Globalization

Some common writing mistakes Try to avoid the following: 1.) Vague statements Bad: “Bhutan faces a number of economic problems, but they are trying to fix them.”

Better: “According to the CIA World Factbook, the scarcity of modern infrastructure and technology has limited economic growth in Bhutan. However, its government has invested heavily in hydropower plants in order to export energy, and this has created new jobs and investment in the country recently.”

2.) Erroneous claims about causality

Bad: “Birth rates in Germany are lower than the world average, which means it has one of the world’s most developed economies.” Better: “Like most of the world’s wealthy countries, Germany has birthrates that are lower than the world average.

3.) Non sequitur

Bad: “Cameroon has a high birthrate, but its climate varies significantly as one moves from one end of the country to the other.” Better: talk about separate issues separately, unless you have documented evidence that they are somehow related

4.) Overgeneralizations

Bad: “Everyone in India is poor.” Better: “According to the Population Reference Bureau, India’s gross national income per capita is $3840, which is well below the world average of $11,690.”

5.) Redundancy

Bad: “A rapidly increasing population puts a strain on the Nigerian government’s ability to accommodate all citizens. The Nigerian government therefore has a hard time providing adequate social services to its rapidly growing population.” Better: if you notice that you have two sentences back-to-back that say the same thing, just use one and cut the other

6.) Over use of direct quoting Bad: blocs of text are copied and pasted into your paper more than twice

Better: you paraphrase as much as possible, and limit your direct quoting to one or two pieces of text 7.) Irrational optimism:

Bad: “Chile produces some of the world’s best wine. Therefore, Chile is sure to become one of the world’s top economies by 2015.” Better: “Wine is one of Chile’s most significant industries, and will likely continue to generate income and employment opportunities for the foreseeable future.”

8.) Unwarranted pessimism:

Bad: “Because of the violence in Egypt over the last few years, life for Egyptians will always be very difficult.” Better: “Daily life for many Egyptians has been difficult over the last few years, as life an in country undergoing a revolution would be. It is unclear at this point whether or not things will change for the better or for the worse there.”