{"id":1035,"date":"2018-05-25T15:39:28","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T15:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca\/writehere\/?post_type=chapter&p=1035"},"modified":"2018-07-19T20:29:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T20:29:36","slug":"research-first-steps","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/chapter\/research-first-steps\/","title":{"raw":"Research: First Steps","rendered":"Research: First Steps"},"content":{"raw":"

The Research Essay<\/h1>\r\nWhen we hear the words \u201cresearch essay\u201d or \u201cresearch assignment,\u201d our first impulse may be to think of a work that that takes other people\u2019s ideas and sews them together into a single document: a sort of patchwork quilt. However, a good research essay operates rather differently. \u201cResearch\u201d is not an excuse to coast on the knowledge of others but an opportunity to use that knowledge to support and add complexity to our own original ideas.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1365\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\"]\"\" Photo by Ron Dyar on Unsplash[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThe word \u201csupport\u201d is often used in conjunction with research, and it is a good place to start. Let\u2019s unpack the word a little. What does it mean to \u201csupport\u201d an argument?\r\n\r\nWe\u2019ve already seen some examples of support happening earlier in this text. An argument is not complete without evidence to back it up. However, as you will notice as you move through these chapters, using evidence in support of an argument is not as simple as just presenting it, then standing back and letting the reader figure out what it means. Supporting evidence must be developed<\/strong>. Support is more than the evidence itself. It consists of the evidence and<\/strong> the interpretation of that evidence. If you make an assertion on its own, you have an argument without evidence: an opinion. If you make an assertion and follow it with a list of evidence, you have an argument without development: an observation. If you make an assertion and follow it with a detailed discussion of how and why the evidence demonstrates its validity, you have an argument with support: a thesis.\r\n\r\nIn a research essay, you must expand your consideration of evidence beyond your own close reading. Therefore, you must also expand your understanding of \u201csupport\u201d to include not just an interpretation of your primary work but an interpretation of secondary works that you will apply to<\/strong> your primary work. These secondary sources are not the primary focus of your investigation, but they can be used to give you insight into this investigation: insight you would not gain with \u00a0a simple close reading.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a look at a few common types of evidence and how they might be used in a research essay.","rendered":"

The Research Essay<\/h1>\n

When we hear the words \u201cresearch essay\u201d or \u201cresearch assignment,\u201d our first impulse may be to think of a work that that takes other people\u2019s ideas and sews them together into a single document: a sort of patchwork quilt. However, a good research essay operates rather differently. \u201cResearch\u201d is not an excuse to coast on the knowledge of others but an opportunity to use that knowledge to support and add complexity to our own original ideas.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo by Ron Dyar on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The word \u201csupport\u201d is often used in conjunction with research, and it is a good place to start. Let\u2019s unpack the word a little. What does it mean to \u201csupport\u201d an argument?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve already seen some examples of support happening earlier in this text. An argument is not complete without evidence to back it up. However, as you will notice as you move through these chapters, using evidence in support of an argument is not as simple as just presenting it, then standing back and letting the reader figure out what it means. Supporting evidence must be developed<\/strong>. Support is more than the evidence itself. It consists of the evidence and<\/strong> the interpretation of that evidence. If you make an assertion on its own, you have an argument without evidence: an opinion. If you make an assertion and follow it with a list of evidence, you have an argument without development: an observation. If you make an assertion and follow it with a detailed discussion of how and why the evidence demonstrates its validity, you have an argument with support: a thesis.<\/p>\n

In a research essay, you must expand your consideration of evidence beyond your own close reading. Therefore, you must also expand your understanding of \u201csupport\u201d to include not just an interpretation of your primary work but an interpretation of secondary works that you will apply to<\/strong> your primary work. These secondary sources are not the primary focus of your investigation, but they can be used to give you insight into this investigation: insight you would not gain with \u00a0a simple close reading.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at a few common types of evidence and how they might be used in a research essay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"menu_order":17,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-1035","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":993,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2311,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1035\/revisions\/2311"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/993"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1035\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1035"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/writehere\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}