How do you use hedging in academic writing?
Hedging language refers to how a writer expresses certainty or uncertainty. Often in academic writing, a writer may not be sure of the claims that are being made in their subject area, or perhaps the ideas are good but the evidence is not very strong.
In practice, hedging occurs almost everywhere. For example, if you buy homeowner's insurance, you are hedging yourself against fires, break-ins, or other unforeseen disasters.
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Expressing quantity | some, many, much (also expression one of) |
| d) Adverbs | |
| Expressing probability | perhaps, possibly, probably, apparently, evidently, presumably, relatively |
| Expressing frequency | occasionally, sometimes, generally, usually, often, seldom |
Hedging is a type of language use which 'protects' your claims. Using language with a suitable amount of caution can protect your claims from being easily dismissed. It also helps to indicate the level of certainty we have in relation to the evidence or support.
For example, a coffee company depends on a regular, predictable supply of coffee beans. To protect itself against a possible increase in coffee bean prices, the company could enter into a futures contract that would allow it to buy beans at a specific price on a particular date. That contract is a hedge.
Avoid multiple hedges within a sentence.
For example, when you use “may,” it is clear to readers that you are talking about a possibility, as in “It may rain.” The word “possibly” serves the same purpose, as do the qualifiers, namely, “to some extent,” “under certain circ*mstances,” and “some individuals.”
Hedges may take the form of many different parts of speech, for example: There might just be a few insignificant problems we need to address. (adjective) The party was somewhat spoiled by the return of the parents.
For example, the following sentence uses hedging language, which is formatted in italics: “Increased gas emissions from vehicles are probably a leading contributor to global climate change.” In this example, “probably” is used to indicate that the writer/speaker is fairly, but not entirely, confident that emissions are ...
A hedge is an investment that helps limit your financial risk. A hedge works by holding an investment that will move in the opposite direction of your core investment, so that if the core investment declines, the investment hedge will offset or limit the overall loss.
What are 3 rules of academic writing?
- Write out all words in full. ...
- Keep to a formal style. ...
- Do not address the reader directly, i.e., do not use the word 'you' as a narrative form. ...
- Avoid the pronouns 'I' and 'we' except when explaining the set-up of the research in the introduction or in the methods section.
- Use of derivatives: futures, options and forward contracts.
- Pairs trading: taking two positions on assets with a positive correlation.
- Trading safe haven assets: gold, government bonds and currencies such as the USD and CHF.
In Sociolinguistics, hedges are mainly associated with women and their talk as protective devices for speakers and listeners' faces. Women use these features more frequently than men because they are more attentive to preserving their own faces and the addressees' in order to create solidarity.
Hedging is used to show courtesy and respect for others' views, an important part of any dialogue whether in writing or spoken (Leech, 1983). In contrast, boosting is used to show confidence in your claims and results (Hyland, 2000). It is a way of being far more definite and strong in your views.
There are three types of hedge accounting: fair value hedges, cash flow hedges and hedges of the net investment in a foreign operation.
The purpose of hedging is a linguistic means of indicating a lack of commitment to the truth of a proposition and as an opening for the writer to introduce alternative unproven claims to influence readers.
The primary reason given by CFTC for the ban on hedging was due to the double costs of trading and the inconsequential trading outcome, which always gives the edge to the broker than the trader. However, as far as Forex trading is concerned, a trader should have the freedom to trade the market the way he sees fit.
The easiest and most powerful way to hedge a portfolio is through diversification. Hedge funds often seek out exotic assets to increase their variety of holdings. It works because asset performance is volatile; no asset consistently beats the market.
Definition and Examples of a Short Hedge
Let's assume you own 100 shares of a stock that you believe will soon go down in price. To protect against an anticipated drop, you purchase a long put option (100 shares) to hedge against your losses.
In academic discourse, hedging is a crucial rhetorical strategy mainly used by writers to mitigate the argumentative force of knowledge claims in order to reduce the potential threat that new claims make on other researchers, and thus minimise possible criticism from peers (Myers, 1989).
How do you hedge a statement?
Hedging and softening include the tailored use of verbs (e.g., seem, appear), modals (e.g., could, can, might), adjectives of probability and quantity (e.g., possible, one of), adverbs of probability and frequency (e.g., possibly, generally), nouns (e.g., likelihood, probability), and certain phrases (e.g., based on, ...
Accuracy. In academic writing you need to be accurate in your use of vocabulary. Do not confuse, for example, "phonetics" and "phonology" or "grammar" with "syntax". Choose the correct word, for example, "meeting", "assembly" , "gathering" or "conference".
Hedging is a language tactic used to soften your communication and make statements sound less forceful. That doesn't necessarily sound bad, but in reality, hedging detracts from your credibility.
Rule 1: Answer the question that is asked. Rule 2: Write your answer in your own words. Rule 3: Think about the content of your essay, being sure to demonstrate good social scientific skills. Rule 4: Think about the structure of your essay, being sure to demonstrate good writing skills and observing any word limit.
| What not to do | What to do |
|---|---|
| Do not use bullet points or lists, unless it is in a report. | use complete sentences and link these into logical paragraphs. |
| Avoid making assumptions or giving your opinion (unless specifically asked). | Be objective. |
| Avoid waffling or repeating yourself. | Be clear and concise. |
