A person… his or her…
Incorrect | Correct | Example |
---|---|---|
10,000.00 | The price was exactly . | |
1960s | Many styles of music emerged in the . |
Incorrect | Correct | Example |
---|---|---|
A few, two/three, a handful of | controversial questions were also included. | |
Many, much, several, a great deal of | time was spent on the test. |
Incorrect | Correct | Example |
---|---|---|
Et al. | The mutation is thought to be widespread (Han , 1999) | |
Et al. have | Omar asserted that the effect is temporary. |
Incorrect | Correct | Example |
---|---|---|
Chose yesterday | The project manager her team before planning began. | |
Divide into | This dissertation is seven sections. | |
Led yesterday | Although the Liberals currently in the polls, the Conservatives last week. | |
Take a photo | The time was set to at 20-second intervals. | |
Sent yesterday | The email to all employees. |
Which one to use? | Correct | What’s usually the difference? |
---|---|---|
The was strong; the drug all members of the experimental group. | Effect = noun Affect = | |
Personnel vs personal | The company’s do not like to discuss their problems. | Personnel = noun Personal = |
The author outlined the theories and that arose from the study. | Principal = adjective Principle = | |
Were vs where | you? | Were = verb Where = adjective |
Jack wants to rest , but he has to go to work in . | Awhile = a period of time A while = a period of time | |
The twins were born 2 minutes , and when one of them a way, it feels like of them is missing. | Apart = separation, distance A part = a piece | |
She is a busy schedule, but she did not feel so stressed. | Used to = verb Use to = only used with “did/did not” | |
I feel for Sam, but it’s hard to be , because I haven’t been in that situation. | Empathy = ability to relate to the other person’s feelings Sympathy = compassion for someone else | |
Is Oliver a ? Yes, and his sister is a too! | Blond = noun to describe a man with golden/pale yellow hair Blonde = noun to describe a woman with golden/pale yellow hair | |
I was visiting my sister . I like her new house better the old one. | Then = that time Than = to express comparison | |
If you give me trouble, I can’t help you | Anymore = (any longer) Any more = (quantity) | |
I’m not sure is organising the party; it depends you ask. | Who = (subject) Whom = pronoun (object) | |
Vera received a on her belt, because it her outfit. | Compliment = admiration or praise Complement = completes or enhances | |
The of the hidden variable might your results. | Affect = verb Effect = noun | |
The ran through the apartment after someone left the door open. | Bear = endure, carry, or the animal Bare = uncover, exposed | |
you? | Breathe = verb Breath = noun |
Following these tips will help you to improve your written academic English in general. The next step is to fine-tune your writing depending on whether you are using American, British, or Australian English ! A grammar checker can also help you automatically fix mistakes you may have missed after proofreading.
Other students also liked, theater or theatre | spelling, difference & examples, there, their, they’re | difference & example sentences, its or it’s | difference & example sentences, more interesting articles.
Below are the 15 most common writing errors we see in students’ writing when they come to the Writing Center. Make sure you aren’t committing the same errors!
| Generally, is the verb; is the noun. However, EFFECT is also a verb meaning to bring about (see c.) | |
| is an informal term for much or many. . means to give out, apportion, or divide. | : I have of friends. : I have of friends. (Informal) : I have many friends. (Formal) : I my friends 1 hour of time per week. |
| Things and people are different each other. Don’t write that they are different each other | : I have many friends who are different me. : I have many friends who are different me. |
| is the possessive (meaning something belongs to someone). is the contraction of IT IS. | : What is IT’S NAME? : What is name? name is Fido. : the first time he’s scored tonight. : my coat. (It IS my coat). |
| If you can separate items in the quantities being compared, use . If not, use . | : The Rams are inferior to the Vikings because they have good linemen. : The Rams are inferior to the Vikings because they have good linemen. experience. |
| Don’t try to use “hip” slang. Usually a term is on the way out by the time we get it in print. | : The police . : The police arrested the perpetrator. |
| is the action word; is the state of being. | : The body will in state until Wednesday. : The body will in state until Wednesday. : The prosecutor tried to the blame on him. However, the past tense of LIE is LAY. : The body in state from Tuesday until Wednesday. : The body in state from Tuesday until Wednesday.The past participle and the plain past tense of LAY is LAID. : He the pencil on the pad. : He the pencil on the pad. : The hen an egg. |
| Be careful about using WOULD when constructing a conditional past tense. | : If Jones an injured foot, Thompson wouldn’t have been in the lineup. : If Jones an injured foot, Thompson wouldn’t have been in the lineup. : If Jones an injured foot, Thompson wouldn’t have been in the lineup. |
| Though it incorporates an apostrophe, WHO’S is not a possessive. It’s a contraction for WHO IS. WHOSE is the possessive. | : I don’t know coat it is. : I don’t know coat . : Find out there. |
| THAT tends to restrict the reader’s thought and direct it to the way you want it to go; WHICH is nonrestrictive, introducing a bit of subsidiary information. | The lawnmower is in the garage needs sharpening. -> Meaning: We have more than one lawnmower. The one in the garage needs sharpening. The lawnmower, is in the garage, needs sharpening. -> Meaning: Our lawnmower needs sharpening. It is in the garage. The statue graces our entry hall is on loan from the museum. -> Meaning: Of all the statues around here, the one in the entry hall is on loan. The statue, graces our entry hall, is on loan. àMeaning: Our statue is on loan. It happens to be in the entry hall.)
|
| THEN is for time. THAN is for comparisons. | : He is taller I am. : He is taller I am. : She went to school, and she went to the store. : She went to school, and she went to the store. |
| USED TO refers to something someone did in the past. | : I run every morning. : I run every morning |
| But don’t refer to something as happening nowadays. Say it happens CURRENTLY or RECENTLY. |
|
| A tough one, but generally you’re safe to use WHOM to refer to someone who has been the object of an action. WHO is the word when the somebody has been the actor. | the room was rented, left the window open. -> Meaning: The particular room was rented to the woman, and she left the window open. The emphasis is on the room, not the person. rented the room, left the window open. -> Meaning: The woman left the window open…and OH…the room happened to be rented to her. The emphasis is on the woman, not the room. |
| Don’t use LIKE for AS or AS IF. In general, use LIKE to compare with nouns and pronouns; use AS when comparing with phrases and clauses that contain a verb. | : Jim does his homework he should. : Jim does his homework he should. : Jim writes a pro. |
Grammar for academic writers: identifying common errors.
Presented August 14, 2018
View the recording
Last updated 9/5/2018
Visual: The webinar begins with a PowerPoint title slide in the large central panel. A captioning pod, Q&A pod, and files pod are stacked on the right side.
The title slide says “ Common Grammar Errors and How to Address Them ” and the speakers name and information: Amy Bakke, Senior Writing Instructor, Multilingual Writing Specialist, Walden University Writing Center
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Housekeeping
Audio: Claire: Hello everyone. Welcome to today's webinar. Before we get started and I have Amy present this wonderful, informative presentation I'm going to go over a few housekeeping notes to get started. So, first thing to note is, I am recording this meeting so that recording will be available online in our webinar archive within 24 hours. So, if you need to leave or you missed part of the presentation, don’t worry, you’ll be able to go back and access it at a later time. You can also interact during this webinar. We have some polls, files, chats going on in today's presentation to engage more the material and work through some of these grammar issues.
During the presentation you can use the Q&A box, I will be in there to answer questions that you have to the best of my ability. If questions come up later, or you’re watching this as a recording you can send us questions at [email protected] or visit our live chat hours, that link it live right there. So, if you'd like to come in and ask us questions at another time, go ahead and use those services. As I noted I will be there in the Q&A box so if you have some technical issues or need help during the presentation. Let mean a and I will try to problem solve those with you. However, you can also pick, help, in the upper right-hand corner of the room and that is Adobe support. So, they will best be able to help you work through that. Alright, I think I have covered everything for today so for now I will turn it over to our presenter, Amy.
Visual: Slide changes back to the following: The title slide says “ Common Grammar Errors and How to Address Them ” and the speakers name and information: Amy Bakke, Senior Writing Instructor, Multilingual Writing Specialist, Walden University Writing Center
Audio: Amy: Thanks, Claire, hello, everyone, and welcome to grammar for academic writers identifying common errors. I’m very happy to be here with you today, and as Claire mentioned I’m Amy Bakke, I’m one of the writing instructors in the writing center. I'm also a multilingual writing specialist. Today I’ll be focusing on a short list of some of the most common grammar errors we see when working with Walden students. And this is across-the-board.
Walden has students in many different programs, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral. We do tend to see the errors that I'm going to talk about across-the-board with student writers. Also identifying and explaining the errors we will have some opportunities to practice and revise a few errors in it will be an opportunity for you to reflect in your own writing, figure out, are these areas were making errors, or maybe not and then make some changes if needed. So, with that, let's get started.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Learning Objectives
Audio: As I mentioned, I will focus on some of the most common error and sentence construction errors that we see in academic writing. These include errors with verb tenses, punctuation around essential and nonessential clauses. Commas after introductory words and phrases, possessive forms of nouns, and subject verb agreement with complex subjects. Now, if this vocabulary seems a bit too technical to you, do not worry at all because I will be explaining them throughout the webinar and we will have a chance to practice as well. So really the technical terms and understanding those are less important than being able to identify what is going on in a sentence and what needs to be fixed.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: What Grammar Is
A set of rules that enables you tot communicate your ideas clearly
A way to help establish scholarly credibility
Important in all scholarly and professional writing
Audio: As we begin our webinars on grammar we want to outline what grammar is. Essentially, it’s a set of rules that allows you to express your ideas clearly and following grammar rules can help you establish credibility as you write, maybe as you publish. It’s important in all forms of writing but especially in academic and professional writing. And finally, it’s learnable. For anybody who is accustomed to language and communication that is not so academic, it may take some time to get used to the academic use of English, but it is certainly learnable.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Errors are Not the Enemy!
