Introduction to Researching and Making Claims

Seth Graves talks about what research is and how it effects us. When we do research, it allows us to learn more about ourselves and the world. Oftentimes, we often use primary and secondary sources to support our own claims. While doing research, it’s important to be aware of a source’s credibility, which involves how trustworthy your source is and what emotions are being used in that source to make a point. With research, it helps us to know more about the world around us, and we must always keep credibility in mind. 

One sentence that I thought was interesting was, “Without ethos, a person may not have a valid reason to be believed, or may have trouble reaching their audience.” I was never really aware of this, and I can see some truth in it. The type of emotion that they use can affect their audiences as well. For example, if a news outlet gives their audience cold, hard facts about the president’s actions in a negative way, then the president’s supporters would feel attacked, leading them to immediately ignore those facts. 

The Research Process

In this article, Seth Graces, Lucas Corcoran, and Kamal Belmihoub talk about how the research process is present in our daily lives. Aside from using it to do research papers, we are always using the research process to ask questions and find answers about the mysteries of everyday life. It begins with an inquiry, and if you feel that you want to find some answers to it, then you can do some research to find those answers, which may or may not surprise you. To prove their point, they provide us with a hypothetical situation, telling us that we can use research to find what may happen to our parents that work in retail if a “retail apocalypse” occurs. After doing research, then we can change parts of our lives based on what answers are found. Although we may think that we only do research when we do academic papers, we actually do it in our every day lives to help us see if changes in our lives need to be made to make it better.

One sentence that I thought was interesting was, “All of a sudden, an everyday situation can transform into a research question: Why are the trains so late?” This really made me realize that finding a research topic isn’t too hard and that a lot of us are doing research every day. By simply asking questions and trying to find answers about something, we are already in the process of doing research.

Introduction to Researching and Making Claims

The introduction is explaining the basis of what a research based writing is. The purpose of these writings is to inform, with the inclusion of topics or ideas that the writer as learned from other sources. A major theme of this writing is research, which refers to the development of ideas or truths through observations. In this case, the passage mentions the analysis and debates about trees. At first, a tree is a tree, but once someone continues to view and analyse those trees they realize that they are different. This comparison can be seen when it comes to research, as people analyzes existing sources in order to come up with their own interpretations. The various sources that people use can be referred to as the analysis part of the tree example, and the debate that results from these observations is the research. The purpose of why people do research is to make sure that their sources are factual, and tests a source’s credibility.  There are often times where statements or ideas aren’t necessarily true, so it is up to viewers and writers to make sure that their sources are correct. The general purpose of a research paper, is to verify existing ideas or claims. Writers through research, find out their views in regards to a certain topic, which is most likely to clash or agree with others. Research papers further supports and idea, through the research of various credible sources. That’s why it is important for people to check how credible a source is, since it might not be true and will affect people’s views on the matter.

“To repeat, this study found that only 7% of college students were able to see that a source was not credible.”(50)

This highlights just how deceiving some sights may be, and it able to deceive most of it’s viewers. In this day an age with the inclusion of the internet, it is becoming more and more difficult to identify the credibility of sources. This is a bad thing, as more people are more easily fooled by what the source is saying. It shows how it is important for people to research their sources, especially in a much detailed level. For this assignment, it shows that we have to up the level of researching that we do for this paper as it is very easy for us to write about information that is factually incorrect.

The Research Process

It is common for people to conduct research in their daily lives, many whom don’t even realize that they are doing it. The whole process of conducting research or inquiry, is through someone asking question about a certain topic. It is through their questions that lead to making a decision or view about the topic. In this passage they present the idea of whether or not to go to the movies. In this example, it shows various potential questions that one might have when deciding to go to the movies or not. The person is conducting research, and gathering information that has an impact on their future decisions. Research plays a big role in peoples lives, as it is a way to help them see the world. Through the trials of questions, leads to a multitude of interpretations or views on a particular topic, which shows how people views the world differently. But why do they view things differently? Well its because of the different types of information that they have gained throughout their life, which shapes how one mind works or thinks. For the brain, it is an adventure or discovering new ideas and making those views change due to new information. They gain such information through asking questions, questions that focus on certain parts of a topic that the person wants to know about. In short, the research process is something that everybody uses, just not in the same way.

“Instead of finding pre-existing truths, it looks to test out different ideas and hypotheses that could provide us with fresh ways of understanding the world that immediately surrounds us.” (52)

This sentence was interesting, since it is basically the idea of writing a research paper. The point is to make observations and through research, come up with a view that you have when it comes to a certain topic. Through research, it helps people see the various aspects of the world and in their own eyes. It is a way to interpret certain ideas, and through these ideas contribute to society by showing how you feel and making others see in a similar light.

