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Academic Arguments: How to Pick and Win a Good “Fight”
Remember:anargumentativeessayisdifferentfromanexpositoryessay.
 Anexpositoryessayexplainsor“exposes”atopic.Youareteachingyourreaderaboutsomething
thatheorsheprobablydoesn’tknowabout.Foranexpositoryessay,youarelookingforgood
examplestoillustrateyourpoints.
 Anargumentativeessayispersuasive.Youaretryingtoconvinceyourreader.Foran
argumentativeessay,youarelookingforevidencetosupportyourargument.Inthesocial
sciences,thebestevidencecomesfromstrong,well‐executedresearch.
Key:pickagood“fighter”–astrong,integrativethesisthataddressesmanyfacetsofthetopicathandor
isspecifictoparticularconditions
 Likeagood“fighter”knowsmanypunches,agoodargumentisnottoosimple.Afighterthatonly
knowsonekindofpunchcaneasilybedefeated:anopponentlearnshowtodefendagainstthat
punch.Asimplethesiscanbeeasilydisregardedbecausethereadercanseetheflaws
 Likeagoodfighterhastolearndefensivemovesandnotjustpunches,astrongthesisanticipates
criticismandsetsuparesponsetothatcriticism.Tofindastrongintegratedthesis,youhaveto
researchbothsidesofanissueandtheevidencethatsupportseachside.It’softenhelpfultolook
atcriticismsofeachside.
Pickgood“punches”–astrongargumentisbackedupbystrongevidence.
 Inthesocialsciences,anargumentwillbeevaluatedbasedonahierarchyoftypesofevidence.
o Thestrongestevidenceinmostsocialsciencesiswell‐executedresearch.Ingeneral,
primarysourceevidenceisthestrongest,followedbysecondary,thentertiary.
 Primarysourcesareactualdatathatyoucollectoranalyze:yourunastudy
designedtoaddressyourquestion,oryoureadactualhistoricaldocumentslike
diariesorshippingrecords.Thisisoftenwhatprofessorsexpectinadvanced
courseworklikecapstones,graduatecourses,and/orathesis/dissertation.
 Secondarysourcesarereportswrittenbyotherpeoplewhocollectedoranalyzed
primarysourcedata.Theseareempiricalreportsthathavesomesortofmethod
sectionwheretheydescribehowtheydrewconclusionsfromprimarysourcedata
(althoughtheymightnotcallit“primarysourcedata”).Someundergraduateand
graduatecoursesexpectthistypeofevidence.
 Tertiarysourcesarereviewsofsecondarysourcedata.Textbooksusuallyfallinto
thiscategory.Areviewpaper(sometimescalledaliteraturereview)isalsoa
tertiarysourceofdata:itissomeone’sanalysisofsecondarysources.Youcanoften
tellareviewpaperbecauseitdoesn’thaveamethodsection.
 Remember:atheoryisnotthesameasresearch.Atheorymayusedatatosupport
itsclaims,butitisaboutexplainingwhysomethinghappens.
o Howcanyouevaluatethestrengthofresearch?
 Typeofdata(primary/secondary/tertiary)
 Howwell‐executedwasit?Ifyou’vetakenamethodcourseinyourdiscipline,then
thatwillbeyourguideaboutwhatcountsaswell‐executedresearchinyourmajor.
Ifyouhaven’ttakenamethodcourseyet,theintroductorytextbookmostlikelyhas
asectiononmethodsthatyoucouldreferto.Forexample:sampling,strengthof
measures/sources,analysis,andwhethertheconclusionsdrawnareappropriatefor
themethodsusedareallsignsofhowwell‐executedtheresearchwasinpsychology.
o Beyondresearch,youmaybeabletodrawfrompersonalexperienceoranecdotes,but
checkwithyourprofessortoseeifthiswillbeconsideredacceptable.Ingeneral,
rememberthatresearchisastrongersourceofevidencethananecdotesorpersonal
A workshop presented by Holli Tonyan as part of the Social Science Writing Project, 10/17/14
experience.Ifyoucanusepersonalexperience,someusesaregenerallybetterthanothers.
