Writing for ResearchAt this stage you abandon most of the mad hypotheses that were OK in the Epitome,
because you now want only what stands up to testing. You go back and forth to your
data, or documents, or whatever material you are working from, checking the claims you
are making. Often I find I have remembered a detail in the data or the literature slightly
wrong. This is where I correct that memory, and modify the argument accordingly.
As I work on an Argument-outline, I find that my desk becomes piled with printouts,
manila folders, books, journal offprints, notes, summaries and sketches. The chaos on
the desk doesn’t matter, provided the material is becoming shapely in my mind. I’m
looking for the patterns I have noticed earlier in the research process, and especially the
links between the patterns. The Argument-outline will therefore look more organized
than the Epitome did. (See the illustration on the next page.)
The argument should be built around the main effects in the data, the strong central
story in the documents, or the major theoretical idea you are developing. Often early-
career researchers are so concerned not to make errors, that they obscure the truths
they have to offer. Don’t be hesitant. Speak your intellectual story with confidence!
The story goes that the great
teacher and religious reformer, Dr
Martin Luther, was once asked by a
nervous young minister how to
preach. Luther answered: “Stand up
straightly, speak out boldly, and sit
down quickly.” That’s good advice
for writing journal articles, too.The Argument-outline might take
satisfactory shape the first time
through - if the analysis is very
straightforward, or if you have
thought a lot beforehand. Often,
however, it will need further
iterations. When you get a first
version of the Argument-outline on
paper, you can see with devastating
clarity the flaws in your own
argument, the gaps in evidence, the
unconvincing conclusions. But don’t
panic!And sit down quickly (Image: Wikimedia Commons,
Luther, by Cranach