Day 17: Researching Stereotypes and “Fake News”

“Introduction to Researching and Making Claims,” Seth Graves

The central point of this introduction was the assertion that action of research has the power to change or form the users own claim to the topic. Through learning more about a topic (actively researching it), the readers capacity for emotion and understanding expands to either shape or alter the proto-research thinking. The most captivating sentence of the piece reads, “So why do we do research? For one, it provides us with a check-and-balance system for claims”. This concept for checks and balances was interesting and I could relate this to my experiences. I often entered a prompt with a set of claims or beliefs about the topic and, after research, had my thinking “checked” or completely changed.

 

“The Research Process,” Seth Graves, Lucas Corcoran, and Kamal Belmihoub

The central point of this article was that the concepts derived from research is a process of internalizing where the process of researching is the catalyst for change/learning. The most interesting sentence of the piece reads, “Research, in this sense, isn’t so much a collection of facts that prove your case but rather a type of exploration”. This accentuated the central idea by describing research as a trip, not an action. I could see how this is true in writing projects where you end up researching multiple accounts of an issue and this leads to your own understanding.

 

“Introduction to Researching and Making Claims”

In the piece, Graves writes about all writing being considered as research because in each piece we are going further in depth about a topic which, in the end, reveals something new that can be learned from that topic. Research also gives credibility to both the work and the writer because it shows the work’s argument is being supported by evidence and the writer know’s what they are writing about because they have facts behind it. The most interesting sentence of the piece is “As you pay attention to the differences between these trees– and really begin to see each tree in the forest–you become aware of your own feelings about this debate” because it makes the tree example make sense and reveals that research is not entirely a negative and lengthy journey but it can simply be looking at a topic in a closer way that reveals the emotions involved or even something different. I think that sentence makes the passage make sense as to what research is all about and that it doesn’t have to be paired with a negative connotation.

“The Research Process”

In this work, the authors write about the process of wanting to know more about something. They claim that research is all about the process of inquiry in which you look more in depth into a topic which is also known as research. This passage is also trying to change the negative connotation associated with the word “research.” The work also goes on to say that it is the exigence of reasoning that many wonder about. The most interesting sentence in this work is “A problem from everyday life can produce a line of inquiry that leads you toward all sorts of other questions” because it shows that research is not so bad when you think of it in the way that everything when looked into further becomes an inquiry which is research.

Questions about assignment

Would “engaging with other’s views” be the counter-argument?

What do you mean by contains few “to be” verbs?

3 Groups 

-The Border and Illegal Immigration (How Illegal Immigrants are portrayed in Media- Both sides)

-How the Media portrays teenagers (both sides)

-How the Media portrays women (both sides) (feminists?)

 

Researching and Making Claims

In Researching and Making Claims by Seth Graves, he discusses the importance of research and how it can affect how we interpret the world/issues of the world around us. Using his example of walking through a forest with a friend, the debate on which specific tree they liked the most arose because they were able to differentiate between each individual tree through research. If this research had not been done, all the trees would have looked the same to them and the question would have never arose. The reason why we do research is because it provides credibility to our claims/arguments. However, in this “fake news” era, it is hard to determine which news source is credible or not. A recent study even showed that the majority of people were unable to tell whether or not a news source was actually credible.

One interesting sentence that I read from this piece was, “Credibility contributes to the ethos of the person making the claim.” In my opinion, I agree with this statement and believe that it could go both ways. If someone with a good reputation and large following makes a statement, people are more likely to agree with them. This shows that the ethos of a person can make a statement seem more credible regardless of whether or not it’s true. Another example is that if someone is always accurate with their information and never issues any false statements, it can build up people’s perception of them. This shows that the amount of credibility a person has can influence their ethos.

The Research Process

Research does not always mean academic or scholarly research done in classes or professional work spaces. It is actually a broad term to describe the process of inquiry or the process of wanting to know more about a certain area or topic. Research can happen in extremely casual settings as well. For example, in the first example provided, someone texts their friend to give them some good ideas on what to watch in a movie theater. They asked the friend for advice/suggestions which made them wonder why they found the movie so interesting. The person who asked would then go see the movie themselves to satisfy their curiosity. This is also considered a form of research since they are trying to answer a question and using that to gain more knowledge on a topic.

One interesting phrase that I read from this piece was, “Research, in this sense, isn’t so much a collection of facts that prove your case but rather a type of exploration. Researchers are people who have developed a curiosity to go on a trip through brand new ideas and points of view.” I thought this was a really accurate metaphor to describe the process of research. Research in its most basic form is essentially wanting to know more about something. Explorers who go on explorations often explore areas unknown to them in order to learn more about it through first-hand experience. Therefore, the correlation between research and exploration is visible here since both are a process of learning more about something that they previously had little to no knowledge of.

