Introduction to Debate Research: From Practice to Product in

Teaching Research

China Debate Education Network

Presentation Overview

– Part I: Introduction to Research• A. Research Definition and Importance• B. Methods of Research (Practice)

– 1. Motion Based Research– 2. Process and Methods of Research

• C. Tips on Conducting Research• D. Internet and Database Research Tricks

– Part II: Teaching Debate Research• A. Writing a Brief• B. Potential Exercises

Research• Simply put, in a debate, or educational,

context, research is the systematic investigation and analysis of evidence for a particular topic.

• Research is the production of arguments founded with evidence to support and refute claims.

• Research is a process of inquiry based on asking questions rather than seeking a predetermined answer.

Research

• Research adds depth to an argument giving the argument more potential significance.

• Research enables new conclusions to be drawn and new arguments to be developed.

Importance of Research

• Sound arguments require due diligence by the arguer to ensure the completeness of that argument.

• Research is also a responsibility of the evaluator of argument. In a debate context, opposing teams and the judge are better served with some topical understanding.

Online Resources

• Preliminary data collection indicates students are very comfortable with using online resources and websites. They appear more comfortable with the internet than with journals, books and printed newspapers.

• This suggests teachers of research should focus on improving student usage of databases and information literacy of online data.

Methods of Research: Types

• Open Ended Research: General reading of information such as the news with no specific goal in mind. – Helps develop broad awareness of a number of

issues of public concern.• Focused Research: Specific research with an

argument position in mind. – Focused research usually begins with a question

about an issue. For example, what are the most practical steps to reducing air pollution?

Motion Based Research

• Motions have certain components to them. Break them down and think about their parts. – For example, think of the following motion used at

a Chinese tournament. “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.”

– Break the motion into its elements realizing this is a somewhat standard format that can guide the type of research you conduct:

Motions: Background

• Overview/background: begin by examining the background of the topic/motion.

• Example: “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.” • What is the current status of air pollution in China? • What are the consequences (or harms/ills) of air pollution? • What prior solutions have been attempted? What

solutions are currently being considered? • What is the current position of the Chinese government?

– Begin by outlining the issue for both government and opposition arguments.

Motion components, continued

• “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.” – Actor: “this house/China”– Action: “increase its efforts to reduce” – Object/Term of Art: “air pollution”

Motion: Actor

• “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.” • Starting with a research question or set of questions

focused on an actor allows you to narrow your searches. You could replace China with a number of other actors for more thorough research.• How can the government control air pollution production?

What controls have been considered by national, central or regional governments?

Motions: Action

• “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.”

• Research is also effective when focusing on the action. In this case, reducing air pollution.

• Notice these questions parallel the background information:• How can the government control air pollution?

– Alert systems—Did the December 2015 “Red Alert” have a positive impact on Beijing and surrounding areas?

• What controls have been considered by central or regional governments?

Motion: Term of Art• “China should increase its efforts to reduce air pollution.”

• Most motions have a term of art or a specific phrase that will provide more information about the actor and action.

• Researchers need to examine the literature on “air pollution” as it is produced by experts studying the topic—scientists, engineers, climatologists, and so on. This literature is likely to provide the most relevant information.

Process and Methods for Researching*

• 1. Always start broadly and then work to narrow your point. Begin with a topic and then follow with a specific question:– In order to conduct research it helps to consider a

topic to allow focus (e.g. public health, pollution, or corruption).

– *Following section is adapted from Creswell, John.W. (2008). Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 3rd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 8-9.

Process, continued

• 2. From that topic, develop a research question. – Your question may be broad (“how should the

government improve public health?”) or narrow ("what are social costs of coal power plants?”).

• 3. Identify primary issues– Determine what are the major issues in the

argument you are advancing or the argument you are seeking to evaluate. (public health? Economics? International perception?)

