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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.