Errors are:
Audio: It’s important to keep in mind that we all make errors and mistakes. Errors are rather a normal part of the writing process. They are evidence of learning, they are often impossible to entirely eradicate, even seasoned professional writers are going to occasionally make mistakes or errors and they are often aware of that. Ensuring they work with other people and use some strategies throughout the writing process helps them catch the errors.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error #1
Audio: With that, Let's look at common error number one which is related to verb tenses.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Verb Tenses
She writes every day.
She is writing right now.
She wrote last night.
She was writing when he called.
She has written Chapter 1.
She has been writing for 2 hours.
Audio: Now if you have studied English as a second language, or if you have studied another or learned another language, you likely know what I mean by verb tense but just in case I will try and cover the basics. English has more than a dozen verb tenses, or some experts might call them a mix of tenses and aspects. The tenses show the time of the action. Whether took place in the past or future. The state or general truth.
So, here are some examples. She writes every day, she is writing right now, she wrote last night, she was writing when he called. She has written chapter 1. She has been writing for two hours. So, all of the verbs here talk about the same topic or the same action, writing, but they show us more information about when the action happened or when it happens when it will happen, that kind of thing.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Most Common Tenses in Academic Writing
Audio: Keeping that in mind I do want to point out in academic writing, there are four tenses that make up the majority of sentences. They are the simple present. The simple past. The present perfect. And the future tenses. The simple present is often used for general truths. Things that are true in the past, now and likely future. For example, the hospital admits patients whether they have proof of insurance. This is something that is generally true. In the past, now, and likely in the future. The simple present is often used to explain the findings in a study. What the authors have found to be generally true. Maybe if they are saying, if they mention their findings or say more research is needed on a topic.
And then the simple past is used to talk about something happening at a specific point in time in the past. And/or that was completed entirely in the past. For example, Zimbardo (1998) researched many aspects of psychology. One thing to note is that the simple past should be used when discussing what the authors and researchers said and did in their published works because this is something they said or did in the past when they published. Often in writing we will see things like the researcher claimed or the authors explained -- all using the past tense.
The present perfect is used to explain action that happened over period of time in the past. So, numerous researchers in the field have used this method. And finally, the future tense. In academic writing at Walden, we often see the future tense used when writing about a study you that will conduct such as a capstone study maybe for masters or doctoral students. So, I will conduct semi structured interviews.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error: Tense Consistency
Bakke (2015) conducted the interviews and then transcribed them. (Both past tense)
Herrington (2014) found that the survey participants drink an average of 2.2 cups of coffee per day. (Past and present tenses)
The researchers explained that identifying a cause will be difficult. (Past and future tenses)
Audio: Regarding verb tense one place we sometimes see errors is in consistency throughout a sentence. There are sometimes when the verb tense needs to be the same throughout the sentence and there are other times when it should or can change throughout the sentence.
So, let’s take a look at a couple of examples. So, in the first sentence, Bakke conducted the interviews and then transcribed them. Both of these actions are in the past tense and both of these actions belong to Bakke. So, it makes sense for them to be consistent both in the simple past tense.
In the next two examples we see a shift in the verb tense. Harrington found, past tense, that the survey participants drink, present tense, and average of 2.2 cups of coffee per day. Past and present tenses. The researchers explained, past tense that identifying a cause will be, future tense, difficult.
Bakke (2014) conducted the interviews and then transcribed them.
Herrington (2014) found that the survey participants drink an average of 2.2 cups of coffee per day.
The researchers explained that identifying a cause will be difficult.
Audio: One other characteristic of these last two sentences is the word, that. In the sentence structure the word, that, introduces a noun clause and that’s not a term that you need to remember but this’s what it’s called. These noun clauses are used to report what other people think, or have said such as when introducing a paraphrase or summary or a quote. When introducing what a researcher said or did, in this sentence structure, you may need to shift the verb tense to explain a general truth or a future action.
Note sometimes in English the word, that, is left out. Especially in spoken language. A person might say, the researcher said identifying a cause will be difficult. It’s sometimes okay to drop the, that. So just looking for the word, that, might not be an effective strategy. But in deciding about whether to change the verb tense you may think about whether the sentence includes a report about what a researcher or a person said or did.
Visual: Common Error: Progressive Tenses
Progressive tenses :
While grammatically correct, this tense is rarely used in academic writing:
Audio: One of the tenses I'm mentioned a couple slides ago was the progressive tense. Which shows what is happening, it’s the-ING form. I am writing my paper. She is earning her doctorate in business. The researcher is finding the new staff need more professional development. However, this tense is not really used in academic writing so rather than saying is finding, in that sentence, it’d be much more common to talk about published research and what researchers found. It’s a common tense in English it’s just not typically used in academic writing because of the focus on what has already been completed, as I mentioned published research, the focus on explaining general truths. So, as your writing, you might be on the lookout for the progressive tense in your writing and just think about whether a different tense might be more appropriate.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error: Appropriate Tense
Verbs that do not make sense in the context of the sentence
Revision: I will complete my master’s program in 2019.
Revision: Most children experience some form of rebellion against their parents.
Revision: I work on homework every night.
Audio: Some other issues we see with verb tense are included on this slide. And it’s mostly about them not being appropriate in the context of the sentence. The first example, I would complete my Master's program in 2019, is written in the hypothetical tense, it is something that might happen. However, it is more likely the person writing the sentences talking about what they will do, and we use will to talk about future plans.
In the second example, most children experienced some form of rebellion against their parents. The verb, experienced, is in the past tense and I guess, maybe the assumption here is this is referring to a finding or a general truth. Because it refers to most children and seems to explain a general truth it should be in the present tense.
And finally, I am working on homework every night, here’s another instance where the sentence discusses a general truth, something that happens on a regular basis and also because we mentioned the-ING form is not used in academic writing, we would probably say instead, I work on homework every day.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice
Choose one of the sentences below. Revise the sentence to fix the error in verb tense/use.
I was contacting all of the possible participants.
Prince (2017) stated that more research on the topic was needed.
Audio: There's a lot of information about verb tenses. I thought we would try to do practice with a couple of example sentences I have here. Based on what I've talked about so far, read through these two example sentences. And then choose one of the sentences to correct and to type in the chat box. I will take a minute to mute and take a short break while you are doing that.
[Participants working on exercise]
Great, so I’m seeing some great options in the chat area. I just pulled out a couple of them on the left-hand side, you can see the answers I pulled from your contributions. In the first example, we would want to avoid using the-ING form, but it looks like we're talking about the past, so something like I contacted all of the possible participants, would be just much more probably appropriate for an academic writing context.
And then also, in the second example, I included that one but it also might depend a little bit on the context of how it’s used. Say this was published in 2017. Prince stated that more research on the topic, we’d probably say is needed, because that was the assertion that Prince made. Of course, if this were something that happened, it might depend a little bit on the context, if this were something that was written a long time ago, in 1990, and depending on how we are using the idea we might say for example, Prince stated that more research on the topic was needed. And these other authors followed up with more research. You know, so I have given some general practices of what we we’ll do in academic writing, but again, a little bit depends on context. Great.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error #2
Audio: Alright, we will move on to our second topic. And this is, oops, my slide should say essential and nonessential clauses. And I will say this is probably the most complex topic we will cover today. So, do stick with me and I’ll start by explaining briefly what I mean by essential and nonessential clauses and I will provide some examples and explanations. If you do not get it right away, do not worry, we’ll keep going and providing more info.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Essential Clauses Phrases
Main clause: Part 1 Dependent phrase/clause Main clause: Part 2
The students who had completed their projects early did not have homework over the weekend.
Main clause: Part 1 Dependent phrase/clause
I read the article that was assigned for Week 3
Audio: So, I’ll start with essential clauses. And show what they look like in sentences. When I say, clause, first of all, in this case I mean a clause or phrase are basically a group of words. These are clauses that are to -- sorry, that are added to sentences to provide extra information for clarifying information. So, I have two basic models here on this slide and we’ll take a look at what they look like in sentences.
The students who had completed their projects early did not have homework over the. So this extra information, who had completed their projects early, explains which students did not have homework over the weekend. It adds extra clarifying information. Another model for the sentence could be that the essential comes at the end. I read the article that was assigned for week three. Again, this clause that was assigned for week three, ads extra information about which article I read.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Essential Clauses/Phrases
Essential (Restrictive) Clause:
Audio: Essential clauses may also be called restrictive clauses. That’s because they restrict or define the meaning of a noun, they basically explain more about the noun. They become essential information to the sentence. It would not have the same meaning without this extra information. And you might have noticed they are not separated from the sentence by comments.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: repeat prior slide
Audio: So, I’m just going back to that same slide, one thing to notice is the examples here, in the examples, the clauses start with words like, that and, who. Just something to note before we move on.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Nonessential Clauses/Phrases
Interrupting/Nonessential
Main clause: Part 1, Dependent phrase/clause, Main clause: Part 2
The students, who are in their third week of the program , did not have homework over the weekend.
