NOTE MAKING &

FINDING KEY POINTS

PART ONE: THE WRITING PROCESS
Brainstorming
It is often helpful to start thinking about a topic by writing down the ideas you have, in any order.

For example, Growth of e-commerce – likely results

Main reasons
• businesses can offer a wider range of products via internet
• more convenient for customers than travelling to shops
• businesses can reduce overheads by centralising distribution centres
• prices can often be lower.

Likely results
• decline in conventional shops
• growth in delivery businesses
• shopping centres become entertainment areas.
Outlines
An outline should help the writer to answer the question as effectively as possible. Care at this stage will
save wasted effort later. The more detail you include in your outline, the easier the writing process will be.
Note that for coursework, it is usually better to write the main body first, then the introduction and finally the
conclusion. Therefore, you may prefer to outline just the main body at this stage.
There is no fixed pattern for an outline; different methods appeal to different students.

For example, summarise the main reasons for the growth of e-commerce’
(a) The outline might be a list:
1. Benefits for buyers
• greater convenience in shopping by computer at any time
• lower prices
• better choice.

2. Benefits for sellers

• cost saving by centralising distribution
• global customer base
• 24/7 trading.
(b) An alternative is a mind map:

Greater convenience in shopping by computer at any time

Benefits for
Lower prices
buyers

Cost saving by
centralising distribution 24/7 trading
Better choice

Benefits for
Customer base sellers
 Finding key points
Before making notes, you need to find the main ideas in a text. These are included in the topic sentence, which
is often, but not always, the first sentence of a paragraph.
Read the following paragraph, about the growing market for products designed for older people, and underline
two key points. Then choose a title for the paragraph.
Title: Marketing to the older generation; Selling to the retired people; An ageing market

The generation born after World War II, sometimes called the baby-boomers, are now reaching retirement age,
and businesses are starting to realise that they are a wealthier market than any previous retirement group.
Financial products, travel and medicines are well-established industries which interest the over-60s, but others are
now focusing on this age group. Volkswagen, for instance, has produced a car with raised seats and more interior
space to appeal to their tastes. In Japan, with its ageing population, companies have more experience of selling to
the retired and have been successful with unusual products such as robotic seal, which serves as a pet substitute
for the lonely. There are, however, certain difficulties in selling to this market. Some customers resent being
addressed as ‘old’ since they see themselves as more youthful, while there is a huge variation in the profile of the
baby boomers, ranging from healthy and active to the bedridden and infirm.
*Download worksheet from google drive for finding relevant points

Underlining Key points:

(1) The practice of imposing taxes on products which are thought to have a negative social impact, such as alcohol, has
been accepted for several hundred years . . .
(2) It has recently been suggested in the USA that so-called junk food should be taxed in order to compensate for the
social costs of the obesity it is believed to cause. This proposal is based on the estimate of the medical costs of
obesity, which is thought to be linked to cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
(3) A study of the long-term effects of changes in food prices (Goldman, Lakdawalla and Zheng, 2009) argues that
significant changes in consumption, and hence obesity levels, can be achieved over the long-term.
(4) But the link between junk food and ill-health is not easily determined. A physically active person could eat
hamburgers daily and still keep slim.
(5) It has even been suggested that such a ‘fat tax’ might have the opposite effect and reduce activity levels by forcing
people to spend more time preparing food for themselves, instead of buying it from fast-food outlets (Yaniv, Rosin
and Tobol, 2009).
(6) . . . other studies on the effects of alcohol and tobacco taxes indicate that the heaviest users of these products are the
least influenced by price rises . .
*Download worksheet from google drive for Practice A

Practice A

Source: Rohan, J. (2010) Public Health Review 8, p. 36

Taxing junk food

(1) Goods > social harm (e.g. alcohol) have been taxed since 18th Century
(2) US proposal to tax junk food > reduce obesity > cut medical costs (diabetes, heart disease)
(3) Goldman, Lakdawalla and Zheng (2009) claim that raising food prices can reduce consumption in long term
(4) No clear link health/junk food – active people stay thin
(5) Yaniv, Rosin and Tobol (2009) argued that tax on fast food might have undesired effect of making people cook more >
cut their exercise time
(6) Research on tax on alcohol shows that main users are unaffected by increase in prices
*Download worksheet from google drive for Practice B

Practice B

Source: Caballero J. and Poledna Z. (2010) European Business Prospects, London: University Press, p. 351

Predatory pricing (PP) = using size to lower prices below cost to harm competitors

In USA 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act – example of govt. attempt to control monopolies

But low prices benefit customers + predation hard to prove legally

– good reasons for selling below cost (e.g. new product promotion)
– bundling (selling several items together) makes proof harder (i.e. calculating individual profit margins)

Example: 5/09 EU fined Intel €1 bn. for PP against rival AMD – but very complex case and Intel appealed verdict
*Download worksheet from google drive for Vocabulary Revision
Vocabulary revision
1 Financial products
2 Negative social impact
3 Curb consumption
4 Regressive taxation
5 Anti-monopoly legislation
6 Predatory pricing
7 Drive competitors to
bankruptcy
8 Losses can be offset
9 Establish malpractice
1o Newspaper circulation
Something sold for money management (e.g. insurance policy, bond or credit
card)
Causing social damage (e.g. crime
Limiting demand
Tax system that penalizes poorer people
Laws that aim to prevent one business controlling a market
Attempt by large company to use its power to cut prices to damage
competitors
Forcing rival companies out of business
Balancing a loss in one area with profits from others
Demonstrate bad behaviour
Number of copies sold per issue
Effective note-making
Notes are for your personal use and you should create your own style.
(a) You must use your own words and not copy phrases from the original to avoid the riskof plagiarism.
The quantity of notes you make depends on your task: you may only need a few points, or a lot of
detail.
(b) Always record the source of your notes, to save time when you have to write the list of references.
(c) Notes are written quickly, so keep them simple. Do not write sentences. Leave out articles (a/ the) and
prepositions (of/ to).
(d) If you write lists, it is important to have clear headings (underlined) and numbering systems (a, b, c, or
1, 2, 3) to organise the information. Do not crowd your notes.
(e) Use symbols (+, >, =) to save time.
(f) Use abbreviations (e.g. = for example). You need to make up your own abbreviations for your subject
area. But do not abbreviate too much, or you may find your notes hard to understand in the future!