Bailey.Academic_Writing

4.4 Taking Ideas from Sources 195
cross-reference
1.7 Note-making
1.8 Paraphrasing
cross-reference
2.11 References and
Quotations
3. The next step is to make notes of these points, using
paraphrase:
a) Although W. economies expanded since 1950s, no
parallel growth in happiness.
b) But most rich people say they are happier than poor.
c) Money appears to make individuals happier but not
society as a whole.
d) People soon get accustomed to developments, so
don’t appreciate them.
4. These points can now be combined into one paragraph
of your essay, using conjunctions where necessary, and
including a reference to your source:
Penec (2003) argues that although Western economies
have expanded since the 1950s, there has been no
parallel growth in happiness. Surveys indicate that rich
people generally say they are happier than poor people,
but it appears that although individuals may become
happier society as a whole does not. One possible
answer is that people soon become accustomed to
improvements and so do not appreciate them.
5. Continue the same process with the next section of the text to
produce another paragraph of your essay:
A further explanation for the failure of wealth to increase
happiness is the tendency for people to compare their
own position to that of their neighbours. Studies show
that people would prefer to have a lower income, if their
colleagues got less, rather than a higher income while
colleagues got more. In other words, happiness seems
to depend on feeling better off than other people, rather
than on any absolute measure of wealth. Further research
suggests that having free time is also closely linked to
happiness, so that the pattern of working harder in order
to buy more goods is unlikely to increase well-being. Yet
Western societies generally encourage employees to
spend as much time at work as possible.
6. Notes on the second section might be:
a) Happiness often depends on feeling wealthier than
others.
b) People believe that leisure = happiness, so working
longer to get extra goods won’t lead to happiness.
These points could summarised as:
Another explanation Penec presents is that happiness is
often dependent on a comparison with others, so that if
neighbours are also getting richer there is no apparent