As a scientist, you know what you are doing is evidence-based and without argument. But as a writer, you must turn that information into a paper that has an argument in it. These two thought processes are often hard to juxtapose together, but when you understand the reasoning behind the need for an argument in research, you can create a strong one that gets your concept across to the reader.

An argument, by definition, makes the point you’re trying to share clearly understood. Societal conditioning has made people consider, as a knee jerk reaction, an argument to be something that is contested. In reality, it’s simply a claim you’re making about a concept, and the evidence you use to back up your claim. In an academic paper, you’re postulating your hypothesis or outcome, showing your evidence, and building it in such a way that the rationale behind your final conclusion is clearly revealed to the reader. By clarifying your topic and developing a strong argument, your academic research is incontestable.

The Parts of a Good Argument

No matter what topic is broached, a conversation or paper requires certain conditions to be met in order to qualify as a legitimate, meaningful argument. Otherwise, it’s just someone throwing their opinions out and expecting other people to agree with them without rationale and reason.

For your argument to be effective, it must include these criteria:

●      It should be grounded in a solid foundation that consists of facts and data that are relevant to your conclusion as your evidence

●      The existence of the argument isn’t enough to be effective; it must connect to another argument in the field that already exists or answers a question that contributes to scholarship in the subject

●      It considers potential counter-arguments, addresses their perspective, and effectively defends against these claims

These are the universal truths of any argument, whether it’s on paper and based on the field of science, or it’s an in-person debate on a subject.

How to Approach Your Claim and Evidence

 When you begin to put together your argument, you have to decide how to present the claim and then follow it up with evidence. There are two main approaches you can take: the balanced or the persuasive approach. Each one has its own pros and cons.

The balanced view introduces the argument to the reader by sharing how it is relevant to the topic and field, and explaining how it contributes overall to furthering knowledge. The reasons for the argument are presented, followed by the counterclaims. Evidence is used to support both the claim and counterclaim without a conclusion made at the time. Once all the evidence is presented, a holistic, rational final argument is made by the author that gives his or her view, substantiated with reasoning and evidence that supports it.

The persuasive view, on the other hand, presents the argument and follows it up with the author’s claim. Counter-arguments are brought into the paper, and the evidence in favor of the author’s perspective is used to show the conclusion is correct.

Before you start your experiment and write your manuscript, you must decide which approach you want to take. The way you structure your research may change, depending on your decision.

An important thing to remember to build a strong argument is that your viewpoint must appear throughout the paper. Everything you include in the content should be relevant to the point you’re trying to make. Make a short summary of your argument before you begin the process of writing, and continue to refer to that summary throughout your paper to ensure you’re staying focused and on track.

Impactio Can Help You Organize Your Argument

Many of the concerns about the difficulty of presenting an organized and effective argument are resolved when you use the right program. Impactio’s all-in-one platform was designed to help you make every step of the writing process efficient and streamlined. With the outline and structural tools to follow, your argument is simplified!

Impactio guides you through organizing your paper, taking care of the little things like running headers and citations, so you can concentrate on building your solid argument. Those old time-consuming, but necessary, steps become streamlined processes when you use Impactio. With the extra time and energy you have left, you can go back to setting up research projects and finding the evidence to make your argument.