Tuesday, January 31, 2006

apa style rules -- or drools?

we said yes to a new freelance project.
"it's $5 a page," and "it's only copyediting," we heard ourselves whine.
well, we have yet to get tucked into the damn thing,
which means the tension is mounting.

how exciting!

here, then, is the cast of characters in the little drama we will be enbroiled in for a bit:

from wooster.edu
from SUNY albany
university of toledo -- very fancy


for quick reference, we have these helpful bits:

Numbers

  • Spell out common fractions and common expressions (one-half, Fourth of July).
  • Spell out large numbers beginning sentences (Thirty days hath September . . .).
  • Spell out numbers which are inexact, or below 10 and not grouped with numbers over 10 (one-tailed t test, eight items, nine pages, three-way interaction, five trials).
  • Use numerals for numbers 10 and above, or lower numbers grouped with numbers 10 and above (for example, from 6 to 12 hours of sleep).
  • To make plurals out of numbers, add s only, with no apostrophe (the 1950s).
  • Treat ordinal numbers like cardinal numbers (the first item of the 75th trial . . .).
  • Use combinations of written and Arabic numerals for back-to-back modifiers (five 4-point scales).
  • Use combinations of numerals and written numbers for large sums (over 3 million people).
  • Use numerals for exact statistical references, scores, sample sizes, and sums (multiplied by 3, or 5% of the sample). Here is another example: "We used 30 subjects, all two year olds, and they spent an average of 1 hr 20 min per day crying.
  • Use metric abbreviations with figures (4 km) but not when written out (many meters distant).
  • Use the percent symbol (%) only with figures (5%) not with written numbers (five percent).
and finally, for WHO vs. WHOM, you just can't beat this explanation -- one we can at last understand:

Who
and whom are both pronouns that refer to people (they cannot refer to things), but a certain amount of grammatical analysis is required to use each appropriately. Who is a subjective pronoun, whereas whom is an objective pronoun.

When you begin a dependent clause with the pronoun who or whom, you determine the appropriate word by its function in the clause. When the pronoun acts as the subject of the clause, use who. When the pronoun acts as the object of the clause, use whom.

Ex: The prize goes to the runner who collects the most points.
[Who does the action of collecting.]
Ex: The tutor to whom I was assigned was very supportive.
[Whom is the object of the preposition to.]

TIP: If you are not sure which to use, try separating the dependent clause from the rest of the sentence and looking at it by itself. Rewrite the clause as a new sentence by replacing the who or whom with a third person (he/she, him/her or them) personal pronoun. If the replacement pronoun is he/she/they, use who; if it is him/her/them, use whom.

Ex.:
The dentist who does my teeth is certified in dental surgery as well.
[He/she does my teeth.]
Ex.: We need to know whom we can trust.
[We can trust him/her/them.]

When you are deciding whether to use who or whom as the beginning to a question, it is easiest to consider the answer to the question. If the answer begins with he/she/they, use who to begin the question. If the answer begins with him/her/them, use whom.

Ex:
Who is responsible for this evil deed?
[He/She/They is/are responsible for this evil deed.]
Ex: Whom did you enter into the contract with?
[I entered into the contract with him/her/them.]

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home