cr10 acknowledgements and responses
TRANSCRIPT
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND
RESPONSES
FromThe Craft of Researchby Booth, Colomb,
and Williams
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WHY QUESTION YOUR ARGUMENT?
You should question your argument as your
readers might
Anticipate reader questions and respond so as to
show the reader that You recognize other points of view
You appreciate that academic discussion is a quest for
truth and your argument needs to be tested
Your argument can withstand reasonable questions
and testing
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WHEN TO QUESTION YOUR
ARGUMENT
Anticipate obvious questions and counter-
examples as you develop your thesis
But don’t worry too much about them when
writing the core of your argument
Go over your claim, reasons, and evidence after
you have written them to find counter-
arguments, objections, and questions that you
could acknowledge and/or answer
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TWO CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS
Intrinsic soundness:Is your claim clear?
Are your reasons relevant?
Is your evidence reliable?
Extrinsic soundness:What are alternative explanations of the evidence?
What are possible objections?
What have others said about your topic?
What evidence did you ignore?
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QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK
Question Your Problem:Why is this a problem?
Is this a practical or conceptual problem?
Maybe the real problem is different.
Your definitions are incorrect.
Question Your Solution:What kind of solution do you propose?
What are you asking me to do: understand or act?
Does the solution match the problem?Is your claim too strong? (I can think of exceptions)
Why is your answer better than others?
Your practical solution is not very practical—too
expensive, unrealistic, or creates other problems.
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QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK
Question Your SupportThis is the wrong kind of evidence
The evidence isn’taccurate
precise enoughrepresentative
You need more evidence
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QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK
Alternatives to your argument
Where to find alternatives:Sources
Journals
Discussions in your field
Imagine other explanations
Ask colleagues to read your argument and think of
alternatives
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RESPONSES
You may respond to questions by:Fixing your argument
Finding more and better-quality evidence
Acknowledging obvious objections and explain why
they do not pertain to the argumentRecognizing weak evidence
Recognizing insufficient evidence
Using warrants to show how evidence supports your
reasons and claims
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WHAT TO ACKNOWLEDGE?
Too many acknowledgments will distract readers;
too few will make you seem indifferent to their
views
Priorities:Plausible charges of weakness that you can rebut
Alternative lines of argument in your field
Alternative conclusions that readers want to be true
Alternative evidence readers know
Important counterexamples that you can explainaway
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WHEN YOU CAN’T ANSWER A
QUESTION
Acknowledge questions you can’t answerThis shows you to be honest.
You can:Show that the rest of your argument compensates for the
weaknessClaim that more research will answer the question
Show that your argument still offers a partial solution that you
or another researcher could use to later develop a better solution
Change your claim to one that you can defend
You can present the original claim as the “problem” ormisconception in your introduction
Your original claim can be used as a hypothesis in the
scientific method—you tested it and found it false
Develop a better claim based on your evidence
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USE RESPONSES AS SUBORDINATE
ARGUMENTS
If needed, give reasons and evidence in your
response to an objectionThis enables you to give more reasons and evidence for your
claim
Learn by example: see how others respond toobjections and “thicken” their arguments
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VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Downplay objection[Despite / Regardless of / Notwithstanding] A, B.
[ Although / While / Even though] A, B.
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VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Indirect acknowledgment A [seems / appears] true, but B is true.
A [may / could] be true, but B.
A [plausibly / justifiably / reasonably /
surprisingly / certainly] has merit, but B.
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VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Attribute alternatives to unnamed sources:It is easy to [think / imagine / say / claim / argue]
A, but there is [another / alternative / possible]
[explanation / line of argument / account /
possibility].Some evidence [might / may / can / could / does]
[suggest / indicate / point to / lead some to
think] A, but B.
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VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Attribute alternatives to a more specific sources:There are [some / many / few] who [might / may /
could / would] [say / think / argue / claim /
charge / object] that A is R, but, in fact, A is B.
Then quote or cite representative sources that give theseclaims
Avoid dismissive adjectives: naïve, careless, ignorant, etc.
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VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Show you understand alternative viewpointsI [understand / know / realize] A, but B.
It is [true / certain / likely / possible] that no good
evidence proves A. However, B.
It [must / should / can] be [admitted /acknowledged / noted / conceded] that A.
Nevertheless, B.
[Granted / Admittedly / True / To be sure /
Certainly / Of course,] Smith has claimed A.
However, B.
We [could / can / might / would] [say / argue /
claim / think] A, but B.
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VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE
You don’t understandBut [I do not quite understand how / I find it
difficult to see how / it is not clear to me how] X
can claim A when B . . .
Unsettled issuesBut there areother issues here. . .
But thereremains the problem of. . .
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VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE
Acknowledged position is irrelevant or unreliableBut as insightful as A may be, it [ignores / is
irrelevant to / does not bear on] the issue at hand.
But the [evidence / reasoning] is [unreliable /
shaky / thin].But the argument is [untenable / weak / confused /
simplistic].
But the argument [overlooks / ignores / misses]
key factors.
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VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE
Be civil X’s evidence is important,but we must look at all
the available evidence.
X explains some of C,but [C] is too complex for a
single explanation. X holds in many situations,but not in all.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph
M. Williams.The Craft of Research. 3rd ed.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.