{"id":93,"date":"2022-04-28T19:31:05","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T19:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/?post_type=chapter&p=93"},"modified":"2022-05-04T22:00:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-04T22:00:40","slug":"synthesizing-your-research-findings","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/chapter\/synthesizing-your-research-findings\/","title":{"raw":"Synthesizing Your Research Findings","rendered":"Synthesizing Your Research Findings"},"content":{"raw":"Synthesis is something you already do in your everyday life.\u00a0 For example, if you are shopping for a new car, the research question you are trying to answer is, \u201cWhich car should I buy\u201d?\u00a0 You explore available models, prices, options, and consumer reviews, and you make comparisons.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 Car X costs more than car Y but gets better mileage.\u00a0 Or:\u00a0 Reviewers A, B, and C all prefer Car X, but their praise is based primarily on design features that aren\u2019t important to you.\u00a0 It is this analysis\u00a0across<\/em>\u00a0sources that moves you towards an answer to your question.\r\n\r\nEarly in an academic research project you are likely to find yourself making initial comparisons\u2014for example, you may notice that Source A arrives at a conclusion very different from that of Source B\u2014but the task of synthesis will become central to your work when you begin drafting your research paper or presentation.\r\n\r\nRemember, when you synthesize, you are not just compiling information.\u00a0 You are organizing that information around a specific argument or question, and this work\u2014your own intellectual work\u2014is central to research writing.\r\n\r\nBelow are some questions that highlight ways in which the act of synthesizing brings together ideas and generates new knowledge.\r\n\r\nHow do the sources speak to your specific argument or research question?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nYour argument or research question is the main unifying element in your project.\u00a0 Keep this in the forefront of your mind when you write about your sources.\u00a0 Explain how, specifically, each source supports your central claim\/s or suggests possible answers to your question.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 Does the source provide essential background information or a definitional foundation for your argument or inquiry? Does it present numerical data that supports one of your points or helps you answer a question you have posed?\u00a0 Does it present a theory that might be applied to some aspect of your project?\u00a0 Does it present a recognized expert\u2019s insights on your topic?\r\n\r\nHow do the sources speak to each other?\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n\r\nSometimes you will find explicit dialogue between sources (for example, Source A refutes Source B by name), and sometimes you will need to bring your sources into dialogue (for example, Source A does not mention Source B, but you observe that the two are advancing similar or dissimilar arguments).\u00a0 Attending to\u00a0interrelationships among sources<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is at the heart of the task of synthesis.\r\n\r\nBegin by asking:\u00a0 What are the points of agreement?\u00a0 Where are there disagreements?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBut be aware that you are unlikely to find your sources in pure positions of \u201cfor\u201d vs. \u201cagainst.\u201d\u00a0 You are more likely to find agreement in some areas and disagreement in other areas.\u00a0 You may also find agreement but for different reasons\u2014such as different underlying values and priorities, or different methods of inquiry.\r\n\r\nWhere are there, or aren\u2019t there, information gaps?<\/strong>\r\n\r\nWhere is the available information unreliable (for example, it might be difficult to trace back to primary sources), or limited, (for example, based on just a few case studies, or on just one geographical area), or difficult for non-specialists to access (for example, written in specialist language, or tucked away in a physical archive)?\r\n\r\nDoes your inquiry contain sub-questions that may not at present be answerable, or that may not be answerable without additional primary research\u2014for example, laboratory studies, direct observation, interviews with witnesses or participants, etc.?\r\n\r\nOr, alternatively, is there a great deal of reliable, accessible information that addresses your question or speaks to your argument or inquiry?\r\n\r\nIn considering these questions, you are engaged in synthesis: you are conducting an overview assessment of the field of available information and in this way generating composite knowledge.\r\n\r\nRemember, synthesis is about pulling together information from a range of sources in order to answer a question or construct an argument. It is something you will be called upon to do in a wide variety of academic, professional, and personal contexts. Being able to dive into an ocean of information and surface with meaningful conclusions is an essential life skill.Synthesis Notes: Working With Sources To Create a First Draft\r\n\r\nLicenses and Attributions<\/strong>\r\n\r\nCC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL\r\n\r\nComposing Ourselves and Our World,\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Provided by: the authors. License:\u00a0Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)<\/a>\r\n\r\nCC LICENSED CONTENT INCLUDED\r\n\r\nThis chapter contains an excerpt from\u00a0Synthesizing Your Research Findings<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0Authored by<\/strong>: Christine Photinos.\u00a0License<\/strong>:\u00a0Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.","rendered":"

