AN INTRODUCTION

Critical academic writing

Academic writing and referencing

Why is it important? Academic course 2 years of written

material Aids communication of

ideas Aids understanding of

claims to ‘knowledge’ Instrumental (grades)

What is it not?: Journalism Texting/email/slang

Where can I seek assistance?: Effective Learning

Service (ELS) http://www.gcal.ac.uk/

student/coursework/

http://plato.gcal.ac.uk/ Module tutors

(feedback on assessments)

MSc I nternational Events Management Discussion Board Feedback Sheet

Name: Matric Number: Date Marked: Marked by: Mark for Original Contribution: Mark for Response: Final Mark: Original Discussion Board Contribution % Marks

Available % Marks Awarded

Presentation: including standard of written English 5% Structure of the Submission: Ensures that the response is relevant to the assignment and constructs a logical argument.

10%

Knowledge and Understanding:. Ability to accurately outline relevant concepts, theories, policies and/or practice

25%

Use of Evidence: Draws on appropriate materials (e.g. course materials, texts, web-sites) and personal reflection whilst excluding extraneous materials. Examines materials critically

20%

Analysis and Evaluation: Demonstrates critical analysis and exploration of relevant issues. Examines the relationship between theory and practice and engages in self-evaluation where appropriate.

25%

Conclusions: Demonstrates an ability to develop clear and coherent conclusions and recommendations relevant to the purpose of the assignment.

15%

Additional comments from assessor

Justifying ourselves

There can be no doubt that sporting events have a valuable role to play in promoting a city. We all know that sport is inclusive and everyone can participate so sports events must also be inclusive. Sports events also bring in lots of money and I think that we should be spending more on these things than on high arts and cultural events which only the upper classes attend.

What is wrong with this statement?

Good practice exemplar

Gratton & Taylor (1994), Horne (2000) and Henry (2001) have each argued that policy makers should invest in attracting spectator-driven sports events to their cities because they help generate more significant economic returns than their cultural counterparts. Moreover, recent studies suggest that sporting events are more socially inclusive than arts festivals (Smith, 2005; Garcia, 2006; Jones, 2007).

Making the argument (1)

 The Henry I.P. (2001) reading on page 2 recognises that “the delivery of leisure services…has largely been the role of local government” and it is at this level that the promotion of a local identity can be most effective. Through the use of Lowi’s (1972) ‘redistributive policies’ leisure events can have an identity and indeed morale, boosting effect for targeted geographical areas.

Making the argument (2)

 Henry (2001: 2) recognises that “the delivery of leisure services…has largely been the role of local government” and it is at this level that the promotion of a local identity can be most effective. Through the use of Lowi’s (1972) ‘redistributive policies’ leisure events can have an identity and indeed morale-boosting effect for targeted geographical areas.

Paraphrasing – good practice

Festivities offer an immensely rich seam of study for identity practices. Festivals can encapsulate the identity of the nation state (Edensor, 2002; Mach, 1992), the means of nation building (Cohen, 1998; Reichel, 1999), the identity of a sense of place (Duffy, 2000; Foley, 2003; Foley & McPherson, 2003; Prentice & Andersen, 2003), social identities (Costa, 2001, 2002; Kneafsey, 2001), and, the personal and heterogeneous identities of a people (Daniels, 1999; Kates & Belk, 2001)

Direct quotations

As Kasimati (2003) points out, historically most economic impact studies were likely to be commissioned by proponents of the bid. For this reason these studies tend to suffer from "underestimated costs and overestimated benefits" (Whitson and Horne, 2006: 54)

Prepare, draft, re-draft

Take time to plan your assignments properly and draft/re-draft before submitting

Use a referencing management package (e.g. Refworks https://www.refworks.com/Refworks/login.asp?WNCLang=false ) when reading and undertaking literature reviews

Structure is everything (Introduction, main body, conclusions)

Avoid grammatical, spelling and typographical errors – this is evidence of poor preparation

Proof-read your post – or ask someone else to do it for you

Harvard style

A method of acknowledging other people’s work

Uses an ‘in-text’ citation: E.g. McGillivray (1999) argues that… Events are a source of identity for individuals and

communities alike (McGillivray, 2003) AND an end of text reference:

McGillivray, D (1999) Sport and Social Cohesion, London, Sage

McGillivray, D & McIntosh, A (2005) An Idiots Guide to Referencing, Glasgow, Routledge

In-text citations

Single AuthorHylton, K 2002 pp16Hylton (2002: pp16)Kevin Hylton pp16, 2002

Multi-AuthorSmith, James and Jones, Stuart 2000Smith & Jones (2000)James Smith & Stuart Jones (2000)

Test – Referencing books

Edition

Title

Place

DatePublisher

Author

What is the right order for the full reference list?

Test – Referencing books

Author, Date, Title, Edition, Place, PublisherYeoman, I et al (2004) Festivals and Event

Management: An international arts and culture perspective, 2nd Edition, London, Butterworth-Heinemann Yeoman et al (2004) or (Yeoman et al, 2004)

Test – Referencing books

Author, Date, Title, Edition, Place, PublisherYeoman, I., Robertson, M., Ali-Knight, J.,

Drummond, S & McMahon, Beattie, U (eds) (2004) Festivals and Event Management: An international arts and culture perspective, 2nd Edition, London, Butterworth-Heinemann Yeoman et al (2004) or (Yeoman et al, 2004)

Test – Referencing journals

Volume

Article Title

Part (Number)

Date

Author (s)

Journal Title

Pages

What is the right order for the full reference list?

Test – Referencing journals

Author (s), Date, Article Title, Journal Title, Volume, Part (Number), Pages

Gratton, C, Shibli, S & Coleman, R (2006) ‘The economic impact of major sports events: a review of ten events in the UK, Sociological Review, 54 (2): 41-58 Gratton et al (2006) OR (Gratton et al, 2006)

Questions?