What is hedging?
Before we explore strategies for hedging in our academic work, we need to establish exactly what we mean by this term.
Task 1
Unscramble the letters and type them in the gaps to create words which provide a definition of the word ‘hedging’. The first letter has been given in each case to help you.
What is hedging?
It is often believed that academic writing, is factual, there simply to convey facts and information. However an important feature of academic writing is the concept of cautious or tentative language, often called "hedging" or "vague language".
Hedging is crucial in academic discourse, and hedge words account for approximately 1 word in every 100 in academic articles.
Compare these two sentences:
- Clearly this increase in the crime rate was the result of the proliferation and availability of illegal hand guns and automatic weapons.
- This apparent increase in the crime rate may have been caused by the alleged proliferation and availability of illegal hand guns and automatic weapons.
The first sentence indicates a high level of certainty; indeed, the claim, or assertion, is presented as a fact. The second sentence, on the other hand, is more tentative. It does this in three places:
1. It questions the certainty of the reported data by using the word apparent. Crime rates are notoriously easy to manipulate and the fact that an increase is supported with statistics does not necessarily mean that an increase actually took place.
2. The second point opens up the relationship between the number of firearms available the supposed increase in the crime rate. Sentence 1 is adamant that they are directly related. Sentence 2 suggests that allows for some flexibility in the claim.
3. Again the second sentence ‘hedges’ on the side of tentativeness by cautioning the reader that the number of weapons and their ease of access is at worst open to doubt or at best question.
As the example above illustrates, the use of hedging enables the writer to make claims that are proportionate to the evidence available at the time of writing. In other words, hedging language helps to make statements as accurate as possible. Since there is a wide range of hedging words and phrases, it is important to choose one that reflects the strength of the supporting evidence. The use of the word ‘probably’ in the sentence below indicates that the evidence is fairly strong. In the second sentence, the more tentative word ‘could’ was selected, indicating that the evidence is weak.
- The fire was probably caused by a fault in the engine temperature gauge.
- The fire could have been caused by a fault in the engine temperature gauge.
Paying due attention to accuracy helps to avoid, or at least reduce, criticism of your work.
Hedging is also used to mitigate criticism of other authors’ work, as in the examples below:
- Johnson (2007) appears to ignore the adverse psychological side-effects of this approach.
- The risks of the new vaccine may have been overstated.
Task 2
Look at the sentences in the box below and then match the pairs of absolute and hedged versions in the table by dragging and dropping them in the table.
A. Recent research on the racial tension in South Carolina indicates a coming together of black and white contrary to the frequently negative media reports.
B. Wong & Smith (2009) maintain that the establishment’s commitment to environmental and social policies is weaker now than it was five years ago.
C. There are cases where this would have been the only possible method of transmission.
D. The decisions they made seem strange to most women today.
E. Stirling (2015) argues that mammals become extinct as a natural part of the evolutionary process.
F. Wong & Smith (2009) allege that the establishment’s commitment to some of the environmental and social policies is possibly weaker now than it was five years ago.
G. Yet it seems apparent that the result is often the same; violence can lead to violence.
H. Recent research on the racial tension in South Carolina shows a clear coming together of black and white contrary to the negative media reports.
I. Lundgrun (2012) estimates that possibly two in five marriages end in separation in the Philippines.
J. Yet it seems clear that the result is always the same; violence breeds violence.
K. There are cases where this would seem to have been one possible method of transmission.
L. Stirling (2015) suggests that mammals could become extinct as a natural part of the evolutionary process.
M. With current treatment, the side effects appear to be frequently less severe.
N. Lundgrun (2012) states that two in five marriages end in separation in the Philippines.
O. The decisions they made may seem strange to most women today.
P. With current treatment, the side effects are always less severe.
Why is hedging necessary?
Task 3
Read the text below and fill in the gaps with the words from the box.
understanding style impartiality opposition
politeness certainty convention acceptability
Four typical reasons to hedge
Task 4
Look at the table below which identifies the key functional hedging techniques. Now drag the language examples and sample sentences below and drop them into the table. Several have been done already.
A
perhaps, possibly, probably, practically, likely, presumably, virtually, apparently, allegedly |
B
However the possibility of error should not be ignored. |
C
quadruple hedges - it would seem somewhat unlikely that, it may appear somewhat speculative that |
D
often, sometimes, usually, frequently, rarely, occasionally, typically, mostly, usually, normally |
E
seem to, appear to, tend to, believe, assume, suggest, prefer, estimate, think, argue, indicate, propose, look, presume, speculate, allege, look like, doubt, maintain, state, seem, imply appear, tend, lean towards |
F
Such a measure might require further research. |
G
double hedges - it may suggest that; it seems likely that; it would indicate that; this probably indicates that |
H
It is likely to result in failure. |
I
approximately, roughly, about, generally, somewhat, a great deal of, some, most, the majority, significant number of, largely, mainly |
J
will, must, would, may, might, could, can |
K
Typically, the majority of interviewees responded negatively to question 5. |
L
certainly, definitely, clearly, probably, possibly, perhaps, strongly, conceivably, likely, presumably, apparently, allegedly, seemingly |
Task 5
Look at the table from this research report on the things that men and women hate most about working in an office environment. Then identify all of the hedging techniques by highlighting the key words and phrases. When you’ve finished, click on the check button.
| Men |
Women |
1. Messy desk (74%)
2. Colleagues spraying perfume/aftershave (66%)
3. Talking on the phone too loud (47%)
4. Being late (40%)
5. Taking too long at lunch (35%)
6. Eating smelly food (29%)
7. Too many cigarette breaks (28%)
8. Colleagues talking too much (22%)
9. Not being organised (11%)
10. Rudeness (9%) |
1. Eating smelly food (82%)
2. Being late (67%)
3. Too many cigarette breaks (51%)
4. Bad hygiene (34%)
5. Not being organised (33%)
6. Messy desk (29%)
7. Not returning borrowed stationery (25%)
8. Talking on the phone too loud (23%)
9. Taking too long at lunch (17%)
10. Dressing inappropriately (10%) |
Task 6
Now read these absolute statements and rewrite them to present a hedged version. Then click on check to compare your answers. Remember though that the suggested answers are only one option; there may be other ways to rewrite these.
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