Student Team Tips: How to formulate and articulate a coherent argument!
In academic life, the formulation and/ or articulation of a coherent argument is extremely important in varying measures. This is usually demanded in assignments such as essays and reports, weekly tutorials or even conversations with your classmates and professors. Noting the importance of this matter, we have hence collated a few useful tips from the Student Team on formulating and articulating a coherent argument, take a look.
Using evidence and citing sources!
A well formulated argument depends almost exclusively on the evidence provided. That is, for an argument to carry weight and measure up, it has to be backed up by evidence but not just any evidence, the evidence has to support the argument. For that matter, the type of evidence provided must be substantial and convincing. Keep reading to find out how our Student Team uses evidence in formulating arguments:
“When writing lab reports in Psychology, it’s important to introduce previous experiments which have been done that are relevant to your topic. Every new experiment or study requires a rationale, or something to motivate it being carried out, so that’s why the literature needs to be explored. Sometimes different studies have found opposite or different results, and it may not be clear why initially. You then need to explain what flaws (methodological or otherwise) exist in previous research and how your study addresses those in a valid way. No study is perfect though so you need to be equally critical when it comes to analysing limitations of your own study which may have affected your results. In the discussion section, it’s also important to evaluate how the results of your study fit into the wider literature and explore implications and future research that should be done.” Olivia Mak, Psychology
“Example:
I argue that a gendered framework be employed to the analysis of the impact of global value chains on the livelihoods of its workers. This is because it has been determined that more women work in global value chains than men; the garments industry in India and Bangladesh has a workers ratio of 1:6 men to women; similarly, the electronics assembly lines in China and the Philippines have a ratio of 1:5 men to women (Anner, 2008). For that sole reason, it is important that gender be taken into account when analysing the impacts global value chains have on their workers. This is because gender is pervasive in every sphere of our lives and continuously affects individuals differently; in this case, women workers are impacted differently from men workers on grounds of what their genders mean and the roles that are attached to them. One such way in which gender matters is financial compensation; men are seen to be providers of families and hence are paid more than women who are assumed to supplement financial needs of a family hence deserve lower pay.
Here, evidence is provided as to why a gendered framework should be employed. The first evidence is that more women than men work in the sectors being analysed and the second evidence is that gender plays a part in compensation where women and men are paid differently. It should be noted that this evidence is relevant to the argument and thus supports the argument being made. Additionally, it is important to note that each sentence serves to elaborate and substantiate the preceding sentence. It is also important to note that evidence provided has to be properly cited, giving credit to the appropriate sources.” Upendo, International Development
“Generally in Chemistry reports, it is required that evidence is used to support any comment you make, especially during the results discussion section. Without this supporting evidence, you may be marked down and it obviously cannot be classed as a scientific fact. If you do not have evidence, but would like to suggest something, make sure you use existing literature where possible and reference the appropriate paper. On the other hand, it is also recommended by markers to compare the literature and your experimental values, where appropriate, and provide justifications for any differences. For example, if you consider a solid — solid reaction, and the evidence is that the intermolecular and intramolecular bond lengths increases and this was obtained using PXRD, make sure you use the distances obtained by the relevant software when writing the supporting statement; i.e. It is clear that the reaction has progressed to completion and two compounds has been formed, as observed by the bond length changes; 7 pm in reactant 1 and 6.3 pm in the product. Where possible, support your data using graphics, as this gives a clearer idea on what is happening during the reaction to a chemist.” Dukula De Alwis Jayasinghe, Chemistry
“In Law, we expect you to back your arguments with solid sources. We call them authorities. And by solid I mean primary authorities. Primary authorities are narrowly construed in law. It can either be a decided case or statute within the jurisdiction (state or country -depending on the context) under review. Where a writer can’t find either of the above, the writer can settle for secondary authorities which include cases decided in other jurisdictions (states or countries with similar laws), opinion of scholars as presented in articles and textbooks. An argument that relies solely on secondary authorities when primary authorities exist would be considered to be weak.” Fatimah Opebiyi, Law
“In Physics, data evidence is used to support an argument why certain phenomena are the way they are. Evidence can be either mathematical (which often requires proof by experiment as well) or experimental (usually the definitive argument). While explaining your theory and experiment, it is always necessary to provide some figures like graphs and graphics that could help make the understanding for the reader easier. This also helps you to convince them faster that the data acquired are properly collected and analysed well. All of your arguments shall revolve around the evidence and data collected, that is, multiple papers from the past (if there are any) and of course your lab data. These should be concise, without “beating around the bush”. Wordy explanations might raise questions, whether you just try to confuse the reader so they overlook a mistake in your analysis or anything that might have gone wrong in the experiment.” Jakub Lusnak, Physics
Using theory (ies) to explain data!
