Skills for Social Science: Reflective Writing and Research Project

This assignment is a comprehensive portfolio for a social science course, encompassing both reflective writing and research analysis. The first part of the portfolio begins with a reflective piece, using Gibbs' reflective cycle, to discuss key academic writing styles (persuasive, analytical, critical, and descriptive) and their importance. The second part of the assignment delves into research methods, focusing on the topic of "Is self-control a value capacity?" The student identifies and summarizes three positivist (quantitative) and three anti-positivist (qualitative) articles related to self-control, exploring how research contributes to understanding the topic. The assignment concludes with a discussion on the contribution of the reviewed literature to the broader understanding of self-control, emphasizing its value and implications in various contexts, from workplace dynamics to individual behaviors and societal structures.

Running head: SKILLS FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE
Skills for Social Science
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Part One
Key Academic Writing Styles and their Importance
In this section I will reflect on key academic writing styles and their importance by using
the framework of the Gibbs Reflective Cycle.
According to Graham Gibbs, reflection on learning experiences takes place through five
important stages. The first is the description of what was learnt, second is feelings on what was
learnt, third is evaluation of what was learnt, fourth is conclusion on what was learnt and finally
the fifth stage is the action to be taken based upon what was learnt. (Gibbs 1988).
Description
Academic writing is the type of writing that is engaged in for the fulfillment of either a
college degree or a university degree. What I have learnt is that it requires using a formal tone
of expression and often entails the use of jargon and scientific terms in order to validate or
legitimize the content of such writing (Birkenstein and Graff 2018). When it comes to
understanding important academic writing styles, the four categories that come to the mind are
the persuasive style of academic writing, the analytical style of academic writing, critical
academic writing and descriptive academic writing.
2. Feelings
I believe that if a broader definition of what is academic writing is to be considered, then
academic writing may be understood to be the type of writing that is carried out in any and every
type of academic setting. In my view, some of the documents where one can come across
different forms of academic writing include books, peer reviewed journal articles, peer reviewed

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book volumes and reports that are published by scientific organizations and think thanks for
public circulation and debate (Belcher 2019).
3. Evaluation
I have come to understand that descriptive academic writing takes place when the aim of
the piece that is being written is to simply provide readers with core information or facts and data
about the topic that is being written on (Goodall 2018). I have learnt that analytical writing
occurs when in addition to the provision of facts and figures the piece of writing also enters into
an analysis of this information, pointing out the way that this information can be read and
utilized from a number of different perspectives or view. Further, I have learnt that Persuasive
writing is the type of writing where the opinion or the views of the writer are imposed upon the
readers. The writing does not engage in any debate or analysis and simply presents the vital facts
and figures and other data pertaining to the topic for the reader to behold (Goodall 2018).
4. Conclusion
I conclude from my understanding of academic writing that the aim of an academic
written piece is to get the readers to think along the lines of the writer’s views on the subject that
is being written on, at times persuading them to hold the same opinion as that of the writer on a
specific subject matter while at other times encouraging them to think of things from a critical
perspective. I conclude also from my learning that critical writing entails writing from both
positive and negative perspectives, pointing out the pros and cons associated with the subject
matter of the writing (Kiriakos and Tienari 2018).
5. Action

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The different academic styles that I have learnt about are those that I am going to put to
use in my class assignments, and also when I write for journals and magazines in school and
outside of school.
Is Self-Control a Value Capacity?
Self-control is something that can definitely be considered a value capacity as it refers to
the ability that a person has of controlling her or his own emotions, as well as desires and
behavior with the purpose of obtaining some reward or achievement at a later date. The act of
self-control requires the flow of sufficient amounts of glucose to the human brain. When self-
control is exercised, this depletes the glucose (Greenberg et al. 2018). What the research that I
am about to undertake is going to investigate, is understanding how self-control works in
adults who are on a weight loss diet and who need to refrain from eating certain kinds of
food in order to avoid putting on fat. The research will then point out the ways by which
the act of self-control adds value to the life of the person who is on a diet to lose weight.
Research Questions
RQ 1 - How does self-control work in adults who are on a weight loss diet?
RQ 2 - What are the ways by which self-control adds value to the life of people who are on
a weight loss diet?
Part 2 – Review of Articles
Positivist Articles

