The four main forms of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, critical and persuasive.
In several academic texts you will have to use one or more type. For instance, in an empirical thesis:
- you will use critical writing within the literature review to exhibit where there clearly was a gap or opportunity when you look at the existing research
- the techniques section will be mostly descriptive to summarise the techniques used to collect and analyse information
- the results section are going to be mostly descriptive and analytical while you report regarding the data you collected
- the discussion section is more analytical, as you propose your interpretations of the findings as you relate your findings back to your research questions, and also persuasive. Read more