In the reading, “Researching and Making Claims” by Seth Graves, it is explained that expanding our knowledge of something also expanse our capacity for emotion regarding the topic thus relating to research. According to Graves, as we research a topic, the research acts as a check-and-balance system to our claims. The most critical part of making a claim is the credibility of the claim, how believable is it? Based on the study statistics Graves provides, the credibility of claims can be influenced by the vocabulary and voice used to deliver the claim.

“Learning more about a topic expands your capacity for emotion” – I believe that this statement is very true in that there are many instances where a person who is well educated in a certain topic can make a compelling, well support, and impassioned argument. Likewise, the opposite is true, where one who knows little of a topic may not have any strong opinions on the idea.

In the reading, “The Research Process” by Seth Graves, Lucas Corcoran, and Jamal Belmihoub, it is further explained that research does not only take place in a college setting when a research paper is assigned. Research is like analysis, making an inquiry. Research can be done on every action that one takes by questioning why and how. From there, one question leads to another and a research is in progress.

“…we can say that research aims to defamiliarize things and to see them from a whole new perspective.” – This is an enlightening statement in my opinion. Things that we see everyday and become familiar with all seem mundane and basic after some time. However, that doesn’t mean that research cannot be done. Once we defamiliarize it, we can start questioning each and every bit of it, and who would’ve known that we’d have so many questions for something that we thought was so normal and simplistic?

Seth Graves’ introduction to “Researching and Making Claims” portrays research as a very broad concept. Just about any paper has capacity to be a piece of research, mostly because we are able to learn more about ourselves and our surrounding through writing papers. Graves emphasizes that a good research paper is one that’s credible, and without it, there could be no reason hold one’s findings as true. This is the main concept of ethos.

A sentence that really caught my attention is in the fourth paragraph on page 49: “[Research] provides us with a check and balance system for claims.” I took this as a summary of the prior two paragraphs: researching a topic offers us more information with a topic, as well as different perspectives on said topic (which could potentially change our perspective) . This will make us more adept at said topic, and therefore, able to argue our perspective if needed to.

 

“The Research Process” by Graves, Corcoran, and Belmihoub delves into the topic of research as a broad term. Like Rhetoric, research is used in the vast majority of people’s lives on a daily basis, whether one realizes it or not. Whenever one conducts some sort of inquiry, we participate in a form of research.

A sentence that sparked my interest in this article is the last one in the first paragraph on page 52: “A problem from everyday life can produce a line of inquiry that leads you toward all sorts of other questions, in this case perhaps regarding government, infrastructure, and politics.” We might not be necessarily thinking about it when we do it, but usually the questions that get us thinking usually spans back to the bigger picture. For example, in order to fix a local bridge, you would probably have to a government representative (perhaps local or state), the same person you would go to in order to ask for some money for set up a huge fundraiser perhaps.

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCHING AND MAKING CLAIMS

Author Seth Graves discusses the idea of how applying research towards one’s argument will not only strengthen your piece significantly, but also bring about some emotional insight for both the reader and writer. It allows the reader to “think and feel things about the world with ever-greater depth”, which can be said also towards the author when they are conducting their work. Graves argues that all forms of writing contains some form of research paper, whether it comes from an outside source or even your own thoughts, it still provides research towards the main point of the paper. The most interesting sentence to me was “In each writing act, we’re trying to learn something more about ourselves and the worlds we inhabit”. I found this interesting because it is something that I would like to apply to my own writing in the future. I have come to realize that most of my writing assignments contain the bare minimum of what is required, and I would like to reform that about myself and be able to learn from my papers, not just forget about the assignment completely after I hand it in.

THE RESEARCH PROCESS

According to the authors Seth Graves, Lucas Corcoran, and Kamal Belmihoub, they agree that the definition of research is “the process of wanting to know more”. They describe the research process by simply comparing it to everyday life, how humans in our society encounter certain problems in their environment on a daily basis. For example, the authors use the NYC subway delays as a reference of how researching for a paper should be like. We all know that the subways are always delayed even though it shouldn’t be happening because we don’t want it to, but the real question is why is delayed? The author force us to use these questions when it comes writing not only just a research paper, but any form of writing that contains ideas that need to be further developed for the reader. We simply identify a problem and then apply research to solve that issue within a piece of work.

Introduction to Researching and Making Claims

Summary: Research has the power to change us. It can expose us to new thoughts and feelings about the world around us. The more we research the better our understanding and increases our ability to feel passionate about something. Research comes in all forms, whether formal or informal but, research provides credibility for our claims, and with credibility comes ethos. Without ethos, a person may not have a valid reason to be believed.

