I am currently writing my qualitative research design (interview protocol and process) for my doctoral dissertation. Should I write it in first person or third person? Pls advise. Thanks
I have seen published papers that use first person and papers that use third person.
To a certain extent I think that it depends on the context of the study. For example, if you are collecting data from yourself as a "participant researcher" it may be appropriate to use first person.
Generally, however, I feel that it is more professional to use third person throughout your paper.
Ask your dissertation advisor if your school has an official policy about this.
Traditionally, it has been the third person, in order to distant a scientific writing from personal context and give a sense of objectivity. However, the use of first or third person is more linked to the impression of objectivity and less on using the person itself. The pdf attachment shows it nicely (in page 2) where using "I" is less emotional and more objective whereas third person can also be used in a more emotional way. In this case, use of first person seems alright. However, as using the third person is something like unwritten convention in the scientific community, some of the publishers (in their author guidelines) specifically mention about third person writing style for prospective authors. Therefore, rather than giving a straight answer, it would be better to follow the author guidelines or dissertation advisor's preference in specific cases, as already mentioned by Michael W. Marek. In addition to the attachment, the following reference may also be a good read to understand this issue. Hope it helps.
Webb, C. (1992). The use of the first person in academic writing: objectivity, language and gatekeeping. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 17(6), 747-752.
From my point of view, writing in the first person would be acceptable when writing personal information but NOT in scientific writing
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Linguistics
- Composition Studies
- Writing