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If we refer to scientific writing as journal articles or conferences, it is just a matter of tradition and a certain gusto for science as an "objective" enterpr
by borroka 4y ago
If we refer to scientific writing as journal articles or conferences, it is just a matter of tradition and a certain gusto for science as an "objective" enterprise.
Years ago, during my PhD, one of the professors working in my department referred to a colleague as a "research monk." As I saw it, he was just a person who didn't take care of his hair.
"Linear regression models were fit by first checking the normality of residuals" for some old-timers sounds better than "we fit linear regression by first checking the normality of residuals."
But what is the difference between the two sentences? In the first case, it may sound like you, me and someone else's cousin would have gotten the same results; in the second, that we did those analyses and got those results. If others were to perform the analyses, who knows what would happen.
But it is just an impression, isn't it?
- rawgabbit 4y agoI would argue it depends on what the paragraph is about. If the paragraph is about the regression models, I would argue every sentence's subject should be "regression models" using passive voice. If the paragraph discusses how the research was conducted, then every sentence's subject should be "we" with active voice.
- borroka 4y agoThe sentence is about fitting regression models, not what regression models are, which implies a choice was made. Therefore, the active voice should be preferred, even if the sentence is unambiguous in either case. I prefer the active voice to the passive voice, although, especially in solo papers, repeatedly writing "I did," "I carried out," "I tested," sounds a bit vain after a while. As author and teacher of good writing Giuseppe Pontiggia said, to be a good writer you need to develop a good ear for words and sentences.
- rawgabbit 4y agoSure. If the paragraph is discussing how the research and models were performed/fitted, then use "we" as the subject with active voice.