Main clause: Part 1, Dependent phrase/clause
I read the article, which only took me 15 minutes.
Audio: So, the other focus in this section is nonessential clauses or phrases. Sentences with nonessential clauses or phrases follow the same structure as we saw in the previous slide but with a slight difference. You can see in the model that we added commas here. And in my example, the students who are in their third week of program did not have homework over the weekend. This is what we call an interrupting or nonessential clause. We are adding extra information, like oh, by the way they are in their third week of the program. But the main focus of the sentence is that they did not have homework.
Another model is for the nonessential clause to come at the end of the sentence. I read the article, which only took me 15 minutes.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Nonessential Clauses/Phrases
Nonessential (Nonrestrictive) Clauses:
Audio: So, the characteristics of these nonessential clauses, sometimes called nonrestrictive phrases, are that they add extra information to the sentence but this information, like I said is additional or interrupting and not essential to the core meaning of the sentence. It is always separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Audio: And you might notice that these clauses, I just clicked back to the same slide, you might notice, that these clauses often start with words like, who or, which. I know this can be a bit confusing so if it is not quite clear yet, no worries we’ll be continuing to look at examples in the next slides.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Examples: Essential
The extra information is essential because it describes a noun/pronoun.
*That is only used in essential clauses/phrases(without commas).
Audio: Alright, so, here are some additional examples of sentences with essential clauses. The extra information is essential because it describes a noun as in a "person, place or thing" or a pronoun something that stands in for a noun. The employees who work remotely requested further training. In this case, who work remotely explains more about the employees, which employees are we talking about? She received the article that she requested from the library. Which article? The one she requested from the library. The printers that malfunctioned are now working again. Again, the essential phrase, that malfunctioned, describes which printers I mean.
Something to note is that the word, that, is only used in essential clauses and phrases. The ones that don’t need commas.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Examples: Interrupting/Nonessential
The extra information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, so it is between commas.
Revision: The students, despite being warned about the test’s difficulty , did not adequately prepare.
Revision: Some students, however , still earned passing grades.
Audio: Here are a couple more examples of interrupting or nonessential clauses. The students despite being warned about the tests difficulty did not adequately prepare. Some students however still earned a passing grade. So, notice that these phrases, despite being warned about the test difficulty and in the last sentence the word, however, add extra information and also kind of interrupt the sentence. They are not essential to the sentence having a complete meaning, we could say the students did not adequately prepare, and that would communicate the main message without that interrupting phrase.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Essential vs. Nonessential Clauses
The book that she read was important for her literature review.
The book, which she read while sitting by the pool, was important for her literature review.
Nonessential (Nonrestrictive) Clause:
Audio: And then, let's take a look at the couple of sentences side-by-side. The book that she read was important for her literature review. And the book which she read while sitting by the pool, was important for her literature review.
So, the first one is an essential or restrictive clause, one clue is that it begins with, that. Remember that the word, that, can only begin essential clauses, the ones without, commas. Also, that she read, explains which book she read and is not separated by commas.
In the second example with the nonessential clause, the clause adds extra information. Specifically, the clause does not explain which book she read, rather it adds extra information about the context. And it is separated by commas. If we took it out it wouldn’t really change the overall meaning of the sentence or the main meaning of the sentence that the book was important for her literature review.
So, while these sentence structures might still look really similar, one thing to notice that as a writer you can make some decisions about whether the information is essential or not based on the context of the sentence. And provide better clarity for your reader by indicating that something is essential or not.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Consider the following:
I have more than one sister, but only Alice is a nurse.
I have one sister named Alice, and she is a nurse.
Some employees work remotely, and they requested training.
All of the employees work remotely, and they requested training.
Audio : So, we’ll take another look at what that means here in the next slide where we have a couple of similar sentences. Let's focus first on the first two sentences on the side. These are almost identical. One just has commas around Alice and then the other does not. And you might notice to, how there is a slight difference, as I read them. My sister Alice is a nurse. My sister, Alice, is a nurse. In the first example, there are no commas. The word Alice is essential because it is explaining which sister I am referring to as in, I have more than one sister but only my sister Alice is a nurse.
In the second example, the nonessential version, the name, Alice, is extra information. My sister, her name is Alice, is a nurse. So, I’m saying that I have only one sister, her name is Alice and she’s a nurse.
Let's take a look at a couple more. Again, these two sentences are quite similar, so we have the employees who work remotely requested further training. And, the employees, who work remotely, requested further training. In the first example who work remotely is not in commas, so it’s an essential clause, this means that only the employees who work remotely requested further training, but the local ones did not. As in, some employees work remotely, and those employees, requested further training.
In the second example, who work remotely, is set off in commas so that means it’s extra, nonessential information. This sentence shows that all of the employees work remotely, and that they have requested further training.
Again, as a writer you get to make decisions about where you place commas and what you want to indicate to the reader. So, indicating that something is essential or nonessential helps just, as you decide how to communicate the ideas, it will help you use strategies to do that.
Read the sentences below. In the chat box, explain the difference in meaning.
The students, who turned in their assignments early, did not have homework over the weekend.
The students who turned in their assignments early did not have homework over the weekend.
Audio: So, we’ll have another practice to check and see maybe how well I’m explaining and check your understanding. Let's take a minute to think about these two sentences. I included the same sentence here twice. One with comments and one without. Based on what we talked about, consider what the difference in meaning between the two sentences. And type your response in the chat box. Again, I will mute myself for moment, so you will have a chance to read and think about it and type in.
Great, thank you for your contributions in the chat area. And I typed out the basic difference that I pulled from some of your answers in the bottom left hand corner. So, the first sentence with commas, that is what we call the nonessential clause. The meaning there is that the students -- so we could say -- one thing to keep in mind is when you have a nonessential clause you could pull it out, and the sentence would have the same meaning. So, if we pulled out what is between the commas, we could say, the students did not have homework over the weekend. We are saying all the students turned in their assignments early and all of the students did not have homework over the weekend.
The second option, the second sentence is that essential clause, so who turned in their assignments early is describing which students we are talking about. So only the students who turned in their assignments early did not have homework over the weekend. Essentially, some students had homework, some did not, it depends on if they already turned in their homework. Or their assignment. It looks like there are a lot of people who are on board with that as well. If it’s something that still seems a little bit confusing you can always check out our webpage on essential and nonessential clauses. I think we actually call it relative, restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. So, we just use that other terminology for it on the webpage but that something you can check out at another time, as well.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error #3
Audio: Alright, so now that we got past the trickiest one, we’ll keep going with a few other areas of common grammar errors. The next area of focus is commas after introductory words or phrases. So, let's take a look.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Introductory words/phrases
Introductory word/phrase , Sentence
Introductory word/phrase: Not necessary for grammatically correctness of sentence
Sentence: Subject + predicate (complete sentence)
Between September and December, the student completed 40 hours of observation .
Audio: The structure that we’ll be looking at in this section is when there is a word or phrase that comes basically before the sentence. This introductory word or phrase is not necessary for the grammatical correctness of the sentence. So, it’s really an add on to the beginning of the sentence. Sometimes introductory information or a transition word, that kind of thing.
You can see this example, between September and December, the student completed 40 hours of observation. Notice the second part of the sentence, the student completed 40 hours of observation that could function as its own complete sentence. In this case we are just adding extra information at the beginning about the timeframe.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Examples: Introductory Words/Phrases
Words Phrases
However According to Bakke (2015)
Furthermore Typing quickly
Therefore Between September and December
Often adverbs
Audio: As I mentioned, introductory information could be a word or a phrase. So here are some examples, some words that might come before a sentence, words like, however, furthermore, therefore, these words are often adverbs. You might also see a sentence that starts with similarly and then follow, with the idea that’s similar to maybe a previous sentence.
There are also a number of phrases that are often used. Like according to Bakke (2015). Typing quickly. Between September and December. So, this is the kind of introductory information or kind of the word or phrase that I’m referring to.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Examples sentences
According to Bakke (2015), allergies in dogs are on the rise.
However, new medications can help reduce the scratching behavior caused by allergens.
Typing quickly, he accidently deleted a sentence he wanted to keep.
Audio: And here are some examples in sentences. We have, according to Bakke, allergies in in dogs are on the rise. However, new medications can help reduce the scratching behavior caused by allergens. Typing quickly, he accidentally deleted a sentence he wanted to keep. One thing to notice, is that there are commas after each introductory phrase or word. Often any phrase or information that comes before the subject of the sentence will be separated by a comma. So the subject is often a person place or thing, and in this case allergies, new medications, he, so the information that comes before the subject is typically what needs to be separated by the comma.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Exception to the rule
Short introductory phrases with four words or fewer that begin with prepositions (e.g. for, by, from, in) may not need to be followed by a comma:
For many weeks I have been searching for relevant articles.