“Introduction to Research and Making Claims” summary and response:

Seth Graves talks about the importance of research and the effects it can have on us. He essentially states that the foundation for how good someone’s research is, is based on one’s credibility. He references a Stanford Universities study about how uninformed the average student is on what sources are actually credible. Graves states that “credibility contributes to the ethos of the person making a claim,” hence how understanding credibility in research is a key component in believing a claim to begin with. I personally think the most interesting sentence in this introduction is how “Learning more about a topic expands your capacity for emotion.” I really like this because it brings up the idea of how the more informed you are on a certain topic, the more invested you become in said topic. This sentence ties most of this introduction together as it explains why we would want credible research in the first place.  

 

“The Research Process” summary and response:

Like the title implies this piece is written to inform the reader about the process of conducting research for a paper. The authors define research as the “process of wanting to know more.” They use a person’s interested in finding out why their friend likes a certain movie as an example of conducting research. The authors call this process of wanting to learn more as the process of inquiry. They claim that by asking questions about a topic the reader is trying to find the exigence in the first place. Not only do the authors want to inform it’s audience about the research process but they also want their audience to see that research “isn’t so much a collection of facts the prove your case but rather a type of exploration.” I agree with that statement to an extent. In a way, just by simply exploring a topic, the reader has already conducted some form of research.

Research-Based Argument:

• Genetic Cloning
• The Pharmaceutical Industry
• Immigration in the United States

The writing, “Introduction to Researching and Making Claims”, Seth Graves points out that when we are exposed to new information, it can change us and expand our capacity of emotion. He describes this with the scenario where you didn’t know any of the trees in a big park, but the guide tells you about them and their names. Instead of recognizing a tree as just a tree, you would recognize them by name instead. He writes that we research because we need credibility to distinguish our claim as real in a society where fake news is found everywhere. The sense of credibility is also able to change a person’s emotion and gives it a valid reason to be believed. I found this to be the most interesting sentence in this piece because credibility is essential now and is hard to prove a point without any. When we are writing any paper, we need to make sure we get our facts checked and make sure they are credible if we want to convince our audience.

The writing, “The Research Process”, tells us why we conduct research. It starts out by telling the common scenario of a child bombarding an adult with “Why?” after every question being answered. The writers of this piece claim that we do this because we want to gain pleasure from learning something new. When we answer our everyday questions, we are conducting research and with that information, we can act accordingly if the scenario calls for it. A sentence that interested me in this piece is, “An inductive approach to forming a research question means by and large pausing briefly and looking at the world around us.” I find this interesting because when you are researching a topic, you are often focused on your bias opinion of the subject, but if we do that, we cannot get a good understanding why we think that way. In other words, we need to look at a topic differently and even explore the reasons why someone may be against our opinions in order to see the whole picture. Like politicians today, they only focus on their own agenda, and any other agenda that opposes theirs is seen as threatening and will be no room for compromise. To avoid that, we need to see the research question more broadly.

Writing Prompts:

In “Researching and Making Claims” Graves talks about how every paper is a research paper. He explains how researching provides credibility and with credibility, the writer can reach the targeted audience better and make them believe whatever is on the paper. The most interesting sentence in the passage is “Learning more about a topic expands your capacity for emotion.” This is the most interesting sentence because if we don’t understand a topic or know about it, we can’t sympathize or understand the passion someone has for it. One example would be immigrants. If a person isn’t an immigrant, they would never experience how scary it is to live in an area that doesn’t speak your native tongue. However, if that person does research on immigration and interviews real immigrants, then they would have a sense of what immigrants are feeling and the struggles they face.

In “The Research Process” the authors discuss the process of researching something and how it isn’t conducted only when writing papers but in our daily lives as well. One sentence that particularly caught my eye is “But research, in the broadest sense of the word, refers to a process of wanting to know more” I never thought of it this way and I find it very interesting because now that I think about it, its so true. When we ask a friend about their day we ask questions like “What did you do today?” or “Why was that the best part of your day?” and this is all a process of researching how their day was. The authors try to tell the readers not to think of research as finding facts to prove an argument but more of an exploration of the topic.

 

Assignment 3:

I don’t have any questions for the last research paper.

Three groups I would be interested in writing about are Christians, illegal immigrants, and single parents. The reason why I want to talk about Christians is that nowadays, there are many misunderstandings about Christians and as a Christian myself, I want to be able to relieve these misunderstandings through the use of scriptures in the bible. I would also like to talk about immigrants because this is a huge issue in America right now with deporting illegal immigrants. Furthermore, the topic of single parents would also be interesting to write about because many people have stereotypes against single parents and I don’t know a lot about this topic myself so while writing this paper maybe I can find out more about it.