Quotations 1 Pàgina següent

Aim: understand the rules of quoting in academic writing and how to integrate quotations when writing an essay or article.

A quotation is when one reproduces the original words used by an author.

Short quotations (from a single word up to one or two lines) are handled differently from longer quotations. The following extract contains both short and long:

For positivists, interviews are essentially about ascertaining facts or beliefs out there in the world. While it is acknowledged that interviewers interact with their subjects, such interaction is strictly defined by the research protocol. Consequently, positivits only become seriously interested in interviewer-interviewee interaction when it can be shown that interviewers have departed from the protocol (Brenner:1981). Conversely, for interactionists, interviews are essentially about symbolic interaction: 'I wish to treat the interview as an observational encounter. An encounter ... represents the coming together of two or more persons for the purpose of focused interaction' (Denzin: 1970, 133)

Whatever the topìc addressed by the questions, interviews are social events based on mutual participant observation.

Interviews must be viewed, then, as social events in which the interviewer (and for that matter the interviewee) is a participant observer... Interview data, like any other, must be interpreted against the background of the content in which they were produced. (Hammersley and Atkinson: 1983, 126)

Consequently, for interactionists, the social context of the interview is intrinsic to understanding any data that are obtained. While positivists aim for a clear-cut distinction between research interviews and other forms of social interaction, interactionists argue that that aim is unobtainable.

Source:

Silverman, D. (1993). Interpreting Qualitative Data. Methods for Analysing Talk, Text and Interaction. London: Sage Publications: 94

 

  • What differences are there between the styles used for short and long quotations?

 

Sometimes you may want to omit words (as in the extract above) or whole sentences from a passage you are quoting.

  • Can you suggest reasons for doing so?

 

  • Do you know the conventional way of showing omissions in quotations?

 

Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Quoting should be done for a reason; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so. There are four common reasons for quoting from your sources:

conciseness
accuracy
memorable language
authority

Note that academic convention demands that when you quote you should also state the page number on which the original text is found.

The above extract also contains a paraphrase or summary:

[...] positivits only become seriously interested in interviewer-interviewee interaction when it can be shown that interviewers have departed from the protocol (Brenner:1981).[...]

To understand the differences between a paraphrase, a summary and a quotation, follow the link below:

OWL: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing

In LISAM you can also have some practice on summaries and paraphrases.
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