Nursing Essay Writing – Academic Arguments

Nursing Essay Writing – Academic Arguments

What is an academic argument?

An academic argument refers to your position, claim, or perspective on a given topic. It represents your contribution to the ongoing discussion about the subject, providing readers with a clear viewpoint and stance. An academic argument is evidence-based, meaning it must be supported by research findings from credible sources.

An academic argument is not….

An academic argument should not be mistaken for a confrontational or negative encounter. It should not be emotionally driven or solely based on personal opinions.

Academic Arguments Overview

While reflection and summary are relevant aspects of academic writing, your papers should primarily focus on analysis and critique. Understanding how to identify and develop strong arguments in your writing can improve your ability to construct persuasive arguments. The following sections will guide you in comprehending and crafting compelling arguments in your academic papers.

1. Understanding Arguments
Analysis

Analysis involves the ability to identify and comprehend the inferential relationships among statements, concepts, descriptions, or other forms of representation used to express beliefs, judgments, experiences, reasons, information, or opinions. When analyzing a text, you break it down into its components to understand their individual meanings and how they relate to each other, ultimately grasping the overall meaning of the work.

As you analyze written material, consider three key aspects: content, language, and structure. Examine the author’s purpose, target audience, the evidence supporting their argument, and the context in which the work was produced. Also, assess the logical organization, sequence, and division of the sections within the argument. Scrutinize the tone, language clarity, and potential biases present in the text.

Making inferences, particularly in academic literature, requires careful evaluation of the evidence and context. Correct inferences rely on logical reasoning and thorough examination of the available information. Be mindful of assumptions that underlie your inferences, as they can influence the overall validity of your argument.

Assumptions

Assumptions are statements or facts taken for granted, often serving as implicit support for an argument. Identifying assumptions is crucial to understanding an argument’s coherence and identifying its strengths and weaknesses. Uncovering hidden assumptions can help you detect logical flaws and find potential points of critique.

Interpretation

Interpretation entails assigning meaning to a text, understanding its significance, and making sense of the overall message. As the reader, you play an essential role in interpreting the text, drawing meaning from it based on your biases, prior knowledge, and inferences. Effective interpretation involves comprehending the key ideas, summarizing main points, and recognizing implications drawn from the author’s arguments.

As a graduate student, strong interpretation skills are essential for managing extensive reading requirements and synthesizing ideas from multiple authors. Being able to summarize key points and draw out the implications of arguments enables effective interpretation of the text’s overall meaning.

Implications

An implication arises when conclusions are drawn from certain facts. When connecting the text to the real world, it is essential to consider the potential consequences if the author’s viewpoints are accurate. However, caution must be exercised to avoid the slippery-slope fallacy, where unwarranted assumptions lead to a series of undesirable outcomes. Implications can be valuable in critiquing arguments, so identifying and highlighting them is a crucial aspect of critical reading. Understanding the explicitly stated facts and the author’s conclusions is essential in drawing out implications.

References

Facione, P. (2010). Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Retrieved from http://www.insightassessment.com/pdf_files/what&why2006.pdf

Kaplan, Inc. (2007). LSAT comprehensive program (2008 ed.). New York, NY: Kaplan Publishing.

Kurland, D. (2010). The fundamentals of critical reading and effective writing. Retrieved August 27, 2010, from http://www.criticalreading.com/criticalreadingthinkingtoc.htm.

Paul, R. (1995). Why students and teachers do not reason well. In J. Wilson & A. J. A. Binker (Eds.), Critical thinking: What every person needs to survive in a rapidly changing world (3rd ed., pp. 151-178). Santa Rosa, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking.

Project for School Innovation. (n.d.). Making inferences from text: A vital skill for reading comprehension. Retrieved June 10, 2010, from http://www.psinnovation.org/files/documents/LSGIntro.doc

2. Developing Arguments
Structure of an Argument

Understanding argument structures is crucial for effectively critiquing various works. Arguments typically consist of two main components: the conclusion and the evidence supporting it.

For instance:
Premise: Socrates is human → Conclusion: Socrates is mortal

In this simple argument, Socrates’s mortality is inferred from his humanity, as all humans are mortal. However, in academic literature, arguments are often more complex, with multiple reasons supporting a claim and hidden assumptions that may be challenging to identify.

A more intricate example might be:

Conclusion: The United States should close Guantanamo (GITMO).
Premise: Keeping GITMO open hurts the United States’s reputation in international affairs.
Premise: By keeping GITMO open, the United States would violate important international law principles.
Premise: Violating international law principles would hurt the United States’s reputation in international affairs, making it difficult for the country to be a leader.
Premise: The United States should not take actions undermining its reputation in international affairs.
Premise: The United States should not jeopardize its ability to lead in international affairs.
Premise: A diminished reputation would hinder the country’s influence over human rights policy.
Conclusion: The United States should not take actions affecting its influence over international human rights policy.

Critically analyzing arguments involves determining whether the given reasons genuinely support the main point. It’s essential to assess the validity and soundness of an argument.

