[note] the art of research - (tell a good story and argument)

PART 3 - Making an Argument

intro：
When writing an article, you should establish contact with readers ; When choosing a topic, you should choose a valuable topic , Readers think this problem is worth solving . Now suppose our research has been carried out normally , Half or even more of it , At this time, I have to start thinking about how to tell a story 、 Writing a thesis ; in other words , The topic selection has guaranteed that readers will read our articles , The next task is to make readers believe what we write , Including our new view on a problem , Let everyone agree with this view ; Or propose a new method , Let everyone believe that this new method can really solve a problem .
The core is to tell a story , It can make readers believe what we say .

How to tell a story ？

Tell a story （ This refers to scientific research writing ） It needs to be justified . You can't wait to collect all the information before thinking about how to write a story . Because it's hard to collect everything , And there is no guide to the story , It's not good to collect things . Thinking about a story and doing research are often a parallel or staggered process .
For most studies , It's hard to predict the result at the beginning , You usually need to explore some unknown answers . So we need a story like this in our heart , To guide us to collect information and do experiments . This story is used to answer all the questions of some readers that we can predict , In this way, we can know how much research can be done .

therefore , You can do experiments at the same time 、 While telling a story , Write out the outline , If the story needs to change , Experiments can change .

And a little bit more , It is not necessary for readers to agree that our method is the best , More readers after reading the article , Then we explored and solved an important problem , Readers are concerned about how to solve it , And think in the process of reading .

How to achieve this goal ？
We need to find something to support our argument , With enough reasons and arguments , To make others feel that the argument is credible .
In a research argument, we are expected to show readers why our claims are important and then to support our claims with good reasons and evidence.

When organizing stories , We need to keep asking a question from the perspective of readers ：Why should I believe that?

If you want to extract two core issues from this book , That is to keep asking at the beginning of the study So what, After the research, keep asking Why should I believe it.

7. Making Good Arguments

7.1 An overview of the argument the overview

Several cores of the whole argument ：

• First put forward an argument （claim）
• Then use some reasons and evidence to support your argument
• Sometimes you need to admit and reply to some other views
• It is necessary to provide some reasoning logic and principles

The core of writing is to predict the dialogue with the reader in your mind , Make all this possibility before you really talk to people —— Where others attack you , And the reasons for the lack 、 argument 、 Add up all the arguments , In this way, you can write stories that others believe .

Several important elements ：

1. Claim（ argument ）: What do you want me to believe? What’s your point?
2. Reasons（ reason ）: Why do you say that? Why should I agree? Why is the argument right ？
3. Evidence（ argument ）: How do you know? Can you back it up? Some data or other people's work .
4. Acknowledge and Response（ Acknowledge and reply ）: But what about… ? Explanation of other views .
5. Warrant（ Guarantee ）: How does that follow? What’s your logic? Can you explain your reasoning? Explain how logic works . Explain why the reason supports the conclusion .

7.2 Support the argument supporting your claim

• Support with reasons ： Pick up because explain , There are usually many reasons , And the reason itself may also be an argument .

When can I end and explain the reason ？

• The reason is based on argument . The conclusion is based on good reasons , The reason is based on good arguments .
• The arguments include ： The results of the experiment 、 Some trustworthy arguments in the previous work . The argument is more objective .

An argument needs reasons to support , Reasons are sometimes based on arguments . So make sure that the reason can reasonably explain the argument , Conversely, each reason also needs to be supported by arguments to be reasonable . That is, the following relationship ：

CLAIM - because of-> REASON - because of -> EVIDANCE

7.3 Use acknowledgment and reply

Predict in advance some objections that readers may raise , Then write the answer here , In this way, when readers have problems in the process of reading , The author has answered these questions below .
So , The answer itself is not the most difficult question , The most difficult thing is to assume that the reader may have problems when writing .

The core is to try to be considerate , Imagine the questions readers will ask . Our argument may have some objections , Or different explanations and opinions , In this way, we need to acknowledge the existence of these views and reply .

7.4 use warrant Connect arguments and reasons

Sometimes when supporting an argument with reasons , Readers may not see the relationship between them , At this time, it needs to be added .

Supplementary instructions are generally some general principles , Things that everyone can touch , In this principle , We can get our reasoning logic .

When there is a long distance between the reason and the argument , Need to give some assurance of reasoning , To ensure that readers can clearly understand how our reasons and arguments are linked .

In fact, when writing , The whole logic may become more complex , Want to have a reason 、 It takes constant practice to keep a leak free .

General principles

Thickening your argument

Common mistakes

• When you just enter a new field , Maybe the method of reasoning is different from other fields . So when you enter a new field , Read more people's articles to see how others discuss .
• If you stay in a field for a long time , It may be too simple to write , Readers may not understand . When writing, you need to move closer to the mainstream .

8. Making Claims

About the statement （ argument ）：

An argument is the answer to a research question , Is to condense the answer into a sentence and turn it into an argument , Then the whole article mainly focuses on supporting this argument .

The argument should consider the following 3 A question ：

1. I'm making a What kind of argument ： Because different kinds of arguments , The evidence to support him may be different ;
2. Is the argument specific enough ： Because for the more empty statement , Everyone will feel empty when reading ;
3. Is the argument important enough ： Do readers feel it necessary to spend an article to support my statement like this ;
   We need to solve a valuable problem , Then my solution itself should also be valuable .

Conceptual classification ：

• Declare that something exists , Or what kind of facts ;
• Or what kind of definitions are declared , What kind of classification ;
• Or what kind of reasons do you declare , And some of the consequences he caused ;
• There is also a statement of some comments ;
• Statement for solving a problem , What actions need to be taken , Or what kind of policy .

Classification of partial technology ：

• Our method is feasible , It can be achieved with reasonable time and effort ;
• The cost of realizing it is less than the cost of not solving this problem ;
• Will solving this problem create a bigger problem ;
• Why is our method cheaper or faster than other alternative methods .

What kind of argument or statement is better ？

both specific and significant , Specific and important .

How to make the statement more important ？

• Provide new evidence for a topic of interest to everyone ;
• Not only to show the data , But use data to answer a controversial 、 The answer to a less certain question .

How to look at the current statement is important ？
Turn the conclusion around and see what the reverse conclusion looks like .

How to make the argument more believable ？

• Don't talk too full . Some limited conditions can be admitted ; From the reader's point of view, think about the constraints , Think about our reasons 、 Where are the arguments weaker , After these weak points are given as limiting conditions , That increases the credibility of the whole .
• Use some words that reduce the accuracy of the tone , Make the argument less tough , But you can't be too unsure , It seems that the article is weak . Avoid using ：all/ every/ always/ never/ no one Such words .

Reference: B standing Learn from Li Mu AI
The last note shows the way ： The art of research · Understand the importance of the problem

---

$$Author:Chier$$