The most interesting sentence in the piece, in my opinion, was “Many students were unable to discern whether something posted on social media was simply popular or whether it actually was true.” This is a prevalent issue nowadays with the many platforms for social media and the accessibility of it by millions of people. It raises concern because the population is being misinformed/misguided by biased media.

The Research Process

Summary: Research refers to the process of wanting to know more. Forming a research question means pausing briefly and looking at the world around us. Research aims to defamiliarize things and to see them from a whole new perspective. If we only look for what we already know then we don’t learn or grow from it. Research isn’t so much a collection of facts that prove your case but rather a type of exploration. Instead of finding a pre-existing truth, it looks to test out different ideas and hypotheses that could provide us with fresh ways of understanding the world.

The most interesting sentence in the piece, in my opinion, was “A problem from everyday life can produce a line of inquiry that leads you toward all sorts of other questions.” Everyday events can seem normal at first, but under the microscope, you can uncover a lot of unusual things about it. The potential for research lies dormant in the things we least expect.

In the introduction to Researching and Making Claims, Seth Graves makes a point about how research is a rather rudimentary thing and goes further to say that it “provides credibility for our claims.” And if there’s anything needed more in an age in which information is so easily put out and accessed, it’s credibility. Graves cites an interesting study that revealed that the youth of today in high school and university are not super skeptical of the things they read about online, despite certain clues being present or simply hiding in plain sight. One sentence, in particular, struck me in the introduction to the research process, which reads “Many students were unable to discern whether something posted on social media was simply popular or whether it actually was true.” While it’s a fact that more young people consume social media, practically anyone can fall for baiting articles or advertisements. Also, when considering the politicization of social media platforms, and the political bandwagoning and grandstanding of famous celebrities and pop stars, we see it’s easier than ever to persuade masses of people into believing in potentially unsubstantiated or even false claims.

The Research Process proposes a new way to look at research in order to make the task seem less daunting. Rather than looking at research as the grueling task of hunting and gathering facts, one might find it more productive and interesting to see it as an exploration. The authors of the text paint an image of a child constantly questioning things, demonstrating how when one asks a simple question “why?” repeatedly, he gets closer to the bottom of things. I agree with the writers that when stripped down, research really “refers to a process of wanting to know more.” Admittedly it’s difficult to want to know more about something you don’t really care about, and that requirement often takes the fun out of doing research; such is probably the reason why so many students dread the research paper.

“Introduction to Researching and Making Claims” Summary and Response

Research is important to help establish credibility for the writer. It also makes writers learn more in-depth about the topic they are analyzing. People cannot just state their own opinions without providing some sort of reasoning and explanation to back up their claims, otherwise, readers would not have any reason to trust the writer. The ethos in a person is critical in today’s society where any piece of writing can be considered “fake news” without any evidence. One sentence in this piece that I find interesting is, “In fact, all writing is research, and every “paper” is a research paper.” I had never thought about writing this way. Even if you were writing a literacy narrative (like the one we are currently writing), you are still drawing from your own experiences, thus giving an explanation for your claims. For every paper, you must do some kind of research to make sure what you are claiming is accurate.

“The Researching Process” Summary and Response

Research does not just pertain to academic papers. We actually do research in our everyday lives, whether it is looking on Yelp to see if a restaurant is as good as others say it is, or looking up different Rotten Tomatoes scores in deciding which movie to watch in the theater. This is based on the natural curiosity of all humans. Unfortunately, many people do not act on the daily questions that pop through their mind such as, “Why are there so many subway delays, and what can we do about it?” Researching these questions can give you clarity and a different perspective on trains themselves. One sentence that I found interesting is, “Research, in this sense, isn’t so much a collection of facts that prove your case but rather a type of exploration.” This goes back to my first sentence in that research is not just for school; it can provide answers to your daily wonderings too.

 

Researching and Making Claims

The text starts off with an example to make its point. Picture walking through a forest when you’re asked which is your favorite tree. After being asked, you suddenly notice the differences between the trees. “Researching” the trees made you realize you have an actual opinion on them and changed your view. Research in general has the power to change a person’s view on something. Research allows us to view and feel the world in greater depth. It’s also important to research for the sake of credibility. It contributes to the ethos of a person making a claim. It helps to reach your audience by making you and your work appear more credible and valid.

The most interesting sentence of the piece is “Learning more about a topic expands your capacity for emotion.” I find it interesting because I didn’t realize how true it is. Once you’re well-informed about something, you tend to form an opinion on it. The readings also later expand this sentence. Where you get your information also affects your feelings toward a topic and therefore affects your overall opinion.

