Prewriting:
Generating Ideas
for Research Papers
PEGS’ GWIE: Graduate Writing Institute for Excellence
Copyright © 2015
Disclaimer
All workshops and workshop materials
are the sole property of PEGS’ GWIE
and are for student and faculty use only;
they may not be
published, copied, or disseminated
without prior written approval from PEGS.
Writing is both a Recursive and a
Generative Process
Prewriting
Proofreading
& Editing
Drafting
Revising
The Purpose of Research
• When scholars write down ideas and conclusions
about a concept, they join an on-going
conversation in which the academics of today
respond to and build upon each other’s ideas as
well as the work of those who have come before
them.
• Graduate school requires that students be aware
of the ongoing debates in their field and related
fields of study and become active participants in
those debates.
• To add our voices to the conversation, we must
fully understand the ideas of others who have
gone before us.
• The best research is not wholly original but
develops from previous discoveries.
Where to Start
• If we’re expected to enter debates in our field, it makes
sense that we first become aware of them.
• As you read, note the places in the text that excite you,
engage your interest, rouse your passion, or stimulate a
desire to add to or challenge the author’s argument.
• You are building toward something as a master’s level
student, developing a point of view.
• As you attempt to develop a topic for research, ask
yourself:
• What am I curious about?
• What am I trying to prove?
• What have other researchers said on this topic?
The Research Essay
(Fr.) Essayer vt.
1: to try, to attempt
2: to test, to try out
•
•
•
•
To try what?
To attempt what?
To test what?
To try out what?
Often, a Prompt sets the question(s) for us, and we mistakenly
treat it in these narrow terms rather than allowing it to remind us
of the relationship it implies between the writer and her audience.
Click here for notes on the writing process, the purpose of research, and getting started.
Reading for Silences and Gaps
As you read, seek out areas that current and previous
research fails to examine or has not fully explored.
• As you read, write down your assessment of the author’s
argument. This is useful for developing ideas for research
or finding sources pertinent to your research question.
• Look for places where an argument has gaps or silences
that require further research, or ideas that you can
question or challenge.
• Think of each field of study as its own tree with branches
springing up in all sorts of directions (which sometimes
drop seeds that grow/lead to new and interesting fields
of study).
Silences and Gaps: an example from Jerry D. Moore’s The Prehistory of Home
Question: “So why is there home? Why did the human home evolve?”
Field: Anthropology
Main Argument: “One prominent hypothesis argues that
human home originates from two biological imperatives:
reproductive success and the extended dependency of human
offspring.”
- This is an explanation as to why humans make homes based on
scientific research of the day.
Branch Argument: “When this eminently plausible ‘homebase hypothesis’ was first articulated, it seemed to account
for a broad range of anthropological facts…”
- Using the main argument (the hypothesis mentioned above), scholars
attempt to explain other aspects of human behavior. These ‘other
aspects’ could be complex - say, hierarchical structures or division of
labor OR more simple – for example, why certain cultures used clay and
others stoneware .
Counter-argument: “But when more detailed ethnographic
research was conducted, a different picture emerged…”
- More rigorous or ‘detailed’ research reveals that some of the base
assumptions made in the main argument may be flawed.
Silences and Gaps: an example from a series of studies
Question(s): “Where do bears live? What factors have an effect on bear populations?”
Field: Biology
Main Argument: Traditional studies show that bear populations depend on
region, climate and availability of food sources, yet upon further study, you note
that the main line of research deals with how proximity to human habitation
affects bear populations.
- Academic thought changes over time; and many studies will reflect the priorities of
scholars and scientists of the day.
Argument congruent with original ideas/methods:
Scholars continue to research
how natural phenomena effect bear
migration habits and population density.
- This line of thought agrees with (is congruent with) base assumptions of earlier studies, but may
not reflect the priorities of the most prominent studies (or individual scholars) of today.
Branch Argument: A study on how climate change affects bear populations: the
study is concerned with how humans affect the species, but most interested in
how bears relate to measurable climate factors.
- In this case, the branch argument follows change in priorities taken by the main argument, but
the study will examine human impact within a ‘traditional’ context, for example, weather patterns.
Surveying Texts and Research Sources
Scan & Skim the text, targeting and gathering together essential information:
• Read the title
• Read the abstract
• Note each boldface heading and subheading
• Note any charts, diagrams, or graphics
• Note any reading aids
• Read the introduction & conclusion, and summary
• Check out the list of references used by the author
Framing Debates
“Even as our knowledge of the physical workings of the brain advanced
during the last century, one old assumption remained firmly in place: most
biologists and neurologists continued to believe, as they had for hundreds of
years. that the structure of the adult brain never changed. Our neurons
would connect into circuits during childhood, when our brains were
malleable, and as we reached maturity the circuitry would become fixed.
The brain, in the prevailing view, was something like a concrete structure”
“Although the belief in the adult brain’s immutability was deeply and widely
held, there were a few heretics. A handful of biologists and psychologists
saw in the rapidly growing body of brain research indications that even the
adult brains was malleable or ‘plastic.’”
Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains
Click here for notes on critical reading, silences & gaps, surveying texts, & framing debates.
Brainstorming:
Developing Research Ideas & the Thesis
Example of Brainstorming Using Notes
Brainstorming with References to Titles
Brainstorming: Free Writing
Cluster/Web x Flow Chart
Click here for notes on brainstorming techniques.
Generating Questions to Guide Your Research
Developing Ideas for Research: Example
1. In what ways do built forms accommodate human behavior and adapt to
human needs? How does the social group “fit” the form it occupies?
2.
What is the meaning of the form? How do built forms repress and
represent aspects of a culture?
3.
