How does integrating evidence-based information into your writing differ from writingusing personal opinion?

Integrating evidence-based information in scholarly writing helps the writer
communicate ideas backed up by research rather than hearsay. Therefore, scholarly writing
demands the application of academic writing techniques to improve the credibility of one’s
paper. By integrating evidence-based information in writing, the writer credits the original
source and therefore avoids plagiarism. Conversely, using personal opinion involves
communicating ideas not backed by research, which could be misleading to peers. In
addition, personal opinion is based on personal experience, knowledge, and skills and might
therefore be highly biased, preventing objective analysis of arguments or topics. Given the
uncertainty attributed to personal opinions, students are encouraged to integrate evidence-
based information to provide a comprehensive analysis of ideas. Besides, combining
evidence-based information shows efforts that one has put in acknowledging the body of
evidence on many subjects.

What is the difference between constructive feedback and criticism?
In many settings, the line between constructive feedback and criticism is always blurry,
owing to the similar goal shared by the two terms. However, constructive feedback during the
learning process is quite different from criticism: the former brings attention to positive and
negative attributes and further provides aspects of improvement, whereas criticism highlights
the negative attributes without necessarily providing points of improvement. Constructive
feedback aims at accomplishing a positive change. Therefore, communication focuses more
on the task and areas of improvement rather than attacking an individual’s personality.
According to Fong et al. (2016) , “constructive feedback has previously been defined as
“specific, considerate, and avoided attributing poor performance to internal causes.” In a

3
study investigating college students’ perception of what constitutes constructive feedback,
students were more likely to tie positive emotions towards feedback they felt was
constructive, and negative emotions were associated with criticism.
Most educators believe that distinguishing constructive feedback from criticism is a
sensitive art that requires practice (Niemann et al., 2014). This is due to the complexity of
motivational and emotional factors students experience when receiving feedback from peers
and tutors. To make matters worse, feedback that suggests improvement strategies has not
always been reported to be effective in motivating students. In this case, the approach and
delivery tone are essential as they help the student process feedback effectively. Conversely,
criticism is often delivered negatively, in a manner that might damage a person’s self-esteem.
Criticism has also been tied to unpleasant solid emotions that impact a student’s ability to
work towards accomplishing a better outcome (Grieve et al., 2019). Therefore, subsequent
behavior when receiving feedback is inherently tied to emotional responses.
How does the structure and tone of professional writing differ from that of casual
writing?
The structure and tone of professional writing are less personal and avoid the use of
contractions and colloquialisms, which are quite common in casual writing. In professional
writing, the organization of ideas is more structured and follows an identifiable logic and
flow. Since professional writing is considered superior to casual writing, the tone is more
neutral than that in casual writing. For example, professional writing might express the
findings of a study factually without traces of enthusiasm. In contrast, casual writing will
clearly show the writer’s feelings, enthusiasm, or disappointment in the same scenario. For
example:
Professional writing: The authors found that increased risk awareness improved safety
among residents living in disaster-prone areas.

4
Casual writing: This study makes me wonder how people can stay safe when they know
for sure they could be in danger! I don’t understand how someone can live in a disaster-
prone area without worry.

5

References

Fong, C. J., Warner, J. R., Williams, K. M., Schallert, D. L., Chen, L.-H., Williamson, Z. H.,
& Lin, S. (2016). Deconstructing constructive criticism: The nature of academic
emotions associated with constructive, positive, and negative feedback. Learning and
Individual Differences, 49, 393–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.05.019
Grieve, R., Moffitt, R. L., & Padgett, C. R. (2019). Student perceptions of marker personality
and intelligence: The effect of emoticons in online assignment feedback. Learning
and Individual Differences, 69, 232-238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.02.008
Niemann, J., Wisse, B., Rus, D., Van Yperen, N. W., & Sassenberg, K. (2014). Anger and
attitudinal reactions to negative feedback: The effects of emotional instability and
power. Motivation and Emotion, 38(5), 687-699.