However, it is typically also correct to include a comma:
Audio: One relevant exception to this rule is that short introductory phrases with four words or fewer that begin with prepositions such as for, by, from, in, these may not need to be followed by a comma. So, for many weeks I've been searching for relevant articles. This is correct. However, it is typically also correct to include the comma, so we can say for many weeks comma I have been searching for relevant articles. So, if you are ever unsure, it is usually just safe to add the comma, and then you do not have to count how many words, you don't have to figure out is this first word a preposition -- so when in doubt it is not a bad idea to add the comma after an introductory phrase.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Practice:
Choose one of the sentences below. Decide if there is an error. If so, revise the sentence to fix the error in comma use.
When attending a conference it is a good idea to dress professionally.
In addition it is important to have a notebook and a pen to take notes or write down contact information of potential future employers.
Audio: Alright, so that was kind of a quick one. Let's take another minute to practice what I just discussed about commas after introductory clauses. Read through the sentences, choose one or both and write a revised version in the chat box.
Amy: Great. I see a number of correct revisions there. In both sentences, we added commas, so when attending a conference comma in addition comma again to come back to that final rule that I mentioned if it is a short phrase and begins with a preposition like, in, for example, it would not so much be a requirement to have the comma, but it does help with the readability. So, it is often a good idea to add that comma even if the prepositional phrase that begins the sentence is short. Great.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error #4
Audio: Alright, onto my favorite topic next. The fourth common error that we’ll look at is possessive forms and I think I say this is my favorite topic because it’s maybe more of, not so much pet peeve but something that stands out to me. I really noticed this one and as a writing instructor I think we have things that we really notice.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Possessive Form
The possessive form, typically created with an apostrophe (’) and an s shows that something belongs to a person, people, or thing(s).
Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning
Audio: So, we will get started here, the possessive form is created with an apostrophe and an s. I know this is something you've seen before but I will go through it anyway. It shows that something belongs to a person or people or a thing or things. One example is Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning. In this case we are explaining that the theory basically belongs to Pavlov. That it was created by Pavlov. And so, we show that by using the possessive form, that apostrophe and s.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Singular Possessive
Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning is based on his experiments with dogs.
The company’s code of conduct is included in the employee manual.
Jones’s (2015) research revolved around online academic writing feedback.
Audio: The possessive form can be singular or plural, so it depends on whether we’re talking about something that belongs to just one person or thing or if we’re saying that it belongs to a group. Again, we have, these are all the singular possessive forms here. Again, we have Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning is based on his experiments with dogs. We are using the singular possessive form here because Pavlov is just one person. We might also say; the company's code of conduct is included in the employee manual. So, the code of conduct that belongs to the company. Jones’s research revolved around online writing feedback. So, we're talking about things that belong to, or were created by a person or company in these examples.
The final example is unique because even though that name ends in an S, we add another S after the apostrophe. And this just follows APA guidelines, some writing style say you do not need to include the additional S after Joneses. But just note, according to APA you do need to do this.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Plural Possessive
The Nurses’ Association has a code of conduct.
The researchers’ methods were sound.
Irregular plurals:
The Children’s Museum has a dinosaur exhibit this month.
Audio: Next will take a look at the plural form. So, this is when we’re making the possessive form of a group. Because these words are already in the plural and they end in ‘s’, we just add the apostrophe. So, in this first sentence, the nurses' association has a code of conduct we're talking about the association of the nurses, the association that belongs to the nurses. So, we add the apostrophe to nurses to make it possessive, the plural possessive form.
Also, the researchers’ methods were sound, we’re referring to the methods of the researchers, as in more than one researcher. So, we add the apostrophe at the end of the plural word. One kind of fun thing about English, is that some nouns are irregular in the plural form. As you can see in the example at the bottom of the page, Child becomes children rather than child's so when a noun is irregular in the plural form or when it does not end in S. You can just add the apostrophe and S, as in this example. The Children’s Museum has a dinosaur exhibit this month.
So, as I mentioned, this is a common error and I see it quite a bit and it can be a bit confusing if you have not reviewed the rules recently and just a little reminder in practice can set you off on the right track.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: When to Not Use the Possessive Form
Audio: Before we finished the section, I wanted to note some specific instances when not to use the possessive form when we don’t need to use the apostrophe. I explained that we use possessive form when something belongs to a person or a group, so we don’t need it in these instances. The first is when referring to periods of years, such as decades, when we say cell phones became commonly used in the 1990s, no apostrophe is needed. Similarly, when making acronyms plural we do not need an apostrophe. We can add the S. The CEOs met at the technology Summit. And finally, remember the difference between making something plural meaning more than one, versus showing possession, that something belongs to a person. In the final example we don’t need an apostrophe because we are talking about teachers as in more than one teacher. Not something that belongs to the teacher. The teachers attended the conference.
Choose one of the sentences below. Revise it to fix any errors related to apostrophes or the possessive form.
The companies policy is to report violations within 48 hours.
The local Teacher’s Association has meeting’s on the first Wednesday of the month.
Audio: Once again, let us try it out. I included two sentences here that have errors related to the possessive form. You can read them through, pick one or both and write a correction in the chat box.
Great, it looks like many people caught a couple of the errors going on in these sentences. And I saw a couple of versions of the first one. There are two different options of how to fix it, depending on the intended meaning of the sentence of course. So, we could say, the company, as in the singular company, apostrophe s, policy, so the first example that I have in my revision box. That is assuming that it’s the policy of one company. That might be the most more common use. If we are discussing a specific policy it’s probably one that belongs to an individual company. Of course, it could be the companies' plural possessive policy, so that second option I have in the box. That would be assuming more than one company but that they have the same policy. Because policy is singular. Of course, we might also say the company's policies. So, there would be different ways to revise depending on the intended meaning of the sentence.
It looks like many of you caught the couple of errors in the second example. We’d want to move that apostrophe over so we are using plural teachers' association. Probably, because, well because an association would belong to more than one teacher. The association of the teachers rather than the association of the teacher. And then has meetings on the first Wednesday of the month meetings of course just needs to be plural and not in the possessive form, so we do not need the apostrophe for meetings. Great work, everyone.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Common Error #5
Audio: The final common error that I’ll discuss today is subject verb agreement. Specifically, I will focus on subject/verb agreement with complex subjects.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Review: Simple Sentences
Subject + Predicate .
Audio: In some of our other grammar webinars, in the mastering mechanics series, hopefully you checked those out. If not, it’s a great series about the basics and fundamentals of sentence construction and combining sentences. So, in those webinars we have focused quite a bit on some of the more basic sentence construction including things like subjects and predicates. I just want to give a brief overview before we talk about subject-verb agreement just to make sure everybody is on the same page.
The main sections of a simple sentence are the subject, which is usually a person, place or thing. And the predicate, which shows the action or the state of being. And any extra information about the sentence. Here are a few examples. I am a master's student. Tom retired after 30 years of teaching. All of the employees will attend the retreat. The firsts part of the predicate in blue, kind of the italics there, is the verb, and you can see the verbs underlined here on this slide. Throughout this last section we’ll focus there on just this subject and the verb which is underlined there.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Subject -Verb Agreement
Subject + Verb .
Need to agree in number:
A regular present tense verb for the singular third person (she, he, it)
includes an “s”.
However, irregular verbs will function differently.
Audio: So, the subject and verb need to agree in number. In English, this follows a rather regular pattern, I write, you write, Deborah or he or she writes. Notice that this one ends in an S. We write. They write. In the present tense, the only form that is different, is when we’re talking about what we linguist and grammar nerds, call the single or third person. Meaning, when we are talking about one person or thing that is not me and it is not you. Normally it might make sense to add and S to something when we make it plural, but this rule is different for verbs. We add an S when the verb is singular.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Subject-Verb Agreement
2+ Subjects + 1 Verb .
When the subject of the sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and , use a plural verb.
Audio: So now that we have that pattern in mind. Let’s look at some common errors and subject verb agreement, and when it gets a little tricky in when we have those rather complex subjects.
The first type is when we have two or more subjects in one sentence. The committee members and the student write every day. So, we have those two or more subjects, we have the committee members and the student. So even though the subject closest to the verb is singular, because as a whole we are talking about more than one, we use the plural form of the verb, write. So, for example if the sentence were just about the one student, we would use writes with an ‘s’, the student writes every day but because we’re talking about a group the committee members and the student, we use a plural form of the word, write.
Complex Subject + Verb .
When a phrase comes between the subject and the verb, the verb still agrees with the subject, not the noun or pronoun in the phrase following the subject of the sentence.
Audio: When a sentence is a complex subject it can be a bit tricky to decide which form of the verb to use and what to match it with. Let us take a look at the sentence, the nurse who normally works with the pediatric patients -- so what we need to do is, we need to look for the main subject because there are two different people or groups here. There’s the nurse at the beginning of the sentence, and there’s also the pediatric patients. In this case, the main subject, the main person or thing we are talking about is the nurse. The rest of the subject is a phrase describes which nurse it is. The one who works with pediatric patients. So, we need to match our verb to nurse and not to the noun right next to the verb, in this case is, patients.
So, it’s, the nurse volunteers at the blood drive each year. So, when a phrase comes between the main subject to end the verb, the verb still needs to agree with or match with the number of the main subject.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Subject – Verb Agreement
Noncount Subject + Verb .
Noncount nouns take a singular verb.
