Question your argument as your readers will—thoughts on chapter 10 of Craft of Research
Three predictable disagreements are
There are causes in addition to the one you claim
What about these counterexamples?
I don’t define X as you do, to me X means...
There are roughly two kinds of queries readers will have about your argument
intrinsic soundness—“challenging the clarity of a claim, relevance of reasons, or quality of evidence”
extrinsic soundness—“different ways of framing the problem, evidence you’ve overlooked, or what others have written on the topic.”
The idea is to anticipate, acknowledge, and respond to both kinds of questions. This is the path to making an argument that readers will trust and accept.
Voicing too many hypothetical objections up front can paralyze you. Instead, what you should do before anything else is focus on what you want to say. Give that some structure, some meat, some life. Then, an important exercise is to imagine readers’ responses to it.
I think cleaving these into two highly separated steps is an interesting idea, doing this with intention may be a valuable exercise next time I’m writing something.
View your argument through the eyes of someone who has a stake in a different outcome, someone who wants you to be wrong.
The authors provide some questions about your problem from a possible reader:
Why is your practical/conceptual solution better than others?
Then, they provide some questions about your support from a possible reader.
“I want to see a different kind of evidence” i.e. hard numbers over anecdotes / real people over cold numbers
“It isn’t accurate”
“It isn’t precise enough”
“It isn’t current”
“It isn’t representative”
“It isn’t authoritative”
“You need more evidence”
It builds credibility to play defense: to recognize your own argument’s limitations. It builds even more credibility to play offense: to explore alternatives to your argument and bring them into your reasoning. If you can, you might develop those alternatives in your own imagination, but more likely you’d like to find alternatives in your sources.
Often your readers will be likeyour sources’ authors; sometimes they may even include them.
What is the perfect amount of objections to acknowledge? Acknowledging too many can distract readers from the core of your argument, while acknowledging too few is a signal of laziness or even disrespect. You need to narrow your list of alternatives or objections by subjecting them to the following priorities
plausible charges of weaknesses that you can rebut
alternative lines of argument important in your field
alternative conclusions that readers want to be true
alternative evidence that readers know
important counterexamples that youu have to address.
What if your argument is flawed? The best thing to do is candidly acknowledge the issue and respond that...
the rest of your argument more than balances the flaw
while the flaw is serious, more research will show a way around it
while the flaw makes it impossible to accept your claim fully, your argument offers important insight into the question and suggests what a better answer would need.
It is wise to build up good faith by acknowledging questions you can’t answer. Concessions are often interpreted as positive signals by the reader.
It is important for your responses to acknowledgments to be subordinate to your main point, or else the reader will miss the forest for the trees.
Remember to make an intentional decision about how much credence to give to an objection or alternative. Weaker ones imply weaker credences, imply less effort in your acknowledgment and response.
Question your argument as your readers will—thoughts on chapter 10 of Craft of Research
Three predictable disagreements are
There are causes in addition to the one you claim
What about these counterexamples?
I don’t define X as you do, to me X means...
There are roughly two kinds of queries readers will have about your argument
intrinsic soundness—“challenging the clarity of a claim, relevance of reasons, or quality of evidence”
extrinsic soundness—“different ways of framing the problem, evidence you’ve overlooked, or what others have written on the topic.” The idea is to anticipate, acknowledge, and respond to both kinds of questions. This is the path to making an argument that readers will trust and accept.
Voicing too many hypothetical objections up front can paralyze you. Instead, what you should do before anything else is focus on what you want to say. Give that some structure, some meat, some life. Then, an important exercise is to imagine readers’ responses to it.
I think cleaving these into two highly separated steps is an interesting idea, doing this with intention may be a valuable exercise next time I’m writing something.
The authors provide some questions about your problem from a possible reader:
Why do you think there’s a problem at all?
Have you properly defined the problem?
Is your solution practical or conceptual?
Have you stated your claim too strongly?
Why is your practical/conceptual solution better than others?
Then, they provide some questions about your support from a possible reader.
“I want to see a different kind of evidence” i.e. hard numbers over anecdotes / real people over cold numbers
“It isn’t accurate”
“It isn’t precise enough”
“It isn’t current”
“It isn’t representative”
“It isn’t authoritative”
“You need more evidence”
It builds credibility to play defense: to recognize your own argument’s limitations. It builds even more credibility to play offense: to explore alternatives to your argument and bring them into your reasoning. If you can, you might develop those alternatives in your own imagination, but more likely you’d like to find alternatives in your sources.
What is the perfect amount of objections to acknowledge? Acknowledging too many can distract readers from the core of your argument, while acknowledging too few is a signal of laziness or even disrespect. You need to narrow your list of alternatives or objections by subjecting them to the following priorities
It is wise to build up good faith by acknowledging questions you can’t answer. Concessions are often interpreted as positive signals by the reader.
It is important for your responses to acknowledgments to be subordinate to your main point, or else the reader will miss the forest for the trees.
Remember to make an intentional decision about how much credence to give to an objection or alternative. Weaker ones imply weaker credences, imply less effort in your acknowledgment and response.