page (omitting title page).

FONT STYLE and SIZE: choose a serious font style to reflect the academic context of your work (such as Times New Roman, Cambria, Verdana or Arial) and a large enough font size to ensure your work is easy to read (usually font size 12).

LINE SPACING: use single spacing.

MARGINS: leave at least 2 cm margins on all sides of your work.

USE of ACADEMIC LANGUAGE: avoid the use of slang or colloquial language in your academic writing (i.e. chatty, conversational language more characteristic of speech); likewise the use of abbreviated terms such as till, won’t and haven’t. These seem like small details but contribute to an overall impression of your work as serious or otherwise. Remember an essay is a formal piece of work

TEXT ALIGNMENT: the main body of text in your essay should either be ‘aligned left’ or ‘justified’ (aligned both sides). Justified text is popular for its tidy appearance, but can be more difficult to read as it has the effect of stretching your text to fit both margins. Alignment to the left is therefore recommended.

PARAGRAPHS: leave one clear space between paragraphs to indicate the beginning of a new one. Providing you do this, no further indication (e.g. indentation of opening line) is necessary.

SUB-HEADINGS: may suit some types of assignment more than others (e.g. reports, not essays). Module leaders will let you know if sub-headings are relevant to your assignment(s). If using sub-headings, avoid the mistake of using too many: make sure the headings you choose are useful ones and used consistently throughout your work to give it a meaningful structure. Align them left and indicate them in bold or italics.

QUOTATIONS: all quotes must have page numbers. Shorter quotations (one line only) should be embedded within the main body of your text and indicated by ‘single inverted commas’. Longer ones (2+ lines) should be formatted as a block, single-spaced and indented, and follow a colon. For example:
The realms of theory and reality are most basically linked by the human desire for meaningful understanding of ourselves in relation to the world in which we live:
It is social and historical reality that men want to know […] They yearn for facts, they search for meanings, they want a ‘big picture’ in which they can believe and within which they can understand themselves (Mills, 1959: 17).
Note: when set out this way, no further indication (e.g. inverted commas or italics) is necessary.

READ YOUR WORK ALOUD: there are of course differences between the way we speak and the way we write. Nonetheless, if your written work doesn’t make sense spoken aloud, there is a problem with it. Make sure though that you read out exactly what you have written, pausing at every comma and only at every comma. A sentence you wrote with one intended meaning may now appear to say something quite different, or possibly even make little sense at all!

FINAL EDITING: ensure that you have gone through your essay one last time to check for spelling and grammatical errors. Finally, double-check your work against the requirements of this style guide.