Test Your Grammar Might

I bet you didn't think there would be a test, did you? A lot of these grammar rules and guidelines are taken from a writing course I teach. Here be three questions: test your might!

Can you select the correct one(s)?

1. I mediated a talk between my brother and his wife. 
2. I moderated a talk between my brother and his wife. 
3. I mediated the damage done by talking to them individually. 
4. I moderated the damage done by talking to them individually. 

Can you select the correct one(s)?

1. I was effected by receiving a poor grade on my paper.
2. I was affected by receiving a poor grade on my paper.
3. Getting a poor grade on my paper definitely had an effect on me. 
4. Getting a poor grade on my paper definitely had an affect on me. 

Can you select the correct one(s)?

1. They’re working on a project where their was a large effect size for there statistically significant findings. 
2. They’re working on a project where there was a large effect size for their statistically significant findings. 
3. There working on a project where they’re was a large effect size for their statistically significant findings. 

Writing Tip of the Day: Common Errors Part II

I know it has been a while, but we are back with some more basic advice about common writing errors. We recently hired some wonderful folks here at Empirical and are marketing the magazine a little more. To that end, we would appreciate it if you were to follow us on all of our social media platforms. 

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So ends the marketing push (after all, we need to observe the 80/20 rule).

Here be some more commonly misused words:

1. Data/datum
• The difference is that one is plural and one is singular
• The data in my thesis was quite robust and supported my hypotheses. 
• A single piece of datum made the analysis of my research difficult
2. Elicit/illicit
• One is a verb and the other is an adjective
• During counseling sessions, psychologists ask open-ended questions to elicit an emotional memory. 
• Cheating on an exam or plagiarizing someone else's work is considered an illicit activity by the university. 
3. Lay/lie
• Both can be used as verbs, but only one can be used as a noun
• I lay my keys down on the table when I get home from the office. 
• I lie on my couch when I watch football on Sundays. 
• I told a terrible lie when I said this class does not count toward your GPA. 
4. Personal/personnel
• Adjective use versus noun use
• I try to not talk about my personal life in professional situations. 
• I do not have the personnel necessary to complete my research project in a timely manner. 
5. Precede/proceed
• Both can be used as a verb, but only one of them can be used as a noun
• I precede my friend on the roster because his last name is Patrick. 
• I proceed through the checkpoint after a short chat with the TSA agents.
• All of the proceeds from the event went to charity. 

Writing Tip of the Day: Common Errors Part I

A new feature on the Empirical blog will be frequent writing tips that relate to commonly misused words, grammar, sentence structure, and some creative writing ideas. These lessons are drawn from the wealth of experience of the Empirical staff, as well as the robust and endless information available on the internet. To make sure you get the opportunity to read these posts, then be sure to follow the blog and like us on Facebook.

To start us off, here are 5 commonly misused words:

1. Advice/advise 
1. Difference between whether you are using a noun or a verb 
1. A fellow student asked for my advice about how to study for the sociology final. 
2. I will advise my friend on how to best approach the sociology final.
2. Allusion/illusion 
1. Both are nouns, but are different in terms of context 
1. Your allusion that I have might have failed this class is incorrect. 
2. The illusion that it is impossible to pass this class is quite false.
3. Cite/site/sight 
1. The difference is whether it is being used as a noun or a verb 
1. I cited many prestigious researchers in my thesis. 
2. Room 211 will be the site of my thesis defense. 
3. It was quite a sight to see how happy I was to receive my Master’s degree.
4. Conscience/conscious 
1. One is a noun and one is an adjective 
1. It was a conscious choice to apply to graduate school. 
2. My conscience would not allow me to cheat on the exam. 
5. Council/counsel 
1. Both can be used as nouns 
1. The council was tasked with deciding on the budget. 
2. I gave counsel to a good friend of mine during a trying time. 
3. I counseled a friend of mine on how to cope with the loss of her beloved dog.