“Comparing” vs “A comparison of ”

A professor criticized the language in a presentation. In particular he said that English preferred a noun phrase such as a comparison of  to a gerund such as comparing.

For reference the entire sentence follows.

Comparing prominent symptoms in drug addiction with models of aberrant learning may help us understand how those symptoms arise

I have seen both forms used in the technical literature but his point was more one of general usage. I don’t intend to argue the point with him. I merely want to know if his point is more than one of personal preference.

Solution 1:

Both are grammatically correct, the meaning is the same, and neither seems particularly awkward or confusing. I'd say it's personal preference.

Solution 2:

I think there is a large element of personal preference in his comment, but I think his preference is justified.

Subjects and objects should, really, be nouns. While you often see "A gerund is a noun" written in amateur grammar sites, a gerund is not a noun. If it were, we would call it a noun and save a lot of confusion.

A gerund is a verbal noun, with characteristics of both noun and verb. It is the verbal characteristics that make is less suitable to be the subject or object of a sentence. Using the noun phrase makes it clear that you are referencing the concrete existence of a comparison, rather than the idea of an occurrence of comparing.

I am not suggesting the gerund is wrong, just that the noun phrase is arguably more elegant.