Thefollowingaretypesofpersonalexperiencethatmaybeacceptable.
 Personalexperiencethatillustrateswhattheresearchshows.Peopleareoften
convincedbynumbersthatanissueisimportant,butpeopleoftenchangetheir
mindsoractionbasedonpowerfulstories.
 Personalexperiencethatillustratesaweaknessintheresearch.Forexample,ifyour
experiencesarenotrepresentedinthepublishedresearch,yourpersonal
experiencemaycontradictresearch.Thishashappenedwhenwomenorethnic
minoritieswereregularlyexcludedfromresearch.
 Notethatjustbecauseyourexperienceisdifferentfrompublishedresearch,doesn’t
meanthatitisillustratingaweakness.Statisticsshowadifferenceoverallthatmay
notapplytoallindividuals.Thisiscommonwithgenderdifferences,forexample.
Although,menaretallerthanwomenonaverage,anindividualwomanmaybetaller
thananindividualman.
Havegood“counter‐punches.”Justlikeafighterneedstohavea“defense”asstrongashis/her“offence,”
astrongargumentpaperdirectlyaddressesthecounter‐argumentandcritiquesofsupportingevidence.
 Makesureyourthesisstatementisstrongenoughtowithstandthecounter‐argument.Youcando
thisinatleastthetwofollowingways(butthereareprobablymorewaystodothis):
o Haveaconditionalthesisstatement.Forexample,biologyhasagreatereffecton
developmentthanexperienceduringcertainperiods,calledcriticalandsensitiveperiods.
o Identifythelimitsofyourthesis.Forexample,certaingeneticconditionslike
phenylketonuria(PKU)limittheroleofexperienceindevelopment,butexperiencedoes
alwaysinfluencedevelopment.
o Sometimesyourbestargumentistomakeaclear,specificcounter‐argumentagainsta
commonlyheldbelief.Forexample,althoughsomepsychologistsarguethatallchildren
needoneprimaryattachmentfigure,thereisgrowingevidencethatchildrenmayonlyneed
atleastonepersonwhoservesasasecurebase.
 Anysingle“punch”orevidencecanonlydosomuch.Whenyoupresentevidence,addressthe
limitationsofthatevidenceclearlyanddirectly.
o Youwillbemorelikelytoconvinceyourreaderwhenyouputtogetherapackageof
evidencethataddressesthelimitationsofanyonepiece.
o Forexample,acombinationofastudywithonlyonewell‐chosenparticipatewithan
experimentalstudyofmanyparticipantsmaybestrongerwhenpresentedtogether.
o Similarly,thestrongestevidence(e.g.,anexperiment)mightcomefromnon‐human
research(e.g.,monkeys),soyoucandescribethatwithanotherstudythatdemonstratesa
similarpatternforhumans.
Havea“planofattack”orstrategyandfollowit–makesureyouclearlycommunicateyourthesisand
organizeyourevidenceeffectively.
 Whyuse10punchesifitonlytakes3?Selectyourbestevidenceanduseitstrategically.
 Doyouwanttouseaseriesof“smallpunches”tothrowyouropponentoffbalancefollowedbya
knock‐outpunch?Ordoyouwanttostartwithyourstrongestevidence?
 Woulditworkbettertopickafightwhileyouarehiddenbehindagroupoffriendsorwhenyou
arestandinginfrontofastrong‐lookinggroupoffriends?Similarly,don’t“hide”yourthesisor
supportingevidencebehindabunchofotherinformation.
o Haveyourthesisstatementclearlystatedinaplacethatiseasytofind.
o Clearlystateyoursupportingevidenceinaprominentposition.
 Ifyoucanwinwitha“knockoutpunch,”whyriskajudge’sdecisionbynotthrowingthatpunch?
Ifyou’vegotareallystrongpieceofevidence,useit.