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IDST 110 College 1 (Diaz-Benitez)

Research Process

Writing a persuasive essay can be broken down into a series of steps:

  1. Choosing Your Topic: Select a topic that you feel passionate about and that has clear arguments for and against it. Also, keep in mind the specific assignment from your professor, and the sources required.

  2. Writing Your Thesis and Outlining Your Essay: Develop your thesis statement, which clearly states your position on the issue, and create a clear outline that includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Organize your arguments logically and provide supporting evidence for each point.

  3. Conducting Research: Gather credible evidence, facts, statistics, and examples to support your argument. Use reputable sources to strengthen your position.

  4. Writing Your Essay:

    • Start with an attention-grabbing introduction with background information on the topic and present your thesis statement.

    • Develop your body paragraphs as each one should focus on a single point that supports your thesis.

    • Address counterarguments by acknowledging opposing viewpoints and refuting them with evidence and reasoning.

    • Write a conclusion that summarizes your main points and compellingly restates your thesis.

💡TIP: Throughout your essay use persuasive language (employ rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, and logos) and use in-text citations and references to support your points along the way

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Once you've chosen a topic and done some initial background research, you will want to write your thesis which clearly states your point and the argument you will be making for the rest of your paper.Man writing

According to the OWL at Purdue, a thesis:

  1. Should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.
  2. Usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.
  3. May change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Understanding your argument will make the next steps of the process (outlining and research) much easier to organize and manage as it will help give you a clear idea of the path you want to take in your essay.

Tools for Writing Your Thesis

In addition to visiting the CSM Writing Center to get one-on-one help developing your thesis, these resources can help you develop your thesis statement:

Image by StockSnap via Pixabay.

Outlining is a valuable step in the process that will help you in the long run. Creating a brief outline of your argument and describing the points you want to make will help you make a more logical and organized argument, and will help focus your research efforts.

A simple outline gives a brief rundown of each paragraph you plan to write, and may initially look like this:

  1. Introduction
  2. Argument 1
  3. Argument 2
  4. Argument 3
  5. Conclusion

Here is an example of an outline that includes details about each point the writer wants to make within their argument:

  1. Introduction: All college students should required to take financial literacy classes (Thesis)
  2. Argument 1: To help them with their personal financial decisions throughout their life
    • Point: When students are 18 they are financially independent and need to understand how their decisions now impact the rest of their lives
    • Point: Many college students don't understand how important it is to save and have a healthy relationship with money
  3. Argument 2: So they can understand student debt better
    • Point: Many adults have crippling student debt that they acquired at a young age
    • Point: Understanding how students' debt works will help college students manage and reduce debt and better their lives
  4. Argument 3: So they can be better prepared for the future and be happier and healthier
    • Point: Decisions now can impact college students for the rest of their lives
    • Point: Developing a healthy relationship with money at an early age will help people be more financially stable and aware, and will save them stress and anxiety
  5. Conclusion: Summary of my argument

With a delineated outline like this, you'll have a roadmap to your argument and your research.

Tools for Writing Your Outline

In addition to the initial research you do when selecting and narrowing down your topic, you will likely want to gather resources that provide background on your topic and resources that support your point of view, and that help you understand the counterpoints of your argument.

The library is a great place to start, as most resources have been selected and curated already by librarians. Still, you can also use the open web, other historical archives, government publications, etc.

💡TIP: Remember to include the type of sources required on your assignment, particularly if you are asked to include scholarly or peer-reviewed articles and publications.

What is a Scholarly Source?

For some assignments, your instructor might want you to use scholarly resources for your paper or project. What is a scholarly resource and how do you recognize them?

You're probably more familiar with popular resources. These include magazines and newspapers (in either print or online form), and most websites. Most of these sources are written for general audiences and read for pleasure or general interest. Scholarly sources are typically articles written by and for professionals or scholars in a specific field. These articles are usually on specific and in-depth topics and might require some background knowledge or understanding of a topic or discipline.

The table below highlights what makes a resource popular or scholarly.

Popular vs. Scholarly Articles
  Popular Articles Scholarly Articles
Publications Magazines, newspapers Journals, academic publications, peer-reviewed journals
Author Journalists and professional writers Scholars, faculty members, researchers, professionals in the field
Audience General public Other scholars or professionals
Visual Appearance Often include color, photos, advertisements Mostly text, but may include a few graphs or charts
Length Tend to be short Tend to be lengthy
Language Can be understood by the average reader May use professional jargon and academic language
Content Gives a broad overview of the issues of interest to the general public; rarely gives full citations for sources Covers narrow topics related to specific fields; includes citations for many credible sources
Recommended For: Enjoyable reading material, finding topics ideas Learning about new ideas and research

Adapted from Scholarly & Popular Articles by adstarkel. Used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

💡TIP: How to read a scholarly article? (Interactive)

How Do I Find Scholarly Sources?

Locating scholarly resources in your searches is easier than you think:

  1. Start with the right tools. Make sure you are using recommended library databases or Google Scholar. Not all library databases are scholarly - for example, encyclopedias and dictionaries are not scholarly sources and are more suitable for background or context research. Most article databases have scholarly resources, and all of the library resources in this guide contain scholarly publications.
  2. Look for ways to limit your results. Most databases give the option to limit your search results to scholarly sources. Look for these words:
    • Scholarly resources
    • Scholarly journals
    • Academic sources
    • Academic journals
    • Peer-reviewed publications
  3. Evaluate the articles you find. Use the guidelines from the table on the previous tab to determine if you're looking at a scholarly resource. Two quick ways to help tell:
    • How long is the article? Most scholarly articles are longer, and likely over four pages long
    • Does it have a list of sources or references at the end? Scholarly articles will cite their sources and often have a long list of references
    • Make sure it's not a book review or a letter to the editor. Many scholarly publications include reviews of books in their discipline, as well as letters from readers within their publications. Even though these articles are published in scholarly publications they are NOT scholarly articles. Use the table above as a guide.

Drafting

Write

  • Write sentences and paragraphs even if they are not perfect.
  • Create a thesis statement with your main idea. See Thesis Statements
  • Put the information you researched into your essay accurately without plagiarizing. Remember to include both in-text citations and a bibliographic page.
  • Utilize techniques such as Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Citing.
  • Read what you have written and judge if you convey the information and position you wanted.
  • Write until you have said everything you want to say about the topic.

Revising

Make it Better

  • Read what you have written again. See Revising Content and Revising Organization
  • Rearrange words, sentences, or paragraphs into a clear and logical order. 
  • Take out or add parts.
  • Do more research if you think you should.
  • Replace overused or unclear words.
  • Read your writing aloud to be sure it flows smoothly. Add transitions and improve the style, if needed.

Editing and Proofreading

Make it Correct

  • Be sure all sentences are complete. See Editing and Proofreading
  • Correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
  • Change words that are not used correctly or are unclear.
  • Make sure you are using the appropriate style formatting.

Adapted from a work from the Wingspan: Center for Learning and Writing Support at the University of Kansas.