The Research Process

Curiosity is a natural human trait. From a young age we ask questions and experiment to learn more about the world and ourselves. Researching is ingrained in our usual behavior and we may not even realize it. Something as simple as asking a friend whether or not you should see a certain movie is conducting research. Our best research questions come from when something we see as ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary. Forming a research question requires you to pause and take a look at the world around you. Research then goes on to give you surprising bits of information and probably cause you to form an entirely new opinion. Research isn’t so much a collection of facts as it is a type of exploration and learning.

“The best research questions often come from everyday life, when something ordinary, however briefly, becomes extraordinary” is this text’s most interesting sentence. Research comes from innate human curiosity. It’s how we learn and make our most useful discoveries in life.

Researching and Making Claims Summary and Response

In the reading Research and Making Claims, the author, Seth Graves, puts forth the importance of researching in a piece of writing. He starts of by giving an analogy of going into to a forest. At first, if one will go through it, he/she will probably just see trees. But as they use the resources understanding what type of trees they are surrounded by, they will realize that what seemed as all the same before are now completely different and have their own specific names. Similar is the case with researching. It not only gives us the knowledge but also, “ expands the your capacity for emotion.” In a sense, it changes who we are. If looked at from a broader perspective, every paper written is a form of research paper since at some point one tend to use primary or secondary sources to support their claim. As a result it gives the paper more credibility since now the audience of the intended paper knows that the author has done some fact check before producing the paper; this is one the main reasons in doing research. The most interesting sentence of the piece for me would be “research has the power to change us.” I never looked at research in the sense that it could go as far as to changing someone. But, in a sense, this seems to be true because when you look at it, it opens up the realm of the unknown for us which makes us emotionally vulnerable to topics we didn’t know existed before.

 

The Research Process Summary and Response

Unlike Graves piece, “The Research Process”, by Seth Graves, Lucas Corcoran, and Kamla Belmihoub, talks more into the process itself of researching. Research not necessarily has to do with digging deep into boring and lengthy articles and big, dense old books but it is actually just about finding ways to satisfy one’s curiosity. Surprisingly, it is actually very relatable to everyone since it can be anything from asking around about a movie and deciding whether to watch it or not to something that strikes us as unusual or extraordinary in one’s everyday life. Inquiry is a n important aspect of research. Sounds like a very simple and insignificant method because we use it daily in our lives when we ask anyone about anything, but has utmost importance. This can be described as secondary source of evidence in terms of research. What seems to astounding is that the best research question comes from everyday life experiences-  the more personal it is, the more intrigued you are to research about it. For me, the most interesting sentence of the piece was “…[research] isn’t so much a collection of facts that prove your case but rather a type of exploration.” In opinion this resonates with the sentence that intrigued me in the last reading as well since this is also regarding research as a way of further finding yourself in terms of your research question.

Introduction

Seth Graves makes the claim that “all writing is research, and every ‘paper’ is a research paper.” Since we’re always trying to learn something new when we write, drawing from either an outside source or from our own experiences, we’re always doing research.  By researching, we are able to see the world around us in greater depth as well as make our opinions and statements more credible. The sentence “integrating research gives the writer an opportunity to practice a kind of humility – of drawing upon the work of someone with more expertise” provided a particularly interesting view of using research in writing. I’ve never thought about the humble aspect of using the work of someone with more knowledge about a topic than myself when writing.

The Research Process

In this piece, Graves, Corcoran, and Belmihoub write that research is a key part of everyday life, despite many of us not noticing. The desire to learn, be it about the movies in the theaters right now or the delays on the subway, is present in everyone’s daily life.  Research is an exploration of new ideas and points of view that provides ways of understanding our world that we’ve never encountered before. The sentence “In other words, we can say that research aims to defamiliarize things…” By making the world around us strange and unfamiliar, we can see and think about it differently.

Final Project

So far, I could only think of writing about the portrayal of Russians (top choice) and immigrants.

Could I include a mix of positive and negative portrayals of the group in my paper?

 

 

Research is very vital to any claims you want to make. It strengthens your argument and applies to the audience’s logos and ethos.  You can’t have an opinion or argue about something you have no clue about. It is important to distinguish ourselves from all the fake news in media today. These days the media write stories to trigger emotions in their audience and rather than fact checking the information, the audience just blindly believes it. It is important to find out for yourself whether the information you received is true or not.

Humans are naturally curious. We research to find out more about a topic. Everyday questions can be considered as “research.” The simple question of asking “Why?” can broaden our knowledge of the topic. Even asking your friends how their day was is research. It is the simple act of gathering more information and using it in some way or another.