Hi And now for my third and final posting of the day. I turned to the google ngram viewer and put in (without quotes and separated by comma) the phrases "the data show" and "the results show". Both occur relatively frequently. See:
http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/graph?content=the+data+show%2C+the+results+show&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=0&smoothing=3 One nice feature of the ngram viewer is that if you click on the block of years below the graph, it will actually show you the texts in which the phrase appears and how many such texts there are. For example, "the data show" appears in 295,000 places (not all distinct documents?) between 1993 and 2000. Annette's editor / reviewer has a huge job cut out for them if they want to correct these supposedly invalid constructions! Take care Jim James M. Clark Professor of Psychology 204-786-9757 204-774-4134 Fax [email protected] >>> Carol DeVolder <[email protected]> 20-Mar-11 12:58:31 PM >>> Point(s) taken. I am neither a linguist nor an English scholar. Heck, not even a scientific writer. And I believe this is my last post of the day--I hope I don't have some burning issue later. Like, which is better Presta or Schrader? Carol On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 12:48 PM, Jim Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > I think one point of Master's piece is that English DOES allow this > construction, whereas other languages do not. He is a linguist. In one > discussion of animate versus inanimate subjects by another linguist, for > example, the text contained the following "the examples demonstrate... " not > as an example, but as actual text in the discussion. The second point is > that scientific writers make widespread use of this construction, which > perhaps causes difficulty for speakers of other languages. > > So I would say that the requirement for an animate subjects is not even > technically correct for English. > > Take care > Jim > > > James M. Clark > Professor of Psychology > 204-786-9757 > 204-774-4134 Fax > [email protected] > > >>> Carol DeVolder <[email protected]> 20-Mar-11 12:39:33 PM >>> > Just to play devil's advocate, the rioters are demonstrating their > dissatisfaction; the riots are evidence of that dissatisfaction. Examples > are used [by someone] to demonstrate a point. It is the person who is > demonstrating by using an example, it isn't the example that is doing the > demonstrating. I agree that sometimes, although technically correct, a > sentence can seem very awkward. Wasn't that Strunk and White's main > argument--that sometimes you have to overlook the technically correct > option > in favor of what sounds better? > > Carol > > > > On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 12:28 PM, Jim Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi > > > > I don't buy the criticism of "the data showed" or various similar > > constructions. Do not the riots in the middle east demonstrate /show / > > reveal something about the level of dissatisfaction there? Do not > examples > > demonstrate / show something? Are riots and examples any different than > > data? > > > > I found some relevant references, including > > > > > > > http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VDM-465D8DN-X&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1991&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1686012685&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=fef6dde5ff1d413b2b3327c3db35677c&searchtype=a > > > > or for same abstract > > > > http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(91)90013-M > > > > > > See part III in the following > > > > > > > http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CB0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdialnet.unirioja.es%2Fservlet%2Ffichero_articulo%3Fcodigo%3D2526431%26orden%3D0&rct=j&q=verbs%20animate%20and%20inanimate%20subjects%20science%20writing&ei=HTSGTZ_eKfK80QHAy7XDCA&usg=AFQjCNHW_Qq1kIql7hjbiUfrhS853wMTzw > > > > or for same pdf > > > > > > > http://www.google.ca/url?q=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/fichero_articulo%3Fcodigo%3D2526431%26orden%3D0&ei=oTSGTbaJBMGR0QGSm_j1Bg&sa=X&oi=unauthorizedredirect&ct=targetlink&ust=1300642729067716&usg=AFQjCNGm8R8uivVZ75FFXKSmbGNXbIosrg > > > > > Interesting discussion (full text I think) here by same author as first > > paper, Peter Master: > > > > > > > http://books.google.ca/books?id=NS-ArVhRmJ0C&pg=PA169&lpg=PA169&dq=verbs+animate+and+inanimate+subjects+science+writing&source=bl&ots=A8chLjBbgC&sig=nC1zDHdqQCFfE8xZLXS84xM5S8s&hl=en&ei=HTSGTZ_eKfK80QHAy7XDCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=verbs%20animate%20and%20inanimate%20subjects%20science%20writing&f=false > > > > Master makes the point that non-native speakers of English may have > > particular difficulty with the inanimate subject - animate verb > > construction, which is allowed in English (and used widely in scientific > > writing), but may not be allowed in other languages. He presents > empirical > > data on just how common this structure is in scientific writing. > > > > > > Of course, authors trying to persuade editors / reviewers of the error of > > their ways has highly variable outcomes! > > > > Take care > > Jim > > > > > > > > > > > > James M. Clark > > Professor of Psychology > > 204-786-9757 > > 204-774-4134 Fax > > [email protected] > > > > >>> Carol DeVolder <[email protected]> 20-Mar-11 10:58:00 AM >>> > > Hi Annette, > > How about something like, "analysis of the data revealed..." or > > "examination > > of the data (results, etc.)...?" > > Carol > > > > > > On Sun, Mar 20, 2011 at 10:53 AM, Annette Taylor <[email protected] > > >wrote: > > > > > I'm grappling with how to phrase some things in results sections > > > especially. Because data are an inanimate thing they can't really > "show" > > or > > > "demonstrate" anything. Nor can a study do anything such as "observe" > or > > > "define" so what kind of language do you all use. Is there some > > boilerplate > > > that works. > > > > > > I have a revision to an APA journal that asked me to fix these > > things...and > > > I'm struggling with the data especially. Lengthy rewriting of "the > > study..." > > > Finally fixed some of those problems. It came at a huge cost to > precision > > > and concise writing. > > > > > > Annette > > > > > > Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone > > > --- > > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > > To unsubscribe click here: > > > > > > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=9499 > > > > or send a blank email to > > > leave-<leave-<leave-<leave-9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > 9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > > <9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > 9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > > > < <9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > 9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > > <9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> > 9499-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. > > Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology > > St. Ambrose University > > 518 West Locust Street > > Davenport, Iowa 52803 > > 563-333-6482 > > > > This e-mail might be confidential, so please don't share it. > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > > > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=9500 > > > or send a blank email to > > leave-9500-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > > > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=9504 > > > or send a blank email to > > leave-9504-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > -- > Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. > Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology > St. Ambrose University > 518 West Locust Street > Davenport, Iowa 52803 > 563-333-6482 > > This e-mail might be confidential, so please don't share it. > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=9505 > > or send a blank email to > leave-9505-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=9506 > > or send a blank email to > leave-9506-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > -- Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University 518 West Locust Street Davenport, Iowa 52803 563-333-6482 This e-mail might be confidential, so please don't share it. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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