Difference Between an Argument and an Explanation

Distinguishing between arguments and explanations can be challenging for readers of social science literature. An argument is a combination of assertions supporting a central claim, while an explanation describes circumstances or interprets given information. Explanations cannot be used as evidence to support a claim; empirical evidence is necessary for that purpose.

Types of Arguments
Inductive and Deductive Arguments

There are two main types of arguments: inductive and deductive. Deductive arguments guarantee the truth of the conclusion based on the premises, while inductive arguments provide sufficient reasons to believe the conclusion is likely to be true. Most arguments in social science literature are inductive, aiming to find possible explanations for phenomena, use statistical data to infer characteristics of larger groups based on smaller ones, or establish causal relationships between variables.

Validity and Soundness

Deductive arguments are classified as valid or invalid. Validity depends on the logical form of the argument, irrespective of whether the premises are true. An argument can be valid with false premises and a false conclusion or true premises and a true conclusion. When a valid argument also has true premises, it is considered sound.

Inductive arguments are assessed based on strength, depending on the support provided by the premises for the conclusion. A strong inductive argument indicates that the conclusion is likely to be true based on the premises, while a weak argument lacks sufficient support. Validity and strength are distinct properties in argument evaluation.

Evaluating Arguments

Critical reading involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of arguments. For graduate students, it’s not enough to have a sense of what might be wrong with an argument; they must precisely identify its weaknesses. The strength of a claim depends on the strength of the evidence supporting it. Distinguishing between strong and weak arguments is essential, and both readers and writers should learn how to strengthen or weaken arguments. Mastery of these skills enables writers to produce authoritative and convincing material, while readers can effectively critique such material. One way to evaluate arguments effectively is by identifying assumptions.

3. Comparing & Contrasting
Overview

A compare and contrast paper examines the similarities and differences between two or more topics. The paper should include an introduction with a clear thesis statement, a body section discussing the comparisons and contrasts, and a conclusion.

Address Both Similarities & Differences

In a compare and contrast paper, it is important to discuss both the similarities and differences. This may require careful analysis, especially when topics seem similar.

Make Sure You Have a Clear Thesis Statement

Like any other essay, a compare and contrast essay needs a well-defined thesis statement. The thesis should not only indicate what the paper will do but also explain the purpose and significance of comparing and contrasting the subjects.

Use Clear Transitions

Transitions play a crucial role in compare and contrast essays, where the writer frequently moves between different topics or perspectives. Effective transitions help readers follow the logical flow of ideas.

Structure Your Paper

Decide how to present the information. You can either discuss all the similarities first and then the differences, or you can use a point-by-point approach, presenting the similarity and difference for each point.

Include Analysis

Avoid merely providing a summary; instead, include analysis to highlight the importance of the comparisons and contrasts. Analyzing the findings can lead to valuable insights and suggestions for further research.

Make Analogous Comparisons

When drawing comparisons or contrasts, ensure that you are dealing with similar aspects of each item. Comparing unrelated or dissimilar elements can lead to faulty conclusions.

4. Avoiding Logical Fallacies
Overview

Logical fallacies are errors of reasoning that weaken arguments by creating faulty connections. While some forms of persuasive writing intentionally use fallacies, academic and scholarly writing should avoid them, as they undermine credibility. Recognizing fallacies in others’ arguments is essential for critiquing the validity of claims and research results in literature reviews and annotated bibliographies. Understanding argument structure and fallacies also helps writers avoid errors in their own work.

Argument Structure

All arguments consist of three interconnected elements: the claim (or conclusion), the support (or evidence), and the warrant (or underlying assumption). The claim represents what the writer aims to prove, the support provides evidence for the claim, and the warrant is the underlying assumption that links the support to the claim.

Fallacies

Several common logical fallacies can weaken an argument:

– Begging the question (circular reasoning) occurs when part of a claim is used as evidence to support the same claim.
– Hasty generalization is an error of induction, drawing conclusions from limited or inadequate data.
– Sweeping generalizations assume that a conclusion drawn from a specific situation applies universally.
– Non sequitur means “does not follow” and occurs when there is no true logical relationship between two notions.
– Post hoc ergo propter hoc assumes causation based solely on temporal sequence.
– False dilemma (black and white fallacy) creates an either-or situation when more options may exist.

Recognizing these fallacies in writing helps improve critical analysis and strengthens the overall argumentation.

5. Addressing Assumptions
Addressing Assumptions

Writers need to consider the reader’s knowledge base when deciding what to assume in their writing. Questions to ask include:
– Is there a common definition of a concept in the field?
– Could a term or topic be understood differently by different readers?
– Is an idea prevalent only in the writer’s environment and not necessarily shared by all readers?
– Is the writer assuming that the reader already agrees on the importance of a certain issue?
– Is the term or idea part of current debate and practice, or has it fallen out of fashion? Clearing assumptions and defining terms appropriately enhances the clarity and effectiveness of the writing.