Audio: The final point, that I have, about subject-verb agreement is related non-count noun. In English, some nouns or things are categorized as non-count nouns meaning they are a type that cannot be counted. So, some examples are information or furniture, for example we do not say one information are three furniture. It sounds a bit odd in English and is not grammatically correct. Rather, we might say something like three pieces of furniture or one bit of information. These special kinds of nouns, non-count nouns, always take the singular form of the verb. For example, in this sentence, we use is with information rather than are. So, information about Walden's master's degree programs in education IS available on the website. Because our main noun is information, information is available. We need to match the subject and the verb.
Choose one of the sentences below. Revise the sentence to fix the error in subject-verb agreement.
The interns and the coordinator attends lunch meetings every Wednesday.
The lesson plans for Chapter 3 is available in the shared folder.
Audio: Alright, final practice. Let’s take a minute to just take a look at those examples. You can choose a sentence or both, revise for subject-verb agreement and put your answer in the chat box. I will take a short break.
Great. I see some corrections continuing to come in. Lots of correct corrections here in the chat area. Yes, so I think everyone identified that we just need to adjust the verbs in these two sentences. The entrance on the coordinator attend lunch meetings. We have multiple people and so we need to use a plural form of the verb. And in the second example, again, the lesson plans for chapter 3 are available in the shared folder. Again, we need to match the verb with, plans, which is plural. And change it from is to are. Awesome!
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Proofreading Tools & Tips
Audio: Great. So, just to wrap this up here, and thinking about everything we have discussed so far, I just wanted to finish off with some tips, to try out as you continue to try writing and revising your work.
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Tips
Identify the most common patterns in your writing.
Audio: And really the main tip is to identify patterns in your writing. Now that we have gone through five main areas of focus that may or may not be common errors for you, it might be a great idea to go back to some of your recent work, maybe your last couple of course papers or other things that you’re working on and be on the lookout for those specific errors that we talked about. Kind of figure out, do I have any of them in my writing? And which ones. And keep those in mind as things to look out for in the future.
Some strategies to do that are -- like I just mentioned, to go back to your finished work, see if you identify anything after viewing this webinar. Of course, if you have received feedback from faculty or from the writing center staff through our paper review service, taking note of what types of errors are often being pointed out, how can I focus my attention when I’m proofreading or revising to look out for those, for any additional errors that may happen.
We, as humans, as writers, we tend to make similar mistakes over and over again especially if we don’t realize that they are mistakes. So, if you can identify patterns, that is a great strategy. You might even keep a grammar Journal to keep track of the common issues, if you are noticing some of them and you can find that grammar Journal in the files pod on the bottom right-hand part of the slide now. Something you can download, and keep and fill out.
You can also try to use Grammarly, Grammarly is a software system that can help identify grammar errors. It can be really helpful but one thing to note is it’s not human, so it does not have the intuition of how language works. So, while it may give some helpful tips, it is not perfect so use any advice from Grammarly along with your own judgment of the English language and how you think it works. And of course, also ask for help. We have a number of ways to reach out to us directly and of course we have many resources you can view on your own and I will probably let Claire give an overview of those here just as she wraps us up. Because that is everything I have for you today. Claire, did you want to take it away?
Visual: Slide changes to the following: Questions: Ask Now or Later
[email protected] • Live Chat Hours
Learn More:
Check out the other webinars related to grammar and sentence construction in our Mastering the Mechanics Series .
Audio: Claire: Sure thing. Thank you so much, Amy, for that wonderful presentation. I am not seeing any lingering questions. But if you do have questions that come up as your thinking about this webinar or if you have watched this webinar as a recording, you can go ahead and let us know by writing into writing support at [email protected] . And that is a 24-hour turnaround inbox. So, if you have a pressing question, somebody will get back to you.
We also have live chat hours also, I know I work on the live chat, so if you ever have a question about grammar or anything else writing related, you can come in and talk to a live writing instructor such as myself and we will help you find the right resources and answer to your question.
You can also learn more about grammar as well as other topics through our webinar archive, and you could watch the mastering the mechanics series, which is also led by Amy and all about really breaking down sentence structures and those sort of grammar basics.
So, if you think that is something that sounds helpful after reviewing this webinar, that would be another great place to start, especially if you are a non-native speaker. Again, that’s available in our webinar archive. We will have a recording of this webinar posted within 24 hours of this presentation. So, if you missed any or want to come back to it later you can find it there as well.
Thank you all for coming in today and I will go ahead and end our presentation.
Departments.
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Your dissertation is a very important document that will make or break your university experience. However, writing a text this long can be an intimidating task, which may lead to common dissertation mistakes that may beget further spelling or grammar issues. Eventually, a culmination of these mistakes may lead to the essay becoming nearly unmanageable.
Common dissertation mistakes must be avoided to ensure that your draft gets accepted by your committee, allowing for further clarity and better dissertation structure.
In this article, we have listed some of the most common dissertation mistakes made by academic writers as well as what can be done to avoid them.
The formatting of your dissertation is as critical as the content. You should be familiar with your Ph.D. program’s formatting rules by the time you write your dissertation. Despite carrying a doctoral degree, you may still make errors, especially in a lengthy paper.
Generally, several dissertation authors make tons of mistakes in the preliminary pages of their work, that is, the pages that appear prior to the main text of their work. While it’s easy to overlook these pages, they are what pave the way toward the rest of the main body.
Hence, the preliminary pages must be formatted properly and in the proper order. Rather than presuming the format of these pages, seek guidance from the dissertation template provided by the program.
You have conducted extensive studies for your manuscript and may have reached interesting conclusions that you’re eager to share with the world. Although this enthusiasm is certainly commendable, it may challenge your ability to condense your thesis into a single-page abstract.
An abstract must always fit within a single page and is generally within the word count range of 150-300 words. You may approach a detailed guide to structure your dissertation better.
A robust dissertation maintains a precise balance between various chapters to successfully fulfill all of its purposes. It is important to attribute a deserving amount of text to each section, ensuring that your study, literature review, conclusion, and other sections receive appropriate weightage.
Language-related errors make up one of the most common dissertation mistakes authors make. While writing such a long piece, you are bound to make syntactical, grammatical, or typographical errors. Hence, it is always good practice to send your draft to an editing and proofreading service after completion.
These services have writing professionals on board who will gladly peruse your work. These expert proofreaders and editors ensure that all issues are correct and help you ensure that you would not make such mistakes again – a service that will benefit you, throughout your dissertation and in your career as well.
Despite the emphasis and relevance of the dissertation focus that you succeed in highlighting in the draft, a loosely structured paper will easily render it in vain. The style of the paper is also an important aspect that must be maintained.
To maintain a comprehensive and consistent flow of ideas and ensure meaningful connections between passages of the content, you must use subheadings that will outline the intent and scope of each section. A detailed guide to structuring your dissertation may help you with the same.
Plagiarism is a major offense, one that you do not want on your academic record. It is very bad practice to copy-paste text from various sources onto your dissertation draft.
To avoid plagiarism, make use of in-text citations and ensure that you list the references at the end of your article in an authentic and appropriate manner, as suggested by the relevant style guide.
The focus and relevance of the subject are important considerations in concluding your dissertation . A subject that is irrelevant to the field of literature will fail to make waves in scholarly research.
The length of a dissertation may prompt authors to peregrinate into irrelevant topics and subjects, which may divert attention away from the goals of the paper. This is another very common dissertation mistake that has been observed by our structural editing professionals.
The choice of the research topic is crucial to the success of a dissertation. In comparison to undergraduate assignments, every extensive piece of writing requires much more in-depth knowledge study of the subject.
Insignificant, superficial, or limited research questions will not generate enough credibility in the discussion and, consequently, will create barriers to achieving the goal.
A literature review is an essential aspect of writing a dissertation . Summaries tend to be a common difficulty for students, which can prevent them from demonstrating their ability to think critically and analytically.
This may cause the reader’s interest in your subject can subside. The literature review is used to demonstrate your understanding of a topic. It needs to put the presentation and study subject into context. Keep in mind that any dissertation requires extensive study.
Students also feel depleted of willpower and resources after completing a dissertation . Yet, it is integral for them to conclude their paper appropriately. In a published dissertation, the conclusion connects the concepts and theories.
The dissertation should strive to teach the audience about an original finding through the explanation of significant observations. You cannot conclude by simply summarizing the intent of the thesis and attempting to clarify inferred ideas.
A gripping conclusion should assist readers in grasping the dissertation’s main points. Conclusions and literature reviews that are poorly written will detract from the dissertation’s quality.
Rather than wasting your time struggling to fine-tune your lengthy dissertation , reach out for the help of an editor who will help you polish your thesis so that it’s the best it can be. This will ensure that you do not make any of the common dissertation mistakes listed above. Availing of an editing and proofreading service will enable your editor to guide you through the process of writing the dissertation, guaranteeing that your work is flawless and submission-ready. These services make your dissertation writing an easier job.
We hope that the most common dissertation mistakes listed in this article have cautioned you against what to look out for in your dissertation drafting process. You can check out our dissertation proofreading and editing services by visiting our website – CLICK HERE!
-Arthur Solomon
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7 Common (But Costly) Mistakes To Avoid
By: David Phair (PhD) and Alexandra Shaeffer (PhD) | March 2022
Your dissertation or thesis introduction chapter is critically important as it tells the reader what your study is about, why it’s important and how you’ll approach it. Simply put, it serves as a starting point for your reader to orient themselves with your study. Get the introduction chapter wrong and you’ll quickly lose your reader (and your marker!).
