1 Using examples
Generalisations are commonly used to introduce a topic:
It is often claimed that many mergers are unsuccessful...But if the reader is given an example for illustration, the idea becomes more concrete:
It is often claimed that many mergers are unsuccessful, for instance the merger between Compaq
and Hewlett-Packard in 2005...Without examples, an argument may seem too theoretical:
E-commerce businesses are particularly vulnerable to security breaches.An example makes the idea easier to understand:
E-commerce businesses are particularly vulnerable to security breaches. When eBay was hacked
into in 2014, for instance, 128 million members had to change their passwords.The example may also support the point the writer is making:
... in recent years researchers have begun looking into corporate governance in transition
economies... For example, Djankov and Murrell (2002) document that more than 150,000
large SOEs in transition economies have undergone enterprise restructuring...
Examples
UNIT
2.7
Examples are used in academic writing for support and illustration. Suitable
examples can strengthen the argument, but they can also help the reader to
understand a point. This unit demonstrates the different ways in which examples
can be introduced, and practises their use.