相信读过研究所的人，都有写论文的共同经验，而且在论文的写作过程中，多半是一种漫长的天人交战，也有一种玩弄文字的快感。《教授为什么没告诉我》是以研究生立场发言，从教授转换成学生，彷彿说出多数研究生的心声与想法，最急需了解的是论文究竟要如何写成。严格说来，这只是一本关于论文写作的书，从研究主题选定、文献回顾、研究方法、问题意识、分析与发现、结论，到未来研究方向。学术就非得严肃的令人敬而远之，还是平易近人比较好？纽约本身是毕老师都市空间研究能量的获取，厕所正好反映出性別空间最激烈的场域，自拍则翻转主流论述的对于身体负面价值。

Social scientists, whether earnest graduate students or tenured faculty members, clearly know the rules that govern good writing. But for some reason they choose to ignore those guidelines and churn out turgid, pompous, and obscure prose. Distinguished sociologist Howard S. Becker, true to his calling, looks for an explanation for this bizarre behavior not in the psyches of his colleagues but in the structure of his profession. In this highly personal and inspirational volume he considers academic writing as a social activity.
Both the means and the reasons for writing a thesis or article or book are socially structured by the organization of graduate study, the requirements for publication, and the conditions for promotion, and the pressures arising from these situations create the writing style so often lampooned and lamented. Drawing on his thirty-five years' experience as a researcher, writer, and teacher, Becker exposes the foibles of the academic profession to the light of sociological analysis and gentle humor. He also offers eminently useful suggestions for ways to make social scientists better and more productive writers. Among the topics discussed are how to overcome the paralyzing fears of chaos and ridicule that lead to writer's block; how to rewrite and revise, again and again; how to adopt a persona compatible with lucid prose; how to deal with that academic bugaboo, "the literature." There is also a chapter by Pamela Richards on the personal and professional risks involved in scholarly writing.
In recounting his own trials and errors Becker offers his readers not a model to be slavishly imitated but an example to inspire. Throughout, his focus is on the elusive work habits that contribute to good writing, not the more easily learned rules of grammar and punctuation. Although his examples are drawn from sociological literature, his conclusions apply to all fields of social science, and indeed to all areas of scholarly endeavor. The message is clear: you don't have to write like a social scientist to be one.

本书是研究、论证和文献综述写作的行动指南。即使对于资深的研究者来说，文献综述也很复杂。人们往往要通过反复实验、不断探索来学习撰写文献综述。要顺利完成一项文献综述，要求研究者具备很多技能，如缩小研究课题，聚焦搜索文献。此外，研究者还要使用必要的工具，去查阅与研究课题相关的大量书籍、期刊和报告。因此，本书的目的就是综合介绍经验丰富的研究者所采用的策略、工具和技巧，以资借鉴。