Over the years, we’ve reviewed thousands of introduction chapters. In this post, we’ll discuss 7 common but deadly mistakes that students make, so that you can avoid the pitfalls and craft a high-quality introduction chapter.
A recurring issue we see is that students don’t lay enough of a contextual foundation for their research topic. In other words, they don’t clearly explain where their research is situated within the existing literature (and the real world).
A good introduction should outline the contextual factors from the outset. Ideally, you should describe the what , where, who and when type factors to help orient your reader. This contextual base will help your reader understand what’s going on in the field, which will lay the foundation for your research justification (more on that coming soon).
While it can be easy to brush over this information, it’s important to remember that your reader likely doesn’t know your perspective, and thus you need to set the scene. Always write for the intelligent layman – someone that’s intellectually curious but not an expert in your field. Don’t make assumptions about what your reader already knows; start from the bottom and build a firm contextual foundation.
Another common mistake we see students make within the introduction chapter is not providing sufficient justification for their research topic and research aims . All too often, students rely on the overly simplistic justification of “it hasn’t been done before”. While this may seem like a good justification (and indeed, originality is an important part of your justification), it isn’t enough on its own to justify your research. A good introduction should not only discuss the novelty of a project , but also the practical and theoretical importance of finding the answers to your research questions.
When writing up your introduction, be sure to address the “ what ”, the “ why ” and the “ who ”. In other words:
These are essential questions that you need to answer thoroughly and with reference to previous research. Don’t skim over this section of the introduction. No matter how good the rest of your dissertation or thesis is, if your research topic itself isn’t well-justified, the rest won’t matter all that much.
Another common mistake that we encounter when reviewing dissertations is that students often pursue a topic that isn’t focused or specific enough – that is, a topic that’s too broad . While this issue has its origins much earlier in the dissertation development process, it tends to reveal itself in the introduction chapter and acts as a tell-tale sign of pending problems .
As a researcher, it’s understandable that you want to try to tackle the world’s problems with your research. However, it’s important to realise that as an individual, you’ll seldom be able to single-handedly solve a research issue. However, you can contribute to a larger field of research by building on the work of others (and producing research that others can build on). For this reason, your topic can’t be too broad, or you’ll end up just scratching the surface and not generating any meaningful insight. Conversely, a narrow, tightly-defined research aim will allow you to go deep.
For example, if you’re looking at the impact of telecommunications on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), try narrowing it into one aspect of telecommunications. Ask yourself what specifically about telecommunications are you interested in. By doing this, you can narrow your research question, and end with something like, “How are SMEs using Zoom for business meetings?” This will narrow your research scope , allowing you to go deeper and generate richer insights.
This mistake often goes hand in hand with the previous one (too broad a topic). Without clear research aims, objectives and research questions, your study can get a bit murky and lack direction . Therefore, it’s important to make sure that you clearly define and communicate your research aims, objectives and research questions within your introduction. These three elements set up the expectations for the rest of your project and (should) form a “golden thread” of consistency throughout your dissertation or thesis.
Let’s return to the example of telecommunications and SMEs.
The topic was too broad, so we narrowed it down to focus on how Zoom is used by SMEs for business meetings. Now we need to look a little closer and answer the question of what exactly it is that you’re interested in understanding about Zoom and SMEs. You could, for example, look into how Zoom facilitates collaboration in business meetings, or how Zoom breakout rooms are used.
With this narrower focus, you would then frame it as a research aim . For example, “This project aims to investigate the impact of Zoom breakout rooms in collaborations of SMEs”. By narrowing the scope, the reader has a much better idea of what you’re trying to do, and you have a much clearer focus for both your literature review and fieldwork .
Importantly, your research aim (or aims) should directly lead to your research questions , and your research objectives should be specific steps you’ll take to answer your research questions and address your research aims. When crafting these three elements, aim for specificity and clarity . Clearly communicate in the introduction chapter exactly what you’ll be investigating by detailing your research aims, objectives and questions.
Related to the previous mistake is the common issue of having research aims, objectives and questions that pull in different directions . In other words, misalignment between the three elements of the golden thread .
Misalignment within the golden thread is a major problem , as it means that the study cannot achieve its research aims (or perhaps has the wrong aims altogether!). So, it’s essential that your research aims, objectives, and research questions are all tightly aligned .
Your research aim (or aims) needs to answer the question, “What is the main goal and purpose of your research?”. This is typically pretty formulaic , where you can say something along the lines of, “This project aims to/seeks to/will investigate the impact of Zoom breakout rooms in SMEs.” Simply put, the research aims describe what you’re trying to achieve in high-level terms .
Your research objectives are the “how” of your research. This is where you turn your aims into actionable points , a bit like a to-do list. Sticking with the Zoom example, the research objectives might look something like the following:
When you write up your research objectives, make sure that you stay on topic and aligned with the research aims. For example, if your study focuses on Zoom and SMEs, don’t drag in Skype or MS Teams.
Lastly, your research questions are the specific questions you’ll look to answer with your study. The easiest way to create research questions (and ensure they’re aligned) is to take your research aims and objectives and turn them into questions . For example:
The most important thing is that your research aims, objectives and research questions are all tightly aligned . These should move from broad to narrow and follow the same direction. So, make sure that everything matches and that you don’t go off on any unnecessary tangents.
A further mistake we see students make with their introduction chapter is having a poorly defined and/or justified scope . Naturally, it can be tempting to try to achieve the “next big thing”, but as we mentioned earlier, the overall aim of your study is to contribute to a body of research. While you may want your research to be generalisable and applicable to different contexts, this is typically extremely difficult (if not impossible) to achieve in reality. Therefore, you need to narrow your scope and get specific about the boundaries of your research.
In your dissertation or thesis introduction chapter, it’s important to talk about the where , the when , and the who of your research project. If we return to our example of Zoom and SMEs, which types of SMEs are you looking at specifically (and how do you define SME)? What industry are they in and where are they situated? Is the focus on start-ups or later stage SMEs? You could, for example, narrow the scope of your topic by choosing to work with SMEs in the financial sector and centring on UK-based companies that have been active for 5 years.
By narrowing your scope, your project will become a lot more focused, manageable and replicable . A good scope not only helps you stay focused but also helps other researchers if they want to recreate your study .
Next, make sure that you provide a clear justification for your scope. It’s fine, for example, to focus on SMEs in the UK, but it’s important to explain why you made this choice. Why these SMEs specifically? Why are they worth studying?
Make sure that you also mention how much research has already been undertaken in your research area of interest. If there isn’t much extant literature, that will form part of your justification. However, don’t just say, “It hasn’t been done before”. Why hasn’t it been done? For example, when studying SMEs in the UK, there may be something about their policies, culture or mindset, or maybe that the banking sector is highly regulated and getting access to information is challenging. These contextual factors will all form part of your scope justification .
The final mistake we’ll discuss in this article is that of not providing a clear outline of the dissertation/thesis document structure . A good outline serves to help orient the reader by getting a clear view of what to expect in the document and where to find any specific information they’re looking for.
In practical terms, your outline should appear at the end of your introduction chapter , as it prepares the reader for the rest of your document. Without it, your introduction chapter will end very abruptly and disparately.
The outline itself needn’t be lengthy . A line or two covering each chapter should be ample. The writing itself can be quite formulaic, simply describing what each chapter covers. Here’s an example:
In Chapter two, the theoretical framework will be developed, with a view to first conceptualising and defining organisational trust, and then identifying potential antecedents thereof, leading to the formation of hypotheses.
In Chapter three, the adoption of a quantitative, deductive research approach will be justified, and the broader research design will be discussed, including the limitations thereof.
In a large document like a thesis or dissertation, it can be hard to achieve a flow or to maintain a golden thread throughout your document. As you can see from the example above, a good structural outline helps tie it all together , as it tells the story of your research project and helps to prepare the reader for what is to come.
In this post, we’ve covered 7 common mistakes we see students making with their dissertation or thesis introduction chapters. Naturally, this isn’t a comprehensive list , but it’s a useful starting point to help you avoid the common pitfalls.
To recap, the mistakes include:
If you have any questions about these mistakes, please leave a comment. Remember, you can also download our f ree introduction chapter template here to help fast-track your writing.
If you’d like hands-on help with your introduction chapter, check out our 1-on-1 private coaching services here to book an initial consultation with a friendly GradCoach.
This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...
A brief comprehensive piece that widened my scope of Research methodology subj ct
Brief and to the point.
Some really good points! But others are indicative of poor supervisors. A good supervisor should never let a student get as far as writing up with too broad of a topic or misaligned research aims.
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I was browsing someone's thesis from a US university. I found several typos and missing (incomplete) sections. There was no plagiarism and dishonesty though. What would happen if I write to their advisor? Can some action be taken or is it a closed case once a thesis is accepted and signed.
Generally no official action can or should be taken regarding errors in a dissertation (assuming they are not a sign of dishonesty or fraud). However, it could be worth pointing out errors to the author in case he/she is preparing a publication based on the dissertation. I wouldn't do this if it's from long ago or you see that the material is already published, but you could be providing a useful service to the author otherwise. (If these errors have already made it into publications, then it's worth reporting them to the authors if they are substantive, so they can decide whether to publish errata, but it may not be worth reporting typos. I'm a perfectionist and would like to know of typos in my publications, but others might be annoyed.)
