Beginning a sentance with "this"

Is beginning a sentence with "this" grammatically correct?

Short answer, yes.

However, it is imperative that it is clear what the "this" is referring to. "This" should refer to something in the previous sentence. Additionally, beginning too many sentences with "this" can make your writing have a monotonous tone.

Thanks for the help other bloggers!

Way it goes...

An Important Lesson

Function for how long it takes your supervisor to return your document with comments:

t = (p x c) / (wd - sd)

where

t = time (days) until your document is returned
p = pages of document
wd = non-holiday weekdays this month
c = # of cats your supervisor owns
sd = # of sunny days in the last 20 days

If this isn't a PhD comic, it should be.

Not sure which word to use? Combine all three.

http://i.imgur.com/OlxBq.jpg

Upcoming Posts

Just got done grading a good group of Environmental Science 400-level essays. Some of the common mistakes I saw made that will make good upcoming posts are:
-excessive use of transition words and phrases
-improper word order
-failing to use the "conversation test"
-going for sheer # of features in a paragraph without merit, conciseness, or stress of important features

These will be discussed in upcoming posts along with some posts I have been keeping in my back pocket:
-need for creative thought
-expressing creative process/thought throughout your writing/research
-writing moods/modes
-solid science introductions
-framing a research question or goal

Zotero the Reference Manager

I have previously used Refworks for my reference manager, but I am not a fan of the "write and cite" manager in Microsoft word. My laboratory has access to the proprietary software Endnote, but I find that equally as frustrating. In starting with a new PhD topic, I thought a new, more user friendly, reference manger might be appropriate. I shopped around and found zotero. Zotero is an online reference manager that is fused with Mozilla Firefox. So when you are searching on something like JSTOR or Science Direct, you can click a link in the toolbar and it will automatically add it to the reference manager. Easy to use, produces a variety of bibliographies. Stored/backed-up on a cloud.

There are some known issues.

I think I will give it a whirl.

Deductive versus Inductive Research Approach

Lets review:
Deductive: more general to the more specific. Sometimes known as the top down approach. Conclusion follows logically from available facts. "Formal Logic".

Usually (i.e. traditionally) is associated with quantitative methods (objective, causation). The type of question is usually pre-specified and outcome oriented. The type of analysis is usually numerical estimation and statistical inference.

Theory -> Hypothesis -> Observation -> Confirmation

General -> Specific

Inductive: specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. Sometimes known as the bottom up approach. Conclusion is likely based on facts. Involves a degree of uncertainty. "Informal Logic" or "Critical Thinking".

Usually associated with qualitative methodology (subjective, meaningful). The type of question is usually open-ended and process-oriented. The type of analysis is usually narrative description and constant comparison.

Observation -> Pattern -> Tentative Hypothesis -> Theory

Specific -> General

Reference: Inductive and Deductive Research Approach

Capitalizing Proper Nouns

The first thing to do when deciding if to capitalize a noun is to decide if it's a proper noun or a common noun. Proper nouns are capitalized, common nouns are not. Proper nouns name specific people, places or things.

The difficulty is deciding words that go either way (e.g., Internet, Web, Website). Is a word like "Baby Boomers" capitalized or not. Since "Baby Boomers" refers to a specific thing, it is capitalized.

For more examples see Grammar Girl.