“Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, noncommittal language” (Strunk & White, 2000).
Academic Writing: “Put statements in positive form”
When it comes to academic synthesis in writing, there is a fine line. You shouldn’t make sweeping statements of fact that are not rooted in solid research. At the same time, any meaningful course of research presses into the unknown, driven by what is already known about the subject.
In other words, there’s typically much about any subject that is still uncertain, but much that has been established by previous research.
Your task is to show how previous research leads logically toward your own ideas or theories. Naturally, you have to use different language to write about these two separate things:
- Data/conclusions based on previous research
- Your ideas, which are totally sensible and logical, but have yet to be backed up by research
How Do I Do That?
I’m so glad you asked. To begin with:
- Think about what definite assertion you would like to be able to put into academic print some day, but can’t yet, because you don’t have the research to back it up.
- Gather current research that serves as the logical basis for your ideas.
**Time-saving Truth Bomb: If you can’t find any current research, you will need to reformulate your dream assertion. Period. I just saved you a lot of time. You’re welcome. Check out my post on topic selection.
- Gather verifiable data that suggests your topic is somehow worth studying (e.g. other successfully completed research that suggests subsequent researchers do the research you want to do).
Helpful Note: If you have gathered plenty of current research (see previous point), probably those writers did some of this work for you.
- Put the research in the most logical order to convince your readers that your ideas are solid and worthwhile.
Then What?
You have done well, Padawan. You have gathered relevant research that supports your idea. Or you have revised your original idea so that it is supported by relevant research.
Now you start writing. Take your dream assertion, and think up a question or two that might yield that assertion.
Example:
- Dream assertion: Consumption of ice cream changes the synapses in the consumer’s brain permanently, resulting in an improved sense of well-being. [sounds legit…]
- Question: How does consumption of ice cream change the brain of a person who eats it?
Now, For the Tricky Part: Synthesis
The word synthesis should always be said with ominous intonation by those who have mastered it. Not because it’s so scary and impossible, but because academic synthesis is tricky and people often give up too quickly when things get a bit tricky. But if you hang in there and learn how to do it right, you will earn the badge of being able scare newbies with the word.
Baby Steps to Academic Synthesis
1. Start by explaining why your topic is important, based on previous research.
Note: This means that you can use positive assertions here, but each assertion should have a source that is cited.
- Completely made up example:
Well-being is a subjective sense of how well a person’s life is going (Cheevies, 2016). Surprisingly, well-being may have very little to do with objective circumstances. In fact, Nerdy and Penprotector’s 2015 study of both impoverished and wealthy lemur owners suggests that a person’s measurable life circumstances don’t necessarily dictate well-being. Rather, high rates of well-being were reported among lemur owners regardless of other life circumstances, indicating that small and objectively insignificant changes may in fact increase individual well-being significantly.
- Analysis: This whole point of this first paragraph was to make the connection between small changes and well-being. Why? And what does lemur ownership have to do with eating ice cream? Well, eating ice cream would also represent a small change (like getting a lemur), and that’s where my narrative is leading.
Notice the language, “study…suggests,” “indicating that,” and so on. Research doesn’t always have clear-cut conclusions or applications. This means you can’t come right out and say “Owning a lemur will improve your well-being.” However, you are trying to build a case, not about lemurs, but about choices that affect well-being that aren’t the usual kinds of choices you’d connect with well-being.
I’m also working to establish the importance of my topic. After all, if achieving well-being is as easy as making a small change—especially the change of eating more ice cream—then who in the world wouldn’t want to get on board with this research? Like, really?
2. Start to hone in on your actual topic
- In my next paragraph I would try to move a bit closer to my topic by bringing in the effects of a small change in food choices. I also weave in some brain research that is relevant.
In fact, research has even established a link between an individual’s decisions to make small and objectively insignificant changes in their diets and brain function. According to Paleo and Veg, regular carrot eaters experience more activity in their cerebral calm cortex, the part of the brain responsible for confidence and relaxation (2012), and that the effects of carrot-eating last for weeks after consumption has ceased.
That’s a bit short, but you get the point.
3. Scoot even closer
- Next, I would establish why ice cream and well-being might be connected, based on research, and lead to my question.
The idea that we may be able to affect the chemistry of our brains, and ultimately our own sense of well-being, by making small changes to our diet is intriguing. However, little is known about which foods specifically trigger an improved sense of wellness.
4. BAM! Wrap it up and mail to Grandma!
For more than 100 years, anecdotal evidence for the value of “comfort foods” to the well-being of individuals has mounted. Recently, The Dairy Research Institute undertook to provide empirical evidence for what many have long believed—that when people eat ice cream, it truly does make them feel better (2016). The results of the study were even more pronounced than ice cream lovers could have predicted, with 90% of ice cream eaters reporting an increased sense of well-being, and in direct proportion to the number of scoops of ice cream consumed. [wait for it…] The question remains—why? How does consumption of ice cream change the brain of a person who eats it?
- And there you have it.
Summary: The sweet spot in academic synthesis is to build a case for all assertions on empirical research. Once you have a logical argument, you can write confidently.
Citation: Strunk, W. & White, E. (2000). The elements of style. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