Well-known theories and argument can help you in explaining data, especially when incorporating research papers:
“One of the advantages (but also possible disadvantages) is that there is almost always a theory, convention or study that can be used to explain your data. The thing about scientific experiments and lab work however is that you might not always get a set of data that is consistent with what you might expect based off any theory or calculations. In these cases, you need to be prepared to explain not just that the data is not what you would expect or even want, but also be able to provide some arguments as to why this might be the case. With lab reports, this is often a prime opportunity to show off any knowledge you have in the subject area, whether that is from lecture content or through reading around the experimental theory. Whilst it did genuinely appear that the equipment was being a bit difficult and it was the luck of the draw on whether you got reliable readings, it is not good scientific practice to simply blame the equipment. In one of my reports, I spoke about not just any practical causes of the discrepancy, but also offered some scientific argument regarding the variables used in calculations.
When presenting scientific arguments, it is not only important to understand why something is happening, but also what you might expect and why it could deviate from this expected result.” Paige Halil, Chemistry
“In Maths we articulate arguments through proving mathematical ideas. Symbols are used to convey mathematical languages such as ∀ for “for all” and ∴ for “therefore”. There are tons of different types of proofs including proof by induction and proof by contradiction. Here is an example below on how to formulate a proof for the square of a number being even. To be able to write Mathematics we use Latex, a scripting language, and can use online compilers such Overleaf to do this.” Jas, Maths
The scale of explanation!
Explanation can be done on different scales, and here’s why it is important:
“When writing an essay, review or report in the life sciences, it is important to consider the big S word. Yes, I am talking about scale. In order to adeptly show your knowledge, support your argument and get a 1st class, you need to get right down to the protein level. Try and consider scale is your writing. For example, when writing about antimicrobial peptides, mention the bacteria that a certain peptide is derived from. If you want to challenge yourself and it is appropriate, I recommend trying to take it a scale down further…the gene level. An example of this might be when you write an essay on mRNA vaccines and you decide to mention the components of efficient mRNA molecule translation.” Sara Knurowska, Biotechnology
Answering the question!
When it comes down to it, you just need to pay attention to what you are being asked to not and then remember to stay on track and not wander off!
“In political theory essays, there is focus on anticipating objections and giving responses to those objections. You have to consider relevant objections to a particular theory and how you would resolve those challenges. You have to consider whether the debate is normative or ideological and frame this throughout your argument. You also consider whether the theory is consequentialist/ egalitarian. Make sure you have a consistent argument throughout and have considered main objections and responses.” Nahima Begum, Politics and International Relationship
“For me, the make or break of having a coherent argument within an essay was all in the introduction! University is different to college in that it’s more about proving your own argument than it is showing both sides. It’s therefore important to speak with conviction and assertiveness. From the start of your introduction to the end, you should be taking the reader on an argumentative journey. Each point should expand on the evidence, which then informs your overall argument. There needs to be a logical path from A to B to C, that is clear and concise. Finally, it is important to be flexible in your argument. You might find something out that discredits part of what you’re saying. Don’t be scared of that or try to prove yourself wrong by playing both sides — instead, think about how it relates to your own argument and subtly change the order or narrative of your argument accordingly. Being aware of the different nuances that exist in every debate is key!” Xavier Banson, History
