Which is better?
We can see which one has the smaller word count and is easier to say without pausing for breath. It's also the one where the words strike you as being "in order." The doer (subject), what he's doing (verb), what he's doing it to (object).
But in fact, neither one is 100% correct. Writing should be mostly in the active voice, for ease of writing and ease of understanding. A paper written entirely in the passive voice would be difficult to read and remember, and it'd probably put a reader to sleep.
Passive (weak): An appendectomy was performed.
Active (better): We performed the appendectomy.
Passive (weak): The thigh is then abducted and the "clunk" of the femoral head reduction is felt.
Active (better): Abduct the thigh to feel for the "clunk" of the femoral head reduction.
HOWEVER, there are times when the passive voice is appropriate. I'll move away from my fiction-writing background and compromise with you a little bit on that.
So when is the passive voice appropriate and useful? When you need to emphasize the action or object of action rather than the doer. Like in these examples:
The patient has been shot in the abdomen.
In this case, who did the shooting is not relevant medical information. If you're the surgeon, all you care about is the wound.
An 18-gauge needle is inserted through the skin wound and advanced through the renal parenchyma.
The emphasis here is on method. These words are teaching somebody how to do a medical procedure, so all you care about is the procedure.
Well, honestly, I might write "Insert an 18-gauge needle through the skin wound and advance it through the renal parenchyma" because it's still emphasizing the method rather than the doer, but you get the idea.
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