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1. Ziegler, N., 2015. The predictive value of the self-regulating capacity in vocabulary
learning scale. Applied linguistics, 36(5), pp.641-647.
The research is positivist in nature as it involves the use of the vocabulary learning scale.
The research is about understanding the predictive value associated with the capacity of an
individual to self-regulate himself or herself by using a tool known as vocabulary learning scale.
The vocabulary learning scale is a quantitative tool utilized by the researchers to understand the
self-regulating capabilities of individuals. The researchers through this study add to the already
existing discussion on the reconceptualization of the process of strategic learning, arguing that
theoretical clarification is lacking on the nature of many significant learning strategies and the
convergent validity of the self-regulating capacity of individuals is something that is put to the
test by the authors using vocabulary learning scale.
2. Taralynne Brewer, K., Cochran, J.K., Powers, R.A. and Sellers, C.S., 2018. Intimate
partner violence and the capacity and desire for self-control. Deviant Behavior, pp.1-25.
This study is of a positivist nature as it makes use of quantitative data in the form of data
that is generated by self-reports that were gathered at a large and well-known urban university in
the state of Florida.
The variable = 1307 is one that has been used by the authors of the study to investigate
the interactive and independent impact of self-control desire and self-control capacity on the
perpetration of intimate partner violence.
It was found by the study that the results of the investigation were entirely interdependent
of each other and that no type of interaction could be observed between the two.

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3. Schilbach, F., 2019. Alcohol and self-control: A field experiment in India. American
economic review, 109(4), pp.1290-1322
This research is positivist in nature as it makes use of a three week field experiment. The
purpose of the study is to arrive at an understanding of the relationship that is shared between
alcohol and the act of self-control. The case study chosen for this research is an Indian scenario
where around 229 or more rickshaw pullers have been studied as part of a three week field
experiment to see if a commitment to sobriety could be established along with refraining from
alcohol consumption altogether, if the rickshaw pullers were provided with monetary or financial
incentives to achieve this end.
Anti-positivist Articles
1. Dohle, S., Diel, K. and Hofmann, W., 2018. Executive functions and the self-regulation
of eating behavior: a review. Appetite, 124, pp.4-9.
This study is anti-positivist or qualitative in nature because of the fact that it is studied
using qualitative research methods like interviews and discussions. The subject of the research is
the self-regulation that is exercised on the part of an individual with respect to eating. The
authors have made use of important qualitative research methods such as focus group
discussions, in-depth personal interviews and participant observation behavior in order to outline
that basic facets or aspects of executive functioning and executive behavior such as shifting,
inhibiting and updating have a crucial role to play when it comes to successfully regulating
eating behavior.
2. Greenberg, D.F., Tamarelli, R. and Kelley, M.S., 2018. The generality of the self-control
theory of crime. In Crime and Social Organization (pp. 67-112). Routledge

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This is a research piece that is based on qualitative research methods and as such, it is an
anti-positivist piece of work.
Evidence based paradigms and discussions with police organizations form the basis for this
study.
It is the argument of the authors that the role that is played by Organizational evidence
cops is something that can be construed as the work of internal accountability managers who
provide information on outcomes and outputs to every level of an organization and that this in
turn helps in mobilizing social control which has a crucial role to play in saving lives.
3. Rivkin, W., Diestel, S. and Schmidt, K.H., 2018. Which daily experiences can foster
well-being at work? A diary study on the interplay between flow experiences, affective
commitment, and self-control demands. Journal of Occupational Health
Psychology, 23(1), p.99.
This is an anti-positivist theory with the self-determination theory being used on the part
of the researchers to arrive at an understanding of how daily experiences can have a role or an
influence on self-control demands.
The authors make use of a diary study spanning ten days, and the self-determination
theory in order to argue that on days when people have high level of experience, the capability of
self-control appears to be far better than days when day-specific flow experiences are of a lower
level. After discussing the findings of the study in detail, the authors have suggested a number of
practical implications for readers and observers.
Part 3 - Discussion – Contribution of the Research to the Topic Area