But you certainly shouldn't write to the advisor. That comes across like you are reporting bad behavior to an authority figure, so it's not appropriate unless that's the message you want to send (for example, if you discover plagiarism). Instead, you should communicate directly with the student who wrote the dissertation. If you can't figure out how to track down the author, then you can assume he/she isn't pursuing a research career and you don't need to worry about it.
I do not know really. After all, it is the adviser, who bears the primary responsibility for checking the results of the thesis (the student is not mature enough most of the time and the rest of the committee do not care much this way of the other).
My personal experience with this was that my adviser gave me a 50 page thesis of his former student (written like 5 years before) and asked me to close the gap between the lower bound of $m$ and the upper bound of $m\log 1/m$ for some quantity depending on the small parameter $m$. With my usual laziness, I decided just to see what I can get myself instead of reading anything someone else did, and after a few weeks I had a lower bound of $\sqrt m$ with a short and very clear proof, which, obviously contradicted the upper bound in the thesis.
Now, it is today that I'm a middle age cynical person with fairly low opinion of human abilities and standards of behavior, including my own. At that time I was a young boy to whom my adviser looked if not like a semi-god, then, at least, as an impeccable mathematical professor of intelligence bordering on supernatural. It was absolutely impossible that he could pass anyone with a wrong result!
So, I set up looking for a mistake in my own argument. By the end of the second week of search I was feeling like in a few days I would need to be sent to a mental asylum if I spend just a few more hours on it. The argument was absolutely clean. The heretical thought crossed my mind that the thesis might contain an error, after all , and I started to sift through 50 pages of dense text in which I didn't even know some words. In three more weeks I had read all of it and saw no error either. Back to my proof. Watertight. Back to the thesis and its half-page long computations. Nothing. When I finally found the mistake in the thesis (which was as stupid as $\sin x\to 1$ as $x\to 0$ done en passe in the middle of a long sophisticated limit computation with trigonometric functions), I was half insane.
Moral. If you see an error in a (at least, mathematical) work, by all means, let it be known! It can save if not the life, then the sanity of someone in the future, while all you can harm is something as ephemeral as "self-esteem".
The story is real though I omitted the names (some of which are easy to figure out and some are not).
The best way to report the error is, of course, to figure out what should really be there yourself first and to offer both the criticism and the way out simultaneously. Some good joint papers have been written exactly this way :-)
You should do nothing and hope that the people who find the errors in your own documents are kind enough to do the same. (There is at least one error in my own master's thesis and at least one in my doctoral dissertation. There are also errors in textbooks by respected authors. I've found one in a fifth edition of a book; I checked and it's in the first four editions, too.)
If the document were a book, a web page, or something else amenable to revision, one would send the author a polite note. The "do nothing" advice is for a "one and done" document like a thesis or dissertation.
I think that not finding an error in a thesis would be much more impressive. If you've never seen errors in a scientific piece of work before, it is that you are not very attentive. You probably know of the famous Excel error of Reinhart-Rogoff . Actually, this kind of thing happens all the time, in the best papers too. And it's normal. Scientists are human beings. That is why science is about replication. I don't even speak about typos and such. 90% of scientists writing in English are not English native speakers, so of course they (we) make a lot of mistakes. And so what ? Is it better to spend 100 hours reading again and again the same paper to correct a handful of spelling mistakes without any consequences, or should this time be better employed solving scientific problems ?
There are at least two errors in my thesis. One I corrected in preparing a portion of the thesis for publication. The other remains unresolved, but I believe it can be patched up. I'm sure there are some others as well. It bothers me that they are there, but not to the point that I lose sleep over it. At this point in my career, it is probably almost irrelevant. I work in another area now, but I would like to go back and fix them some time, when I can find the time.
What are you really hoping to accomplish by emailing the person's advisor? It sounds like you want to have the student's "case" re-opened and that you possibly disagree with the person's worthiness of his or her qualification. This is a huge deal (not a small one, by any measure). I think you are opening up the proverbial can of worms, and for no good reason I might add. Sorry to be blunt, but is this your business, really? (The question is only semi-rhetorical, but I think the answer is "no".)
Please read the responses of "Anonymous Mathematician" and Bob Brown above --- they are quite on the mark.
If the author wrote the thesis relatively recently, then do let him or her know directly (not through the advisor), as your constructive criticism could be useful as he or she prepares publications. If the person submitted their thesis some time ago, check to see which publications, if any, arose from it. Maybe the gaps have been closed in those publications.
These things are all that you should do. Leave it alone, otherwise.
A committee of experts at some point decided that the person's thesis was worthy of a degree. They may not have cared that certain gaps existed in the write up. What was presented in the thesis was sufficient and interesting enough for them. The student succeeded in demonstrating a sufficient expertise, by their standards. The thesis may not live up to your own personal standards, but that doesn't matter at all. When you are on a graduate committee, you can apply your standards as you see fit.
If no academic dishonesty has been committed, then I say that you should leave this issue alone. Focus your efforts on your own work and achieving something that meets your own standards.
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Academic writing, while demanding, can be mastered with a good grasp of language rules and careful attention to common pitfalls. Mistakes ranging from structuring, style, to grammatical errors can distract from your argument and undermine the credibility of your work. Most of these common mistakes are avoidable, so it’s important to know which mistakes you’re likely to make. Explore our guide to transform these challenges into opportunities for improvement in your academic writing.
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Common mistakes are errors in academic writing that most students fail to notice in their research. There are different common mistakes ranging from inappropriate punctuation to improper sentence structure and more. Proofreading and editing your work is essential to correct language mistakes and other errors, as they can give you a lower score even if your research is well-structured.
British English and American English are the main languages used in academic writing by students and researchers. However, some words are spelled differently, and students should use the instructed language in their work to avoid common mistakes in language use.
Organise | Organize |
Colour | Color |
Flavour | Flavor |
Labour | Labor |
Apologise | Apologize |
Offence | Offense |
Pretence | Pretense |
Analogue | Analog |
Catalogue | Catalog |
Recognise | Recognize |
Terms used in a citation, including et al. are commonly miswritten as Et al or Et all. For example:
✘ The spread of the bubonic plague was largely influenced by trade and immigration (Gretel et all. , 1976)
✘ The spread of the bubonic plague was largely influenced by trade and immigration (Gretel et. al. , 1976)
✓ The spread of the bubonic plague was largely influenced by trade and immigration (Gretel et al. , 1976)
A couple of things were missing from… | |
• A few things were missing from… • A handful of things… • Two/three things… | |
• A lot of places… • A lot of time… • Many of the students… • A big number of | |
• Many places… • Much time • Many students • Many.. |
Some common mistakes in noun plurals include:
Three hypothesis | Three hypotheses |
Two analysis | Two analyses |
The parent’s meeting | The parents’ meeting |
Five taxi’s left the airport | Five taxis left the airport |
The main criteria used | The main criterion used |
Using commas correctly ensures proper punctuation of numbers, as follows:
50.000,00 | 50,000.00 |
He moved in the 1940’s | He moved in the 1940s |
The boy was born on 10th May | The boy was born on the 10th of May |
He won the lottery on 2nd October | He won the lottery on the 2nd of October |
There is a budget deficit of 10.000,000 rubles | There is a budget deficit of 10,000,000 rubles |
Students also make some common mistakes when using adjectives correctly. For instance:
Several politics factors have contributed to… | Several political factors… |
Refer only to fact based assumptions in your thesis… | Refer only to fact-based assumptions in your thesis… |
The production methods are both similar… | The production methods are similar... |
There are many so called opinion leaders... | There are many so-called... |
Socialists are specially concerned about... | Socialists are especially concerned... |
Some common mistakes include:
They divided the cake in two halves | They divided the cake into two halves |
You can make a photo on the bridge | You can take a photo on the bridge |
The teacher choose two students | The teacher chose two students |
He lead the team to victory | He led the team to victory |
He send the secretary | He sent the secretary |
It is common for students to mix up certain words, especially those that have similar pronunciations, such as:
The effect of the pandemic was widespread, it affected many people in the world.
The school’s personnel like to keep their personal items in their cars.
The principal theme of the study draws on principles defined in the main source.
They were found in the park where they like to play.
The axle bears the load on a bare surface.
Conjunctions and prepositions are used frequently in academic writing. Some common mistakes include the following:
Furthermore, we can… | Furthermore, we can... |
Moreover, there are… | Moreover, there are... |
First of all... | First... |
Cities like Kansas… | Cities such as… |
Therefore I can… | Therefore, I can... |
The most common mistakes in writing are grammatical errors from incorrect punctuation, spelling, and word groups. They also include misuse of phrases and confusing similar words.
Proofreading and revising is the best way to find errors. Also, confirm the correct forms of words and spellings before using them.
There are different spellings for certain words in these forms of writing. For instance, the use of “s” and “z” may vary, such as analyse and analyze.
Use a comma in the right place to show a number correctly. For instance 10,000 not 10.000.
I am so so happy I found BachelorPrint!!! I was first working with Book1One,...
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My husband and I recently traveled to Dubai with our two kids and his mother on our first international trip together as a family.
