Building an argument:
PhD students session
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Dr Robert Wapshott
Centre for Regional Economic and Enterprise Development
Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
@RobertWapshott @UoS_Management
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Session
Structure
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• Why you need an argument
• One approach…
• Starting points – the essentials
• Building your arguments
• Counter arguments?
• Discussions and conclusions
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Why you
need
an argument
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• It is your job to persuade your reader(ship) to see things your way
• You can attempt this through assertion but this can be easily dismantled in the
academic context
• it’s a safer bet to achieve this through ordered persuasion with supporting logic
and / or evidence
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One approach
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• This is a reflection on how I think I go about building an argument
• I will highlight key points and ideas
• It is not the only way to build an argument
• It is, ultimately, a practical skill that you develop through applying yourself and
seeing what works for you and your ideas
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Starting
points
– thetitle
essentials
for front cover
• As obvious as it may sound, before you can start building your arguments you need
your raw materials!
• There’s no substitute for intelligent reading and building understanding
• Read, read, read – copy & paste, NVivo, other
• Reflect – what do you think? (your informed opinion)
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Master
title style
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Building
your
arguments
for front cover
• As obvious as it may sound, before you can start building your arguments you need
your raw materials!
• There’s no substitute for intelligent reading and building understanding
• Read, read, read – copy & paste, NVivo, other
• Reflect – what do you think? (your informed opinion)
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to edit
Master
title style
PowerPoint
header
Building
your
arguments
for front cover
• Once you know what you think, you need to consider carefully why you think that –
what are the most persuasive texts and arguments in your view?
• Identify the essence of those key points and identify what makes them so
persuasive
• Summarise the key points and why you find them so persuasive
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Building
your
arguments
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• There’s a good chance that to make your contribution you need to synthesise
several areas of literature
• Taking each key area of literature, as it relates to your research topic or study,
consider the key points and how they link between those areas
• What is the best order to link those points together?
• If pieces don’t fit … does your argument work? Do you need to conduct further
reading? Are you overloading your points?
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Building
your
arguments
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• Plan your paragraphs – one point per paragraph 
• Work with key literature and focus on making your point – you’re aiming to
persuade here so make a case
• (see introductory sections of papers in your field)
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Counter-arguments?
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• While you need an appreciation of alternative explanations and literature that
contests the viewpoint you find persuasive, you don’t need to give all points equal
weighting
• Make your case first
• If alternative explanations must be addressed, then you need to kill them off as you
go – building your argument and showing why your view is better than the (limited)
alternatives
• Do not get into ‘flip flopping’ with ‘on the one hand…but on the other hand…’ say
something!
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Discussion
and conclusions
for front cover
• Draw together your arguments from the first part of the paper / document
• Link with the empirical evidence you have presented to reinforce the point you are
making
• Hammer home the point in the conclusion
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