| Edit out lazy words | At one time most sociologists used to | Most sociologists used to |
| Replace windy phrases | It became necessary for sociologists to | Sociologists had to | The consensus of opinion was | The consensus was |
| Avoid needless repetition | The research project involved a mixture of quantitative methods and qualitative methods. | The research project involved a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods. |
| Leave out needless qualifiers | Triangulation was absolutely essential to get an appropriate mixture of valid and reliable data. | Triangulation was essential to get a mixture of valid and reliable data. |
| Use short rather than long words | Accordingly, Young and Willmott assisted their research by enquiring about conjugal roles. | So Young and Willmott helped their research by asking about conjugal roles. |
| Use technical words (but show understanding) | Quantitative research allows research as if on the relevant population giving a generalised form of numerical data. | Quantitative research allows representative sampling techniques producing reliable data. |
| Familiarity is better | There are limitations to this form of research when trying to ascertain what meaning people are trying to disseminate. | There are limits to this approach to research when finding out what people actually mean. |
| Know when to stop | The results intend to be valid by this method. This method is a way to produce outcomes true to the people being researched. | The results intend to be valid by this method. |
| Clear active verb sentences | The methodology will be altered by the researcher based on practical, theoretical and ethical needs. | The researcher will alter the methodology based on practical, theoretical and ethical needs. |