How is the built form an extension of the individual? How is the spatial
dimension of human behavior related to mental processes and
conceptualizations of the self?
4.
How does society produce forms, and how do forms produce society?
What roles do history and social institutions play in generating the built
environment? What is the relationship between space and power?
Refine and Narrow the Research Topic
Using Sources to Refine Ideas: Example
“Architectural space is also a way of thinking and philosophizing, of trying to
solve philosophical or cognitive problems” (125)
Moore: “these buildings have become such an integral part of our cultural
existence that it is hard to think of them as something separate from our
Self…We are usually, to use Edward Ralph’s (1976) apt phrase, “existential
insides” (1)
“constructed reality” (1)
“buildings may be designed to defend, separate, or exclude” (4)
STUDENT’S IDEA: Humans both shape and are shaped by the built environment.
Research support: a point of view captured in Clifford Genitz’ phrase, “man is the
only animal suspended in webs of meaning which he himself has spun” (Genitz
1973: 5). (1)
Outline Your Argument
Organizing the Outline
When outlining, consider the various ordering schemes you
can employ either separately or in combination to achieve
your purpose: chronological, climactic, spatial,
compare/contrast, logical, etc.
Click here for notes on developing and refining ideas and outlining the argument.
Research Tips: Drilling Down
Search the Stacks
Keep a Working Annotated Bibliography
• An annotated bibliography lists not only the relevant information of author, date, and
publication, it also discusses the author’s argument and offers ideas as to how the text
might be useful for your purposes.
• Index cards can work for this purpose: write the works cited information on one side of
the card, and write the author’s thesis and general usages for the text on the back.
Gloss Your Sources’ Sources
• Authors often refer to research that others have done, either
in the text, in the footnotes, or in the list of works cited.
• This is one of the best places to gather ideas for research
sources. If a source is mentioned in 2 or 3 articles that you’ve
read, then it might behoove you to go to that source yourself.
• Use the sources referenced in your text that you find useful,
or use them to learn who are the authorities in your field and
to lead you to other source materials.
Visit other Libraries and Special Collections
Think Outside Your Field
• What analogous processes, concepts, paradigms, themes (patterns), debates,
and/or problems appear in other disciplines that could inform your line of
inquiry?
• Professionals (academic or otherwise) use clear methodology – do you know
what kinds of methods your discipline uses? Are there multiple schools of
thought? What school does your professor/advisor adhere to? (Seriously, ask
them):
• Does your psychology teacher adhere to a specific school of thought
• Are there other methods of conflict resolution that CSUDH does not employ?
• Does the history department practice new-historicism?
• How do your professors differ in method/approach from other scholars or
schools of thought?
Click here for notes on research tips.
Now that you’ve composed your thoughts,
considered your purpose, the modes of achieving
that purpose, existing debates concerning your
subject, gaps in those debates, the kinds of
questions you can raise about your subject,
and your audience—be prepared to do it all again,
to continuously re-assess as you draft and revise
your essay. You’ve only just begun!
Prewriting Exercise: Reading for Silences & Gaps
“In this new era, the single most immediate and most serious challenge to America’s
traditional identity comes from the immense and continuing immigration from Latin
America, especially from Mexico, and the fertility rates of these immigrants compared to
black and white American natives. Americans like to boast of their past success in
assimilating millions of immigrants into their society, culture, and politics. But Americans
have tended to generalize about immigrants without distinguishing among them and
have focused on the economic costs and benefits of immigration, ignoring its social and
cultural consequences. As a result, they have overlooked the unique characteristics and
problems posed by contemporary Hispanic immigration. The extent and nature of this
immigration differ fundamentally from those of previous immigration, and the
assimilation successes of the past are unlikely to be duplicated with the contemporary
flood of immigrants from Latin America. This reality poses a fundamental question: Will
the United States remain a country with a single national language and a core AngloProtestant culture?”
Samuel P. Huntington, “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy. 141 (2004): p. 30-45
Member of Harvard’s Dept. of Government, 1950-1959
Associate Professor of Government at Columbia University, 1959-1962
Tenured Professor of Political Science at Harvard, 1963 – 2008
Click here for handout with quotes.
Need further Help?
Check out PEGS’ GWIE (Graduate Writing Institute for Excellence)!
Group tutoring sessions in grammar, composition, research
One-on-one capstone and thesis support and tutoring
Make an appointment or browse our online workshops:
(310) 243-2700
GWIE@csudh.edu
www.gwie4grads.org
Library Reference Desk
(310) 243-3586 or (310) 243-3582
http://library.csudh.edu/services/reference/desk.shtml
Works Cited
“Baby Reading.” Photograph. “Why Read?” Usborne. Web. 23 July 2013.
Carr, Nicholas. The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and
Remember. New York: Atlantic Books, 2010. Print.
“Essay Writing.” Photograph. “The Reliable Essay Writing Service in the United Kingdom.”
Urban Education Semester. Web. 25 July 2013.
“The Huntington Library, Art Collection.” Photograph. L.A. Avenue.com. Web. 25 July 2013.
Huntington, Samuel. “The Hispanic Challenge.” Foreign Policy. 141 (2004): 30-45. Web. 25
July 2013.
Moore, Jerry. The Prehistory of Home. Berkeley: University of California P, 2012. Print.
Moore, Jerry. Architecture and Power in the Ancient Andes: The Archaeology of Public
Buildings. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Print.
“Search the Stacks.” Photograph. “Teens Go on a Scavenger Hunt at Firestone Library.”
Princeton University. Web. 25 July 2013.
Thinkstock. “Left Out of the Party.” Photograph. “Empower Yourself.” Oprah.com. Web. 24
July 2013.