Exemplification

It is necessary for a writer to support their ideas by giving examples. There are a number of ways of providing examples in academic writing. In particular:

  • Adverbial phrases
  • Prepositions (+ noun)
  • Noun phrases
  • Verb phrases

Adverbial Phrases

  • For example, ...
  • For instance, ...
  • As an example, ...

Prepositions

  • ... such as + noun
  • ... like + noun (less formal)
  • ... including + noun
  • ... namely + noun

Noun phrases

  • One/another example is ...
  • An example of this is ...

Evaluating Examples

A/an

another

one

good

(less) well-known

different

similar

prime

notable

(less) obvious

simple

helpful

practical

 example

 Verb Phrases

  • John and Edwards (2007) gives/provides/cites the example of ...
  • This can be illustrated by ...
Test Yourself

Choose the correct word from the options given.

Several social and technological systems rely on the notion of trust, or recommendation, where agents must make their decision based on the trustworthiness of other agents, with which they interact. One are buyers in markets, who may share among themselves their experiences with different sellers, or lenders which may share a belief that a given borrower will not be able to pay back. example are peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, which often must know, without relying on a central authority, which other programs act in a fair manner, and which act selfishly. In the same line, an even more example is the web of trust of digital certification.

Richters O, Peixoto TP (2011) Trust Transitivity in Social Networks. PLoS ONE 6(4): e18384. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018384

Our students used the material and social resources that the college made available, the skills and knowledge that they already had, as the ability to surf the web or to preview texts before classes, and drew on skills  rote learning in contexts where they are not explicitly valued. The teachers mainly spoke with standard British or American accents but there was one of an educated Scottish accent and some interviews included non-standard British and American accents.

Yang, X. and Badger, R. (2014). How IELTS preparation courses support students: IELTS and academic socialisation. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 39(4). pp. 438-465.

Research on this is a prime of social network analyses that—for the most part—avoid positivist pitfalls. Such studies empirically identify existing corporate interlocks and then employ SNA methods to analyze and visualize them (usually) without resorting to generalizations, predictions, and reductionism. Another in point is arguably studies that combine network analyses with rich historical narratives, as Padgett and Ansell’s by now classic study of the various networks of the Medicean political party.

Buch‐Hansen, H. (2014). Social network analysis and critical realism. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 44(3), 306-325.