It seemed like a solid pick. After all, Dubai was the No. 2 most attractive city destination last year for travelers, according to the annual report from Euromonitor International, a global market research company.
On our 10-day trip, we had a lot of fun and family time. We had a great time and would go back.
But although we set out with a spirit of adventure, we made mistakes along the way and didn't make "full use" of our time as well as I'd hoped.
Our trip to Dubai could've been way better if we hadn't made these common mistakes.
When visiting the Dubai Mall, we knew we didn't want to miss seeing the famous musical fountain shows, which start every half an hour until 11 p.m.
But while exploring the extensive mall's aquarium and waterfall and grabbing dinner, we missed the last show. We had to go another night to experience it.
Looking back, I wish we'd scheduled more time to explore the millions of square feet of the Dubai Mall and its many attractions.
We also underestimated how long it would take us to explore Legoland Dubai. We got there at 1:30 p.m., and our kids didn't have enough time to see all of the attractions before the park closed at 6 p.m.
After Legoland, we headed to the neighboring Motiongate theme park. My kids were disappointed to find most of the rides closed before 7:30 p.m. It turns out the park closes at 8 p.m. most days.
Honestly, I'd say all three of these places needed at least a full day to experience them fully.
Throughout our trip, we explored Dubai at all times of the day or night. It was difficult to rouse the kids up for the next day's itinerary, and we invariably ran late.
But we learned that a few hours could make all the difference depending on the day.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi 's galleries and exhibitions close at 6:30 p.m. most weekdays and 8:30 p.m. from Friday through Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays.
Related stories
Unfortunately, the day we visited, the exhibits closed at 6:30, and we didn't arrive until late afternoon. We didn't get to see much, but we were glad we got to explore the space-themed children's museum.
I also wish we'd confirmed which days of the week some places close.
We thought the kids would love Dubai Dolphinarium, a massive family entertainment space filled with aquatic animals. But we didn't end up going because we realized too late it's closed on Tuesdays, the only day we were available.
We didn't want to overload our itinerary, but we learned the hard way that some popular attractions require visitors to book really far in advance.
For example, we wanted to take the kids to the highly recommended Museum of the Future, which is filled with virtual-reality experiences and three-dimensional displays.
When we checked online for tickets during our trip, the only ones available were for dates three months away.
We walked a lot throughout our trip to Dubai, probably 8,000 to 10,000 steps each day. It was exhausting, and not having proper walking shoes didn't help.
On our next trip to this city, we plan to pack shoes that are made for walking.
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Improved thesis:To be a quality comedian, you must develop your craft in a way that inspires laughter and smiles at every performance. 6. The Statement Lacks Connection to the Rest of the Essay. Even if you have a decent thesis statement, it will mean nothing if the rest of the essay strays from your main idea.
THE TOP TWENTY. 1. Wrong Word. Wrong word errors take a number of forms. They may convey a slightly different meaning than you intend ( compose instead of comprise) or a completely wrong meaning ( prevaricate instead of procrastinate ). They may also be as simple as a wrong preposition or other type of wrong word in an idiom.
Confer with your course instructor. Consult a handbook for additional examples and complete explanations. 1. Sentence fragments. Make sure each word group you have punctuated as a sentence contains a grammatically complete and independent thought that can stand alone as an acceptable sentence. Incorrect.
Include any and all permissions and email exchanges for use of proprietary information. School of Graduate Studies and Research. 101 Stright Hall. 210 South Tenth Street. Indiana, PA 15705. Phone: 724-357-4511. Fax: 724-357-2715. List of common errors found in the formatting of a thesis or dissertation.
Top 5 Common Thesis Writing Mistakes 1. Unclear Thesis Statement 2. Ineffective Organization and Structure 3. Lack of Clarity and Conciseness 4. Failure to Follow Citation Guidelines 5. Neglecting the Revision Process. Writing a thesis paper can be a daunting task, especially for students who are new to academic writing.
Jack wants to rest awhile, but he has to go to work in a while. Awhile = for a period of time. A while = a period of time. Apart vs a part. The twins were born 2 minutes apart, and when one of them a way, it feels like a part of them is missing. Apart = separation, distance. A part = a piece.
The following checklist highlights common errors found during the Editor Review. Presence of these errors in a document, has been found to significantly delay the editing process. PRIOR to submitting your thesis to Graduate Studies for Editor Review, please review this list and confirm that your document adheres to each item. Failure
THE MOST COMMON FORMAT ERRORS FOUND IN THESES AND DISSERTATIONS When a thesis or dissertation is not approved by the Graduate School, the reason can be traced, usually, to the student's failure to follow the official format guidelines. The information below is intended to assist you by listing the most critical problems we have
Published on April 9, 2015 by Shane Bryson . Revised on July 19, 2023. Punctuation signals the structure of a text, telling us not only where one idea ends and another begins, but also which idea is more important and how it relates to other ideas. The wrong punctuation, then, signals the wrong relationship between ideas, confusing your reader.
Other common mistakes while writing a thesis or dissertation. The use of first or second person: Writing sentences in the first person and the second person is not an academic practice. Fragment sentence: Using long and bland sentences can affect the tone of the article. Grammatical errors: Mistakes in grammar and punctuation are considered ...
Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist This list includes brief examples and explanations for you to use as reminders while you are editing your papers. If you would like to learn more, take a short writing course, set up an individual appointment at Student Writing Support, or consult a handbook for complete explanations.
That's why being aware of common—yet avoidable—issues beforehand will make the process smoother. We've summarized six issues commonly experienced when preparing a dissertation for review, and what you can do to easily avoid them. Your dissertation's preliminary pages are missing, incomplete, or out of order. Preliminary pages include ...
Students tend to make the same language mistakes over and over again when writing a dissertation. Taking a look at these lists of mistakes. ... Have a thesis expert improve your writing Proofreading & Editing Check your thesis for plagiarism in 10 minutes ... Common errors. Interesting topics.
Thesis Statements; Topic Sentences; Common Errors. Below are the 15 most common writing errors we see in students' writing when they come to the Writing Center. Make sure you aren't committing the same errors! ...
fixes, often against the clock. Avoid the problem — watch out for these common formatting glitches! 1. Missing Dissertation Acceptance Certificate . The first page of the PDF dissertation file should be a scanned copy of the Dissertation Acceptance Certificate (DAC), followed by a blank page. These pages should not be counted or
Visual: The webinar begins with a PowerPoint title slide in the large central panel.A captioning pod, Q&A pod, and files pod are stacked on the right side. The title slide says "Common Grammar Errors and How to Address Them" and the speakers name and information: Amy Bakke, Senior Writing Instructor, Multilingual Writing Specialist, Walden University Writing Center
Common Grammar Errors. Errors in your writing not only make you seem careless; they can also frustrate and confuse your readers. Make a habit of proofreading at least twice to catch your errors. But before you can proofread for errors, you have to know what to look for. Below are some of the more common errors.
This thesis paper first provides the reader with background information and introduces the study's aim, research questions, and thesis structure. ... techniques to increase students' writing proficiency and exclude common errors. According to Lekova, the teacher should also know the system of the L1 and L2 to minimize language
4. Language-Related Errors: Language-related errors make up one of the most common dissertation mistakes authors make. While writing such a long piece, you are bound to make syntactical, grammatical, or typographical errors. Hence, it is always good practice to send your draft to an editing and proofreading service after completion.
Overview: 7 Common Introduction Mistakes. Not providing sufficient context for the study. Not presenting a strong justification for the research topic. Having a research topic that's too broad. Having poorly defined research aims, objectives and research questions. Having misaligned research aims, objectives and research questions.
25. Generally no official action can or should be taken regarding errors in a dissertation (assuming they are not a sign of dishonesty or fraud). However, it could be worth pointing out errors to the author in case he/she is preparing a publication based on the dissertation. I wouldn't do this if it's from long ago or you see that the material ...
Common Mistakes | Examples | Conjunctions, Prepositions, Phrasal Verbs, Nouns & Plurals: typical Common Mistakes ~ read more. Free 24h Customer Service:724 281 3937. ... Revise your thesis formatting one last time with our futuristic 3D preview function before sending it to print. It gives an accurate virtual representation of what the physical ...
Incorrect page counts are among the most common errors encountered. The abstract is thesis page iii, after the title and signature pages, but it is the first page on which a page number is printed. The Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, and Lists of Tables, Figures, and Appendices follow. Page headings in the front matter should not appear in ...
Insufficient Light. Light is a crucial factor for houseplant health, and insufficient light is a common mistake that leads to poor growth. Each plant has specific light requirements; some thrive ...
Download the Pre-Install Tool.; Double-click the Pre-Install_Tool.exe file, and follow the prompts.; Read the warning message, and click OK to agree to the changes.; After the Preinstall Tool completes: Click OK.; Click Close.; Restart your computer. Try to install again.
It was great, but we made common travel mistakes that cost us time and money. A vertical stack of three evenly spaced horizontal lines. A magnifying glass. It indicates, "Click to perform a search".
Based on our own experience advising top-tier communications, media, and technology clients worldwide, here are the five most common AI adoption mistakes we've seen companies make, and our best advice on how not to make them yourself. Common mistake #1: Getting carried away. AI encourages our imaginations to run wild—and that's a good thing.