I. Introduction: So You’re Writing a Research Paper

Joining the Conversation: Writing and Research>I. Introduction

How do I do research, and share it? Taking on a research project can be a daunting task, whether it’s on a subject you are already interested in, or a topic you’ve been assigned by an instructor, a supervisor, a friend or relative who is trying to find out about something. Where to begin?

What is research?

Research can involve something as simple as locating the directions for how to operate that selfie stick, or finding the best snickerdoodle recipe. More complicated research projects might require you to collect data in order to determine whether a new medicine produces the desired results, or reviewing the history of a technological innovation.

Any research project is manageable once you know what your desired outcome is: winning a snickerdoodle prize, introducing a safe medication to the market, offering a new tech product that improves on past ones.  In other words, getting started requires having a general sense of where you want to end up. Learn about systematic ways to begin and conduct research.

What is argument?

We make arguments for many reasons: arguments to convince, arguments to persuade, arguments to inform, explore, decide, and reflect. There are also many occasions for argument: we may be reviewing the past, we may be trying to understand what may happen in the future, we may be evaluating the present.

Do you want to change someone’s mind in a specific way, or just provide them the information they might need to make their own decision? Do you want to improve someone’s understanding about an event or development, or simply invite them to reflect on what that event or development may mean for them?

Reasons and occasions for arguments may vary within a single project, but it is important, when beginning a project, to consider the kind of argument you want to make. Learn how to understand others’ arguments, and use that understanding to shape your own.

How do I research an argument?

Research is exactly what it sounds like: conducting a search, and doing so by sometimes returning to places that others have already searched. You can’t make a sound argument until you’ve researched it; otherwise you are simply sharing an uninformed opinion.

Research is the process by which you inform yourself. It involves joining an ongoing conversation, one in which terms have been laid out, explored, and reshaped over time, as more and more people join it.

Some people have carefully shaped their contributions to the conversation, and some haven’t. You need to determine the credibility of the other conversant, before determining your own position.

The opinion you form is what comes at the end of your search and your journey, after having listened to the outcome of many other searches and journeys.  Learn how to explore a topic, and discover the ways other people have explored it. 

How do I shape an argument?

Once you’ve determined what you want to argue, you need to take several steps to shape the argument. Your first step is determining a thesis, and a map for support: what evidence you will use to support your thesis, or explain your position.

That rough map, which you include in your introduction, will be a beacon for you to return to, as you move forward logically in your argument. Spending time with the plan will help you stay on track, even if you decide, once you are into the argument, that you have to change directions. Learn how to generate a thesis, map an argument, and use it to frame the body of your essay.

How do I present an argument?

You can have the most compelling argument in the world, but if you can’t figure out how to get the people you want to listen to it, to listen, it won’t do the work you want it to do. Learn how to choose and maintain a consistent tone, style, and rhetorical method.