Argument, voice, structure

These three examples are claims, or series of claims, but they are not arguments.

• There is no single accepted definition of ethics.
• A new definition of ethics is needed. Here are some existing definitions of the concept of ethics. In addition, here is a suggested new definition.
• The existing definitions of the concept of ethics are too divergent to be useful. In addition, an updated definition of ethics is needed.

These three examples are arguments. Notice the linguistic indicator.

• The existing definitions of the concept of ethics are too divergent to be useful. Therefore, an updated definition of ethics is needed.
• The existing definitions of the concept of ethics are too divergent to be useful. This indicates that an updated definition of ethics is needed.
• A new definition of the concept of ethics is needed, because the existing definitions are inadequate for the current situation. Here are the existing definitions, and here is why they are inadequate. In conclusion, a new definition is required.

Sometimes, as in the simple examples above, the same information can be used either to construct an argument, or simply to write a description. Make sure you are using language that indicates that you are presenting an argument. Try using very direct language, at least in your first draft. This will help you to make sure that you really are constructing an argument.

• In this paper, the main claim I make is that a new definition of ethics is required. I support this claim with the following points. Firstly...
• In this paper, I argue that a new definition of ethics is required. I support this claim with the following points. Firstly...

The respondents may be worried about their responses, and there are various ethical considerations. Interviewing staff members also brings various ethical issues. Confidentiality will be central, and I will need to use pseudonyms for the participants.

As the respondents will be discussing changes within a small organization, any individuals they mention may be identifiable to other organization members. As a result, respondents may worry that they will be seen to be passing judgment on friends and peers. In terms of ethical issues, uncomfortable feelings may be provoked, both for respondents and possibly for non-participant staff or students.
In addition, staff members may worry that if they speak freely about the small organization, some of their thoughts may be considered irresponsible, unprofessional, "discreditable or incriminating" (Lee & Renzetti, 1993:ix), for example if they were to talk about difficulties at work, or problems within the organization. This means that confidentiality will be central, to protect the respondents and to mitigate their concerns about speaking freely. I will ensure that the organisation is disguised in the way it is written up, and use pseudonyms chosen by the participants. I will also reassure the respondents about these measures before they participate.

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She points out that many universities provide self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area. An example of this can be found on the website “Writing Centre Online” (UCL Institute of Education, 2019), which includes a “Beginners Guide” page with step-by-step instructions on avoiding plagiarism, as well as various links to referencing and plagiarism resources. Despite this type of provision, Sutherland-Smith observes, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. It is interesting to note that this inadequacy can be seen at both an institutional level and from a student perspective, which will have implications as discussed in the following section. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support, possibly, we could note, as they are wholly reliant on online materials. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity. It could be considered that inequities are a particularly important issue in discussions of plagiarism management, given that controls on plagiarism could be seen, in principle, as intended to make the system fairer.

References

• Sutherland-Smith, W. (2010). “Retribution, deterrence and reform: the dilemmas of plagiarism management in universities”, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 32:1 5-16. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13600800903440519 (Last accessed on 31 January 2020).
• UCL Institute of Education (2020). Writing Centre Online. Available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe-writing-centre (Last accessed on 31 January 2020).

The responsibility for learning how to reference correctly and avoid plagiarism tends to be passed from the university to the students, as Sutherland-Smith (2010:9) found, through her study of eighteen policies on plagiarism from different universities. She points out that many universities provide self-access resources for students to try to learn more about this area. An example of this can be found on the website “Writing Centre Online” (UCL Institute of Education, 2019), which includes a “Beginners Guide” page with step-by-step instructions on avoiding plagiarism, as well as various links to referencing and plagiarism resources. Despite this type of provision, Sutherland-Smith observes, the support provided is, on the whole, inadequate. Sutherland-Smith expands further to explain that this inadequacy is partly because the advice provided is not specific enough for each student, and partly because distance students will often receive even less support. She concludes that these issues carry implications for the decisions around plagiarism management, as some students may receive more assistance than others, leading to questions of inequity.

References

• Sutherland-Smith, W. (2010). “Retribution, deterrence and reform: the dilemmas of plagiarism management in universities”, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 32:1 5-16. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13600800903440519 (Last accessed on 31 January 2020).
• UCL Institute of Education (2020). IOE Writing Centre Online. Available at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe-writing-centre (Last accessed on 31 January 2020).

