Persuasion and Research Are Major Elements of Academic Writing - Essay Example

Persuasion and research are major elements of academic writing Academic writing is one of the specialized methods of writing that establishes a specific claim or finding on the academic topic and then provides adequate evidence to the central idea of claim in order to gain favorable opinion for acceptance of the claim. Thus academic writing requires special skills of the writer. The major elements required to excel in the field of academic writing are persuasion and research. The content of academic writing are generally of serious and intense thoughts and are aimed at a target audience and group of readers who are well informed of the topics on academic writing and are critical in evaluating the content of writing. The writings on academic topics are based on the existing positions and ideas and forms an argument though examination of facts and investigation of areas of interest (Maggie, Pecorari and Hunston 45). The writings are usually knowledge based and then circulate among the readers of the academic world. The academic writing is however, also read by the different sections of the society involving the students, teachers, journalists, media, critics, etc. The academic writings have a specified objective to influence thoughts and opinions of the readers. The significance of the topic of study is also explained by the writer that influences the reader to replicate the ideas and actions mentioned in the topic. Instead of presenting a generalized view, a high quality academic writing researches and investigates on the specific areas of knowledge and presents the findings obtained by the writer by continuous persuasion on the topic of academic writing (OKeefe 37). The style of academic writing varies from writer to writer. Some propose to follow a general convention for academic writing while others may oppose this viewpoint. Irrespective of the style of academic writing, the major elements that influence the quality and strength of the writing are the persuasion of the writer on the academic topic and the degree of research conducted by the writer in collecting and analyzing the academic topic. The academic writing may be in the fields of medicine, law, physics, chemistry, psychology, mathematics, technology, etc. One of the major elements of academic writing is persuasion. The academic writing provides a deep insight on the academic topics of interest. In order to provide conclusive results on the subjects, the academic writers are required to first identify the area of investigation that requires articulate explanation to the readers. The study of the past events and existing information on the academic topic needs to be conducted for the purpose of academic writing. In order to carry out a detailed review on the subject of interest, the conviction on the part of the writer is essential to produce a well integrated piece of academic writing. The persuasion of effort in producing a high class work is very important to do justice to the art of academic writing. The persuasion of effort and conviction develop and influence the attitude towards producing a high quality work in the field of academic writing (Deane 69). The academic writing should be done based on the introspection of the existing claims and evaluating such claims to produce findings to the readers. In the piece of academic writing, the specific claims should be clearly mentioned and explained in an articulate fashion. The establishment and validation of claims are an integration of process of arguments, cross arguments and validation of the arguments in order to establish valid results. The arguments are framed by supporting theories with real life events as an example. Any events that do not support the academic theories form the basis of counter-arguments. The gap between the arguments and the counter arguments could be bridged with the help of collected relevant information that explain the exceptional nature of the arguments. Thus with the help of a persuasive effort with conviction, the researchers could include the instances of argument and counter argument and provide supporting examples to derive the final conclusion. A piece of academic writing that does not have the element of persuasion is likely to miss out on minute details on the subjects of academic writing like physics, chemistry, mathematics, physiology, technology, etc (Richards and Miller 20). Absence of the element of persuasion in academic writing is likely to present an incomplete study on the topic of academic writing. The theories and the exceptions would not be studied in detail and as result of incomplete knowledge acquired; the academic writing produced would not be of the highest quality. After forming a logical argument, it is only with the element of persuasion that evidence supporting the arguments could be assimilated. The evidence collected through a persuasive effort is useful to convince the readers and in gaining large acceptance. The element of persuasion is reflected in the academic wiring piece through the sequence of detailed arguments and cross arguments and the minute evidence presented in the writing to support the arguments. Thus persuasion provides a deep insight on the topic of academic writing which includes stating the existing facts on the topic, argument and counter argument of the facts and then presenting evidence to establish the claims on the academic topic. Another element of academic writing that complements the quality of persuasion is the element of research. The persuasion to acquire deep insight and knowledge on the academic topic needs to be complemented by the activities of research. The research process involves collection of pertinent data and information required for the purpose of analysis in order to reach to a conclusion of the academic topic supporting by a logical analysis. In order to start the process of research for academic writing, the writer should adopt a systematic approach with a clear view of conducting the research (Belcher and Braine 49). The