Making Good Research Arguments

8/3/2019 Making Good Research Arguments

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Making Good Arguments

The Craft of Research:Chapter 7

Dr. Ghsoon Reda


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Argument and Conversation:

In a research report, you

1. make a claim,2. back it with reasons based onevidence,

3. acknowledge and respond to other

views,4. and sometimes explain your

principles of reasoning.


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Every written assignment is built out of theanswers to the following five questions:

1. What do you claim?

2. What reasons support that claim?

3. What evidence support those reasons?4. Do you acknowledge this

alternative/complication/objection, andhow do you respond?

5. What principle (warrant) justifiesconnecting your reasons to your claim?


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Basing Claims on Reasons:

A research report Claim + support

Claim = the answer to your researchquestion

Support = reason(s)


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Example:

TV violence can have harmfulpsychological effects on childrenclaim

because those exposed to lots of ittend to adopt the values of what theysee.reason

Claimbecause ofReason


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Basing Reasons on Evidence:

When you address issues in writing,

you cant expect readers to accept allyour reasons at face value.

You need to base your reasons onfacts.


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Example:

TV violence can have harmful psychological effectson childrenclaim because those exposed to lots of ittend to adopt the values of what they see.reasonSmith (1997) found that children ages 5-9 who

watched more than three hours of violenttelevision a day were 25 percent more likely tosay that most of what they saw on television wasreally happening.evidence

Claimbecause ofReasonbased onEvidence


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Acknowledging and Responding toAlternatives:

Thoughtful readers dont accept aclaim just because you back it upwith yourreasons and yourevidence.

They are likely to question anypart ofyour argument.

So, you must anticipate as many of

their questions as you can, and thenacknowledge and respond to the mostimportant ones.


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Example:

As readers consider the claim thatchildren exposed to violent TV adopt itsvalues.

Some might wonder whether childrenare drawn to TV violence because theyalreadyare inclined to violence of all

kinds. If you think readers might ask this

question, you would be wise toacknowledge and respond to it.


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No research argument is completewithout acknowledgement/responses

TV violence can have harmful psychological effects on

childrenclaim because those exposed to lots of it tend to

adopt the values of what theysee.reason Smith (1997)found that children ages 5-9 who watched more than

three hours of violent television a day were 25 percentmore likely to say that most of what they saw ontelevision was really happening.evidence It isconceivable, of course, that children who tend to watchgreater amounts of violent entertainment already have

violent values,acknowledgement but Jones (1989) foundthat children with no predisposition to violence were justas attracted to violent entertainment as those with ahistory ofviolence.response


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Warranting the Relevance ofReasons:

Readers might question not the truthof your reasons, but their relevanceto your claim.

To answer, you must offer a generalprinciple that shows why you believeyour particular reason is relevant to

your particular claim


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Example:

The following warrant expresses a generalprinciple of reasoning that covers more thanviolent TV. It covers all values acquired as a

child and all adult behaviors:

Whenever children adopt particular values, asadults they tend to accept as normal any

behavior that reflects those values.


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The warrant connects the claim andthe reasons.

It is only stated when the writerthinks that the readers will questionthe relevance of the reasons to the

claim.


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Decide whether a warrant isneeded below:

Watch out going down the stairs,because the light is out.


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The five elements of a basicargument:

Warrant

Claim Reason Evidence

Acknowledgement and Response


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Building complex Arguments out ofSimple Ones

Arguments in research reports are more complexthan the simple ones considered above.

1. Researchers always support a claim with more thanone reason, each of which is supported by its own

evidence and may be justified by its own warrant.2. Each reason will be treated as a claim supported by

other reasons, often reasons that are themselvesclaims.

3. A warrant may be supported by its own argument,

with reasons and evidence, perhaps even with itsown warrant and acknowledgements and responses.

4. Each response might itself be a mini-argument,sometimes a full one.

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Making Good Research Arguments