Active voice: Using "I" to show my contribution and "we" to include the audience? I've read the other questions on active vs passive voice. But my question is slightly different.
Let's say I'm writing in active voice and using &quot;I&quot; as I'm primarily writing a thesis-like document. When I present results, is it okay to say &quot;we&quot; as a way include the audience? For example, consider the following paragraph:
Option 1:
&quot;I used algorithm X to perform Y on data Z. [...] In Figure 1, we can see that A is greater than B.&quot;
Is that acceptable? Or is it more proper to rewrite as:
Option 2:
&quot;I used algorithm X to perform Y on data Z. [...] In Figure 1, I show that A is greater than B.&quot;
My intuition tells me option 2 is more correct; however it just sounds slightly awkward to me in certain places. Are there better/other options than the aforementioned options?
Apart from issues of singular versus plural first-person in active voice, ... it is often possible to use third-person (active), simultaneously shorten the sentence, and perhaps only refer to the objects, phenomena, and processes in play. E.g &quot;Application of procedure X to stuff Y produced whatever-Z...&quot; (Or &quot;Procedure X applied to stuff Y ...&quot;)
That is, often, &quot;unwinding&quot; the grammar can show that there are redundant or functionless phrases, which can be dropped, and in fact clarify.
(In my field, mathematics, in English, in the U.S., there certainly is a tradition to use plural first person, but, truly, I've found that often unwinding the grammar allows shortening. And, often, unwinding allows active voice rather than passive, and shortens and simplifies.)