This extract is from the “definitions” section of a Master’s assignment.

Purpose and definitions of coaching
 
It is worth outlining the boundaries and purpose of the term “coaching” before proceeding with the discussion. In general, “coaching” tends to be used within human resource management and organisational theory to refer to a particular type of helping relationship or conversation (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006). The object of help in this context is subject to some divergences in interpretation. Indeed, one feature shared by articles about coaching seems to be that authors frequently point out how little agreement there is on the use of the term, and how inconsistently it is used (see, for example, Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006:12, or Gray and Goregaokar, 2010:526). Some go further, linking the widespread adoption of coaching to the range of interpretations, lamenting that "the very popularity of the approach has resulted in greater confusion" (Clutterbuck, 2008:9), or pointing out with apparent surprise that "despite its popularity, there is little consensus on the nature of executive coaching" (Gray et al, 2011:863). It has even been described as "a kind of “catch-all” concept, covering whatever you want to put under it" (Arnaud, 2003:1133). Variations appear in areas including the stated aims, the specific approach, the location of the meetings, or the techniques and methods used (ibid). Somewhat paradoxically, there appears to be a general consensus only on the lack of consensus.

In response to the lack of an accepted definition, some authors have attempted to clarify what the term “coaching” should refer to, and do so in particular by differentiating it from “mentoring”, a concept with which it is often associated. David Clutterbuck, who has been working in the field for at least 30 years, and who has published extensively on the topics of both coaching and mentoring, (http://www.davidclutterbuckpartnership.com), has frequently attempted to delineate the two activities. In a relatively recent article (Clutterbuck, 2008:8), he suggested that the term “coaching” should primarily be used when performance is addressed, rather than, say, holistic development, a recommendation which highlights that coaching takes place within the context of enhancing productivity at work. The focus on performance is echoed in more practical guidelines such as those written by Atkins and Lawrence (2012:44) in the industry publication IT Now, when they state "coaching is about performance, mentoring is personal".

Although it is often cited, this division between “performance” and “personal” could be considered slightly artificial, and even unnecessary. Indeed, as performance is “performed” by the person, it is interesting to notice what appears to be a denial of the potentially transformational aspect of conversations within a helping relationship. A full discussion of this denial is outside the scope of this short report, but it could be caused by various influencing factors. Those factors might include the wish to justify the allocation of resources towards an activity which should therefore be seen as closely related to profit and accountability, coupled with a suspicion of anything which might be construed as not immediately rational and goal-focused. In other words, to be justifiable within a business context, a belief may exist that coaching should be positioned as closely oriented to business goals. This belief could underlie the prevalence of assertions that coaching is connected more to performance management than to holistic development. However, this report takes the view that there may be a useful overlap, as described below.

Looking to research, the overlapping of personal development with performance management was recently addressed by Gray et al (2011), in a study which aimed to establish whether coaching was seen as primarily beneficial to the individual's development or to the organisation's productivity. In brief, Gray et al's (2011) paper indicates that although involvement in coaching might be experienced as therapeutic by many coachees, it is generally positioned in the literature and by companies which engage in it as something beneficial to the organisation, as mentioned above. The authors also concluded that coaching may enhance various management competencies. Overall, the study indicates that coaching may be of interest to organisations as something which may enhance staff performance and productivity. In addition, although it does not always appear as the primary focus, and is even denied as an intention by some authors as discussed above, it may be that participation in coaching could also bring developmental benefits to the individual.

In essence, this report takes the view that the term coaching refers to an arranged conversation or series of conversations within a work context, conversations which aim at allowing the coachee to discuss and gain clarity on various work-related challenges or goals. Although we will adhere to the general conception provided above of coaching as carrying the intention of enhancing performance or competencies, the potential for personal or holistic development will be acknowledged. Additionally, coaching is often linked in literature to leadership (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006; Stern, 2004), yet this report does not adopt that pattern in a restrictive sense. In other words, we would either consider that participating as a coachee can be useful for any employee, not only leaders, or, alternatively, we would broaden the definition of “leadership” to include any colleague who may have an influence within the organisation: a description which could arguably include any staff member. Overall, therefore, the report and its recommendations will prioritise the potentially beneficial outcomes of conversations which fall within the realm of coaching, rather than restricting the discussion to whether or not any particular activity can legitimately be given this term. This may be a broader usage of the concept than that followed by some writers, but is grounded in the intention to provide a practicable analysis of the needs for coaching within an organisation. Within this context, this report is predominantly informed by psychoanalytic theory and practice, justified below.

Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education Student (2013)

• some
• a fraction
• a minority/majority of
• a proportion of
• to some extent.

• appears to
• has the appearance of
• is similar to
• shares characteristics with
• appears to be in line with.

• might
• may
• could
• can
• has the possibility of
• has the potential to
• is able to.

• sometimes
• rarely
• tends to
• has a tendency to.

• in a simpler way than...
• more simply than…
• when compared to…

• in the context of…
• … in certain situations…
• within some households…

• based on…
• as indicated by…
• according to…

• can be described as
• could be considered to be
• is sometimes labelled
• can be equated to
• the term is often used to mean
• the term is often used to refer to
• this may indicate that…
• this may suggest that…

Underlying this report is the assumption that organisations, and the individuals within them, hold the intention to do their job well, and, if possible, to do their job better, within the context of their particular situation, abilities and priorities. Creating and developing coaching relationships within the organisation can be described as one form of an attempt to move in this direction.

Comment: These two statements set out the importance of the topic. The way this is done, and the information that is needed, will vary depending on the topic. Please remember that this is only one example.

Accordingly, this report analyses the potential for an increase in coaching practice within one particular organisation. 

Comment: This sentence states the aim of the assignment, in the context of the abovementioned importance (Accordingly...). It also restates the assignment title/task.

It will be suggested that coaching might usefully be incorporated into certain areas of the organisation.

Comment: This is the thesis statement.

Coaching within organisations, for the purpose of this report, is taken to refer to a particular type of intentional conversation. This conversation may contribute to the development of the coachee while potentially enhancing the individual's work within the organisation (as discussed by Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006).

Comment: Here we have a brief definition of the key term, for the purpose of this assignment.

The report will first consider a more nuanced definition of coaching, along with an outline of current themes in the way coaching is discussed in the literature. This is followed by an explanation and justification of taking a psychoanalytically informed approach to an analysis of coaching within organisations (Arnaud, 2003). After that, the specific organisational context of the [XYZ workplace] will be analysed, together with an assessment of the need for coaching within this organisation, and an evaluation of the existing potential to facilitate such conversations. At the same time, a brief strategy and implementation plan that details how these needs could be met will be presented.

Comment: This final section provides the outline/structure/organisation, so that the reader knows what to expect.

To sum up, this report has defined coaching as a conversation which can enhance performance at the same time as contributing to the development of the coachee (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006). The report took a psychoanalytically informed approach to an analysis of coaching within organisations, and considered the associated benefits and the required resources. Applying the theory to the specific organisational context of the [XYZ Workplace], the need for coaching in this context was discussed, together with a strategy and implementation plan in order to facilitate the recommended coaching conversations. It was suggested that coaching could usefully be incorporated into certain areas of the organization.

Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education student (2013).

(Here is an example of a summary paragraph and transition paragraph, from a report produced for a Master's module. This appeared at the end of a section on the current state of knowledge in coaching.)

In sum, this section has outlined some key issues within the current state of knowledge in coaching. As was demonstrated, one precise definition does not exist, but a general convergence appears in that the term refers to a particular type of conversation which may contribute to the coachee's development while simultaneously enhancing their performance (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006). The contributions of psychoanalytic theory and practice to coaching and to organisational consultancy were also briefly reviewed and justified, as this growing area may allow coaching to fully utilise the transformational potential of the one-to-one format. Conceptions of learning as non-linear and unpredictable were also delineated, as coaching has the potential to promote the learning of both the individual coachee and their organisation.

Having outlined briefly our understanding of “coaching” for the purposes of this report, and the recommended approach, it will be useful to map out in slightly more detail the resources required, before discussing the practical application of a coaching programme in one organisation.

Source: Blackwell, J. (2013). Advancing coaching and mentoring in and across organisational contexts. Organisational Report. UCL Institute of Education: Unpublished MA Assignment.

(This extract is from the “definitions” section of a Master's assignment.)