Synthesis is something you already do in your everyday life.\u00a0 For example, if you are shopping for a new car, the research question you are trying to answer is, \u201cWhich car should I buy\u201d?\u00a0 You explore available models, prices, options, and consumer reviews, and you make comparisons.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 Car X costs more than car Y but gets better mileage.\u00a0 Or:\u00a0 Reviewers A, B, and C all prefer Car X, but their praise is based primarily on design features that aren\u2019t important to you.\u00a0 It is this analysis\u00a0across<\/em>\u00a0sources that moves you towards an answer to your question.<\/p>\n

Early in an academic research project you are likely to find yourself making initial comparisons\u2014for example, you may notice that Source A arrives at a conclusion very different from that of Source B\u2014but the task of synthesis will become central to your work when you begin drafting your research paper or presentation.<\/p>\n

Remember, when you synthesize, you are not just compiling information.\u00a0 You are organizing that information around a specific argument or question, and this work\u2014your own intellectual work\u2014is central to research writing.<\/p>\n

Below are some questions that highlight ways in which the act of synthesizing brings together ideas and generates new knowledge.<\/p>\n

How do the sources speak to your specific argument or research question?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your argument or research question is the main unifying element in your project.\u00a0 Keep this in the forefront of your mind when you write about your sources.\u00a0 Explain how, specifically, each source supports your central claim\/s or suggests possible answers to your question.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 Does the source provide essential background information or a definitional foundation for your argument or inquiry? Does it present numerical data that supports one of your points or helps you answer a question you have posed?\u00a0 Does it present a theory that might be applied to some aspect of your project?\u00a0 Does it present a recognized expert\u2019s insights on your topic?<\/p>\n

How do the sources speak to each other?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes you will find explicit dialogue between sources (for example, Source A refutes Source B by name), and sometimes you will need to bring your sources into dialogue (for example, Source A does not mention Source B, but you observe that the two are advancing similar or dissimilar arguments).\u00a0 Attending to\u00a0interrelationships among sources<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is at the heart of the task of synthesis.<\/p>\n

Begin by asking:\u00a0 What are the points of agreement?\u00a0 Where are there disagreements?<\/strong><\/p>\n

But be aware that you are unlikely to find your sources in pure positions of \u201cfor\u201d vs. \u201cagainst.\u201d\u00a0 You are more likely to find agreement in some areas and disagreement in other areas.\u00a0 You may also find agreement but for different reasons\u2014such as different underlying values and priorities, or different methods of inquiry.<\/p>\n

Where are there, or aren\u2019t there, information gaps?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where is the available information unreliable (for example, it might be difficult to trace back to primary sources), or limited, (for example, based on just a few case studies, or on just one geographical area), or difficult for non-specialists to access (for example, written in specialist language, or tucked away in a physical archive)?<\/p>\n

Does your inquiry contain sub-questions that may not at present be answerable, or that may not be answerable without additional primary research\u2014for example, laboratory studies, direct observation, interviews with witnesses or participants, etc.?<\/p>\n

Or, alternatively, is there a great deal of reliable, accessible information that addresses your question or speaks to your argument or inquiry?<\/p>\n

In considering these questions, you are engaged in synthesis: you are conducting an overview assessment of the field of available information and in this way generating composite knowledge.<\/p>\n

Remember, synthesis is about pulling together information from a range of sources in order to answer a question or construct an argument. It is something you will be called upon to do in a wide variety of academic, professional, and personal contexts. Being able to dive into an ocean of information and surface with meaningful conclusions is an essential life skill.Synthesis Notes: Working With Sources To Create a First Draft<\/p>\n

Licenses and Attributions<\/strong><\/p>\n

CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL<\/p>\n

Composing Ourselves and Our World,\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0Provided by: the authors. License:\u00a0Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)<\/a><\/p>\n

CC LICENSED CONTENT INCLUDED<\/p>\n

This chapter contains an excerpt from\u00a0Synthesizing Your Research Findings<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0Authored by<\/strong>: Christine Photinos.\u00a0License<\/strong>:\u00a0Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"menu_order":3,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"Christine Photinos","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-93","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":88,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/revisions\/178"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/88"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/93\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ccconline.org\/ppcc5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}