• 4. Identify central questions—here you ask what information you need to understand a given issue. – For example, if the argument is to alter the pollution red

alert system by lowering the point where the alert triggers you might want to know • a) how often pollution exceeds the current and proposed

standard; • b) what are the harms of pollution at various levels; • c) what the are benefits of decreasing pollution; • d) what are the costs of decreasing the standard.

• Central Questions– In addition to the “fact based” questions

surrounding the collection of evidence to support a claim, researchers need to identity central questions regarding their approach:• What are the primary arguments from a moral

perspective?• What are the primary arguments from an economic

perspective? • What are the primary arguments from a perspective of

public health?

• 5. Conduct a cursory literary review. Search for the relevant material already published on a subject. – For example, if you want to argue that China

should send a manned space mission to the moon, you would want to know what others have written on the subject as a means of answering relevant questions about costs and time-frame of such a mission. Use this to refine your research question.

• 6. Collect relevant information/data• 7. Analyze data with attention to your

argument– investigate the information you have for patterns

of relevance, sufficiency, applicability (RSA) and consistency. Evaluate how the information you have collected helps you support your argument or requires you to continue your research process by refining your inquiry.

• 8. Evaluate the research– Evidence you gather from other sources should

also be subjected to thorough evaluation. Is the evidence sound evidence from credible sources?

• 9. Integrate your research—insert your research into your argument to support your position.

• 10. Process Information• Gather and process the information you

have found. To process information is more than taking notes on your research, but writing down the information from various sources into organized formats that will translate to debate arguments.

Tips for Researching• Research with purpose or cut through the

chaff for the wheat: – Once you have a basic understanding of the topic,

focus your research around a goal. – For example, if you are researching the conflict in

with ISIS, perhaps you want to focus on broad based international involvement. Rather than research “intervention good” or “intervention bad” you would research “why Chinese involvement in ISIS is beneficial or not” or “benefits and problems of UN involvement” or “Islamic State response to a international action.”

More Tips for Researching

• Follow the literature: – Conducting research often feels like falling into

wonderland: mysterious and confusing. But even Alice had guides. Your guide is the literature.

– Look to what the literature supports.– For example, the literature may not support China

intervening unilaterally with ISIS, but it may provide evidence for a coalition of which China is one part. It may support different forms of intervention, e.g. aerial attacks are better than ground troops.

More Tips for Researching

• Outline the Argument: – Keep a written document of the argument as it

develops. Add to the document as you find more information.

– Researcher’s name should be on the document.• Cite Your Sources:– even if you are not saying the source in the

debate, document where the material came from.

Tips on Researching Online

• Provide students with a list of online databases to access from the following categories:– General Search Engines– News Aggregators– Specific News Sites– Topic Specific Journals– Think Tanks

Internet Search Tricks

• Learn how to use search engine shortcuts• Shortcuts vary by the search engine, database,

etc.• Some common shortcuts include:– Boolean phrases (AND, OR, NOT)– Search within a set number of word (e.g. “Beijing

w8 pollution”)– Search by including or omitting words (e.g. cats

NOT dogs, or, cats –dogs) (communication + rhetoric)

More Internet Search Tips

• Use quotation marks for exact phrasing (e.g. “women athletes” will search for the words as a phrase whereas women athletes will insert “and” to find all sites containing the two terms.

• Use truncation with an asterisk (*). (e.g. child* will search for child, children, childhood, etc.)

• Use different search engines and databases.

Writing a Brief

• Keep briefs short—Two pages is plenty• Keep briefs concise and ordered. They should

follow a clear outline:– Background or effects/status quo—policy

arguments/Defense of status quo– Reasons to take particular action—principal based

arguments– Solutions/Problems with action– Sources

Potential Exercises

• A number of potential exercises for research are possible and fairly easy:– Have students choose a particular topic and craft a

well-researched brief.– Divide students into pairs and have them

independently research a topic from opposite sides. Then have them compare their arguments and assist each other in identifying strengths and weaknesses.

– Require students to find sources that are both online and offline (traditional sources).