How to handle supporting information??

I agree. The first one reads cleaner. The second one makes you go back to re-read for clarity. Go with your gut.

Keyboard Hound said:

[FONT=&quot]You people have helped me so much on this project, I'll never be able to thank you enough. I have another quick question:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Which is better in a formal publication?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This: Pricing refers to the cost of the product and the extent to which changes such as discounting or price increases affect consumption.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Or this: Pricing refers to the cost of product and the extent to which changes (i.e, discounting or price increases) affect consumption.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm thinking the first one. I'm editing another person's writing, and I don't want to make wrong changes because they won't like it. Again, thanks so much to all you who've helped me.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Keyboard[/FONT]

Click to expand...

The first one is clearer. The second one introduces a pet peeve of mine. In it you use "i.e." (that is) when you actually mean "e.g." (for example). It really irks me when people use i.e. when they mean e.g.

[FONT=&quot]

This: Pricing refers to the cost of the product and the extent to which changes such as discounting or price increases affect consumption.

Or this: Pricing refers to the cost of product and the extent to which changes (i.e, discounting or price increases) affect consumption.


Isn't it "effect?" Or am I mistaken?
[/FONT]

No, it's "affect." It's correct. Here's the rule I use:

Affect is BEFORE an event, and pertains to the method

Effect is AFTER an event, and pertains to the result

A before E. Easy.

Since the consumption MIGHT be changed by the cost of the product, it's BEFORE. If it was "effect" it would probably read:

Price increases had the effect of altering consumption.

Click to expand...

That would be AFTER the event.

Keyboard Hound said:

[FONT=&quot]You people have helped me so much on this project, I'll never be able to thank you enough. I have another quick question:

Which is better in a formal publication?

This: Pricing refers to the cost of the product and the extent to which changes such as discounting or price increases affect consumption.

Or this: Pricing refers to the cost of product and the extent to which changes (i.e, discounting or price increases) affect consumption.

I'm thinking the first one. I'm editing another person's writing, and I don't want to make wrong changes because they won't like it. Again, thanks so much to all you who've helped me.
Keyboard
[/FONT]

Click to expand...

How about a little bit of rewrite to make it shorter and I hope clearer:
[FONT=&quot]
Pricing refers to the cost of the product and the extent to which price changes affect consumption.
[/FONT]
There are only two ways you can change a price, you can discount it or you can increase it, and the word change covers both of them.

CaroGirl said:

The first one is clearer. The second one introduces a pet peeve of mine. In it you use "i.e." (that is) when you actually mean "e.g." (for example). It really irks me when people use i.e. when they mean e.g.

Click to expand...

I suppose he have the only two examples of what you could do with a price, so perhaps "that is" would indeed be correct.

Keyboard Hound said:

Oh, Lord, I've been struggling with affect/effect through dozens and dozens of pages. Someone else said affect equates with action. I thought it was affect, but now that I'm really thinking about it, I'm getting confused. Anyone else got any ideas on this?

Click to expand...

I saw that other thread on those words...

Cathy C said:

No, it's "affect." It's correct. Here's the rule I use:

Affect is BEFORE an event, and pertains to the method

Effect is AFTER an event, and pertains to the result

A before E. Easy.

Since the consumption MIGHT be changed by the cost of the product, it's BEFORE. If it was "effect" it would probably read:



That would be AFTER the event.

Click to expand...

I dunno, that doesn't pass my smell test. Now I'm gonna have to look in the dictionary (or dictionaries).
Oh my goodness... the effect of these threads is to have an affect on me...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/effect
Entries 1 to 10 of 24.
I give up, I won't even guess which meaning applies without context, which in this case means not just a sentence but at least a paragraph.

I agree with CaroGirl about "e.g.".

e.g. = examples
i.e. = synonym or definition

That said, I find the second one a lot clearer and easier to read. If you're going with the first one, please add commas before "such as" and after "increases", so that I have an easier time to spot the core sentence. The first one gets style points, to be sure, but the second one directs me immediately to the necessary information: brackets and "e.g." help me see the function of the information at a glance.

But, please, as Caro said: "e.g." not "i.e."