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Presenter: Welcome to this first presentation on writing an academic essay. A university essay can be thought of as an extended answer to a quite specific question that has been posed by your lecturer. A key consideration for lecturers when they mark students’ work is whether the essay before them is relevant; that is whether it does in fact provide an answer to the question being posed. For this reason it is important when you prepare to work on an essay that you spend a reasonable amount of time reading and mulling over the essay topic so that you understand precisely what is being asked. This involves identifying and thinking about key words in the topic, among other things. This tutorial on essay writing is based on the following topic:
    "In the last 20 years, rates of divorce have risen significantly in Western countries. Critically analyse some of the different explanations given for this phenomenon. In your discussion you should consider what implications these explanations might have for social policy."
    ’Implication’ is a common term. Implications can be thought of as a set of ideas that follow on in some logical sense from a preceding set of ideas. In the case of this essay, the preceding set of ideas are the explanations for rising divorce. What is required then is that students consider what social policies might follow on from each of the different explanations considered. Note that the word ’phenomenon’ refers here to ’rising divorce’. This means that the essay will need to be concerned with explaining why divorce rates have risen. ’Different explanations’ suggests that different analysts have come up with a variety of reasons for this happening. To ’critically analyse’ means to assess the value of some entity with respect to its strengths and weaknesses. This entity may be a theory, a policy, an argument, a piece of research etc. In the case of this essay topic, what needs to be evaluated are the different explanations given for rising divorce. This proposition is central to the essay topic. Clearly the essay will need to be concerned in a general sense with the subject of rising divorce. It is also important to note those terms which limit the subject in some way, in this case to a particular place—Western countries—and to a particular time—the last 20 years.
    I asked three different students spent some time analysing the divorce essay topic. On the following three slides, you can read each of their interpretations of the topic. After reading each, decide whether you think it is a reasonable interpretation of the topic.
    This slide shows Student As analysis—"This essay topic is about divorce in Western countries. I would look in detail at statistics for divorce in various countries. I would then mm to the effects of divorce, as discussed by various sociologists. I would describe the effects divorce is thought to have on parents and on children. Then I would consider what social policy solutions there are for the problems arising from divorce."
    Student B wrote—"For this essay I would focus on why rates of divorce have increased in Western countries. To answer this question, I would give my own critical explanation, focusing on what I know from experience are the reasons why couples choose to divorce. I would then interview a number of divorced people I know asking them what the reasons were for the breakdown of their marriage. I would then consider current social policies relating to divorce and find out how well the people I interview have coped since they were divorced."
    And this slide tells us what Student C wrote—"This topic states that divorce has risen in Western countries. First I would want to find out if this is the case by looking at statistics from a number of countries. Assuming that the proposition is true, I would then look at a variety of accounts given by sociologists for this increase. For each of these, I would consider how adequate an explanation it is. The topic seems to imply that rising divorce is a phenomenon that needs to be addressed by policy makers. I would then think about what sort of social policy positions might follow on from each explanation."
    Having read the three interpretations, in your opinion, which seems the most reasonable interpretation? ... Ah, yes, I think you’ve got the answer. Of the three interpretations, Student 3’s would be closest to what is required. The student is proposing to comment on the adequacy of a range of sociological explanations for divorce, i.e. critical analysis, and then to consider what types of social policy would follow on from her explanations, i.e. implications.