research problem should be framed foremost by the researcher. Based on the area of investigation and the area of interest on the topic that is subject to question, the research problem on the academic field is designed. The problem of research guides the researcher to decide the method of conducting the research in a systematic manner. The researcher then undertakes a review of literature on the academic topic. The literature review includes a study of the theories in the subject field and the existing data, information and findings that are present in the area of the research study. The review of literature provides an idea of the area of academic interest and the related concepts that need to be understood for carrying out the research. After the review of literature, an appropriate method of research is undertaken. The research methods undertaken for the study may be primary method or secondary method of research. The primary research method involves data collection from the field. The researcher has to remember the objective of the research and then use effective tools of interview, survey, etc for collection of data from the field. In order to collect the data, a set of questions or a survey questionnaire is prepared for obtaining responses of the participants. The questions may be open-ended or even closed-ended questions. In depth interviews may also be taken for the purpose of collecting data and information. The collected data in the primary research technique is considered to be reliable as these are directly collected from the field. Another method of conducting research is the secondary method of collecting data and information. In these cases, the data is not collected directly from the field. The data and information on the academic topic is obtained from the existing sources of data on the academic topic. The existing research results and the studies on the academic topic also serve as the source of information (Ravelli and Ravelli 35). The secondary sources of data and information for producing a piece of academic wiring involve the books, journals, newspaper articles, online referrals, etc. The secondary sources of information are relatively easy and accessible sources of information and require less time and cost as compared to the primary sources. Persuasion in academic writing increases the level of endurance in the process of collection of data and evidence to produce evidence in order to validate the research question. After collection of data and information through research, the data is analyzed qualitatively or quantitatively as deemed to be fit by the researcher. In qualitative analysis, the argument and logical analysis is extremely important that demand the factor of endurance, conviction, persuasion and logic. In case of quantitative analysis on the subject of research, various quantitative and statistical tools are used for the purpose of research. The findings and results obtained with the help of logical evidence and analysis are tested against the problem of the research in order to provide a conclusion. It is important that the findings of the research on academic topic of interest are presented in the academic writing piece to influence and attain a convincing opinion of the readers. The findings are required to be tailored in the values and belief system of the readers and the audience in order to convince their opinion for acceptance of the logic in the academic writing produced. The arguments and the cross arguments along with different perspectives on the subject are tested with the help of an analysis conducted on the collected data and information. The evidences in support of the analyzed results are of great importance in establishing the validity of claim undertaken at the beginning of the research. These claims along with the supporting analysis and evidence are presented in the academic writing. The tailor made academic writing is intended to influence the decision of the readers and promote acceptance of the academic writing among a wide section of the target readers (Perloff 50). The limitations of the research conduced is also presented in the academic writing. The limitations of the research include the limitations of the data collection, reliability of the collected information and data, acceptability of the representative sample used in the process of research. The systematic method of sampling is often used in order to select a sample that represents the population. The possible areas of errors in the research process are also indicated. The views of the critics are significant on the academic writing piece. The critics highlight the limitations of the research with an aim to argue the methodology adopted and the findings obtained in the area of research. The informational knowledge and analysis backed by evidence on the topic, the views and arguments of the critics and the reasoning applied by the readers on the academic topic are the essential factors that play a key role in acceptance of the academic writing. The strong logical influence of academic writing on the readers plays a vital role in obtaining convincing opinions and attaining wide acceptance among the audience. Works cited Belcher, Diane. and George, Braine. Academic Writing in a Second Language: Essays on Research and Pedagogy. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995. Print. Deane, Mary. Academic Research, Writing and Referencing. USA: Pearson Education Limited, 2010. Print. Maggie, Charles., Diane, Pecorari. and Susan, Hunston. Academic Writing: At the Interface of Corpus and Discourse. UK: Continuum, 2009. Print. OKeefe, Daniel. Persuasion: Theory and Research. USA: SAGE, 2002. Print. Perloff, Richard. The Dynamics of Persuasion: Communication and Attitudes in the Twenty-First Century. USA. Routledge, 2010. Print. Ravelli, Louise. and Louise, Ravelli. Analysing Academic Writing: Contextualized Frameworks. USA: Continuum, 2005. Print. Richards, Janet. and Sharon, Miller. Doing Academic Writing In Education: Connecting The Personal And The Professional. USA: Routledge, 2005. Print. Read More