Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Collect Evidence

The evidence you collect will shape your research paper tremendously. You will have to decide what evidence is appropriate for your audience, purpose, and thesis. To help you make this decision, consider what kind of appeal you are making to your audience—logical, emotional, or ethical. Click on the tabs below for more information.

LOGOS OR LOGICAL APPEAL
PATHOS OR EMOTIONAL APPEAL
ETHOS OR ETHICAL APPEAL

You appeal to the reader’s intellect through factual or objective evidence.

You appeal to the reader’s feelings and their heart.

You appeal to the reader’s sense of justice, fair play or trust. The writer is seen to have authority regarding what they are writing about.

EXAMPLE OF A RESEARCH QUESTION AND ARGUMENT

Here is an example that describes research evidence to support an observable trend; this collection of evidence appeals to the readers’ logic and intelligence.

Research Question: What trends in research led to the computer industry segmentation that has occurred since the 1960s?

Argument Appealing to Logic and Intelligence: You might learn from early research that the initial phase of the US space program generated much interest in robotics and in programmable machines. That interest led to government funding for research in these areas during the 1960s. This evidence might suggest to you that the government’s role in financing research was instrumental in nurturing the fledgling computer industry of the 1960s. At the same time, you might learn that the government came into conflict with proponents of the growing industry in the 1970s by attempting to curtail domination by a single manufacturer through enforcement of the Sherman Antitrust Act. This evidence, in turn, will help you write about and explain the industry segmentation that has occurred since the 1960s, with its attendant competitive emphasis on constant improvement and innovation, realized in paradigm shifts such as those that occur in object-oriented programming.

Key Takeaways

The evidence you collect will shape your research paper tremendously.
To help you make this decision, consider what kind of appeal you are making to your audience—logical, emotional, or ethical.

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