Academic Writing

The question seems obvious, but it is rarely asked. Research only makes sense if you have genuine questions which do have answers that are readily available or obvious. To ask those questions intelligently, and to find an­swers that matter, you must develop or uncover information that is not already at your disposal. You owe it to yourself and your readers to see what the best minds have had to say on the subject, so that you, in turn, can say something, more; something new. The purpose of research is thus an ethical one: to acknowledge the work of those who have gone before you. Only by acknowledging that work can you build on it.

Genuine questions thus ask you to pursue intelligent answers by acknowl­edging and extending the work of others. Unfortunately, this is where misunder­standings can arise. Although research involves gathering information, the gathering process is not an end in itself. Information becomes relevant only in­sofar as it permits you to solve a problem. To make sense of your research paper and the research that leads up to it, you will do best to adopt a problem-solving perspective.

By thinking of research in terms of solving problems, you can set what might otherwise seem to be clerical tasks in a critical-thinking context. Your research will have precious little point if you gather and footnote information that confirms conclusions others have already reached. By simply looking it up, you merely confirm the obvious by supplying footnotes. The motions you go through may resemble research but miss its inherent purpose. Genuine research hinges on your ability to build on work already done, to pose new or unsettled questions, and to arrive at and justify answers that would otherwise remain un­certain or unknown. Research, in short, hinges on your ability to recognize and solve new problems.

As you engage your research problem, the dynamic, evolving relationship among questions, answers, and reasons can help you make sense of the unknown territory you explore. You are already familiar with this relationship as a point of departure for general essays: as you question, gather, and sort, you arrive at an occasion, and reasons that justify a dissertation. These elements can lend shape and purpose to your words. Consider how you can adapt this general method for shaping your writing to the special demands of research. Those special demands include the need to maintain a sceptical attitude because research is an open-ended process in which questions, conclusions, and reasons constantly evolve. Re­search also demands that you relate your own work to those who have gone be­fore as you develop primary source material or engage in library research.