Purpose and definitions of coaching

It is arguably worth outlining the boundaries and purpose of the term “coaching” before proceeding with the discussion. In general, “coaching” tends to be used within human resource management and organisational theory to refer to a particular type of helping relationship or conversation (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006). The object of help in this context is subject to some divergences in interpretation. Indeed, one feature shared by articles about coaching seems to be that authors frequently point out how little agreement there is on the use of the term, and how inconsistently it is used (see, for example, Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006 or Gray and Goregaokar, 2010). Some go further, linking the widespread adoption of coaching to the range of interpretations, lamenting that "the very popularity of the approach has resulted in greater confusion" (Clutterbuck, 2008:9), or pointing out with apparent surprise that "despite its popularity, there is little consensus on the nature of executive coaching" (Gray et al, 2011:863). It has even been described as "a kind of 'catch-all' concept, covering whatever you want to put under it" (Arnaud, 2003:1133). Variations appear in areas including the stated aims, the specific approach, the location of the meetings, or the techniques and methods used (ibid). Somewhat paradoxically, there appears to be a general consensus only on the lack of consensus.

In response to the lack of an accepted definition, some authors have attempted to clarify what the term “coaching” should refer to, and do so in particular by differentiating it from “mentoring”, a concept with which it is often associated. David Clutterbuck, who has been working in the field for at least 30 years, and who has published extensively on the topics of both coaching and mentoring, (David Clutterbuck Partnership, no date), has frequently attempted to delineate the two activities. In a relatively recent article (Clutterbuck, 2008:8), he suggested that the term “coaching” should primarily be used when performance is addressed, rather than, say, holistic development, a recommendation which highlights that coaching takes place within the context of enhancing productivity at work. The focus on performance is echoed in more practical guidelines such as those written by Atkins and Lawrence (2012:44) in the industry publication IT Now, when they state "coaching is about performance, mentoring is personal".

Although it is often cited, this division between “performance” and “personal” could be considered slightly artificial, and even unnecessary. Indeed, as performance is “performed” by the person, it is interesting to notice what appears to be a denial of the potentially transformational aspect of conversations within a helping relationship. A full discussion of this denial is outside the scope of this short report, but it could be caused by various influencing factors. Those factors might include the wish to justify the allocation of resources towards an activity which should therefore be seen as closely related to profit and accountability, coupled with a suspicion of anything which might be construed as not immediately rational and goal-focused. In other words, to be justifiable within a business context, a belief may exist that coaching should be positioned as closely oriented to business goals. This belief could underlie the prevalence of assertions that coaching is connected more to performance management than to holistic development. However, this report takes the view that there may be a useful overlap, as described below.

Looking to research, the overlapping of personal development with performance management was recently addressed by Gray et al (2011), in a study which aimed to establish whether coaching was seen as primarily beneficial to the individual's development or to the organisation's productivity. In brief, Gray et al's (2011) paper indicates that although involvement in coaching might be experienced as therapeutic by many coachees, it is generally positioned in the literature and by companies which engage in it as something beneficial to the organisation, as mentioned above. The authors also concluded that coaching may enhance various management competencies. Overall, the study indicates that coaching may be of interest to organisations as something which may enhance staff performance and productivity. In addition, although it does not always appear as the primary focus, and is even denied as an intention by some authors as discussed above, it may be that participation in coaching could also bring developmental benefits to the individual.

In essence, this report takes the view that the term coaching refers to an arranged conversation or series of conversations within a work context, conversations which aim at allowing the coachee to discuss and gain clarity on various work-related challenges or goals. Although we will adhere to the general conception provided above of coaching as carrying the intention of enhancing performance or competencies, the potential for personal or holistic development will be acknowledged. Additionally, coaching is often linked in literature to leadership (Boyatzis, Smith and Blaize, 2006; Stern, 2004), yet this report does not adopt that pattern in a restrictive sense. In other words, we would either consider that participating as a coachee can be useful for any employee, not only leaders, or, alternatively, we would broaden the definition of “leadership” to include any colleague who may have an influence within the organisation: a description which could arguably include any staff member. Overall, therefore, the report and its recommendations will prioritise the potentially beneficial outcomes of conversations which fall within the realm of coaching, rather than restricting the discussion to whether or not any particular activity can legitimately be given this term. This may be a broader usage of the concept than that followed by some writers, but is grounded in the intention to provide a practicable analysis of the needs for coaching within an organisation. Within this context, this report is predominantly informed by psychoanalytic theory and practice, justified below.

Source: Anonymous UCL Institute of Education Student (2013).