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The review of the anti-positivist literature goes to show that a number of factors come
into play when it comes to exercising, enabling and establishing self-control in a person making
it easy to understand how the act of self-control is one that can be considered to be a value
capacity. Daily behaviors and experiences like high level experience flows at the workplace,
accountability in police organizations and a number of aspects of executive functioning all play a
vital role in influencing the act of self-control in a person (Rivkin et al. 2018). This in turn is
something that of great value because when individuals are encouraged to engage in self-control
and specifically, are facilitated to do the same, then they become valuable members of the
society that they live in and work towards the good of the society rather than going against it
(Greenberg et al. 2018). The ability to engage in self-control is something that can augur well for
people who hold important or executive positions at the workplace. They can be looked up to for
their behavior when they are able to exercise self-control. Positive and high levels of experience
at the workplace are something that encourages people to engage in self-control which in turn
helps them to create a good impression for themselves at the place of work. They become the
type of people that others want to follow and who others are willing to take orders from. The
literature that has been reviewed goes to play a very crucial role in how daily experiences of
individuals especially high levels of experience at the workplace is something that first
establishes the ability in a person to engage in self-determination. Once an individual is able to
think for himself and determine for himself what is right and what is wrong, then he does not
have to worry about being influenced by others or falling into bad company. This person can go
ahead and establish strong standards which only he is going to adhere to and which will create a
positive impression of him at the place of work. He will not be tempted or be easily influenced

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by others and he will be an individual who is control of his own life rather than have his life
controlled by others who are around him (Dohle et al. 2018).
The positivist literature that has been reviewed also goes to show how self-control can be
established in individuals and how this quality or ability of self-control is something that can be
considered to be a value capacity (Schilbach 2019). One study goes to show how financial
incentives can be offered to establish self-control and how by doing so this can improve the life
of a person. The example that has been given in this respect is that of rickshaw pullers in India,
where the literature reveals how offering monetary incentives can help rickshaw pullers to
engage in abstinence from alcohol more readily than they otherwise would (Taralyne et al.
2018). Other studies show how situations of intimate partner violence can establish what may be
termed as self-control in a person with the individual in the given situation becoming resilient
enough to put a stop to all the wrongdoings that are being done to him or to her. Finally, the
work that has been done using the vocabulary learning tool is one that demonstrates with a
certain amount of legitimacy how learning strategies and tools can have a significant role to play
in the establishment of self-control in an individual and how this can turn out to be a positive
thing for the person concerned (Ziegler 2015).
Conclusion
Thus, what the literature that has been studied in detail for this topic shows is that there
are a number of factors, aspects and circumstances that have a contribution to make in
establishing self-determination or self-control in a person and how this is a valuable capacity.
Self-determination and self-control help a person to abstain from the kind of behavior that he or
she would later regret and to engage instead in the type of behavior and experiences that will

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influence the life of an individual in a positive member, encouraging the person to be a valuable
member of the society as a result.

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References
Belcher, W.L., 2019. Writing your journal article in twelve weeks: A guide to academic
publishing success. University of Chicago Press
Birkenstein, C. and Graff, G., 2018. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic
Writing. WW Norton & Company
Dohle, S., Diel, K. and Hofmann, W., 2018. Executive functions and the self-regulation of eating
behavior: a review. Appetite, 124, pp.4-9.
Gibbs, G., 1988. Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further
Education Unit.
Goodall Jr, H.L., 2018. Writing qualitative inquiry: Self, stories, and academic life. Routledge
Greenberg, D.F., Tamarelli, R. and Kelley, M.S., 2018. The generality of the self-control theory
of crime. In Crime and Social Organization (pp. 67-112). Routledge
Kiriakos, C.M. and Tienari, J., 2018. Academic writing as love. Management Learning, 49(3),
pp.263-277.
Rivkin, W., Diestel, S. and Schmidt, K.H., 2018. Which daily experiences can foster well-being
at work? A diary study on the interplay between flow experiences, affective commitment, and
self-control demands. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 23(1), p.99.
Schilbach, F., 2019. Alcohol and self-control: A field experiment in India. American economic
review, 109(4), pp.1290-1322

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Taralynne Brewer, K., Cochran, J.K., Powers, R.A. and Sellers, C.S., 2018. Intimate partner
violence and the capacity and desire for self-control. Deviant Behavior, pp.1-25.
Ziegler, N., 2015. The predictive value of the self-regulating capacity in vocabulary learning
scale. Applied linguistics, 36(5), pp.641-647