CR10 Acknowledgements and Responses

8/18/2019 CR10 Acknowledgements and Responses

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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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Question Your SupportThis is the wrong kind of evidence

The evidence isn’taccurate

precise enoughrepresentative

You need more evidence


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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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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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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.

Documents

CR10 Acknowledgements and Responses