Methods for Explaining A Concept Using Investigative Writing Techniques

The purpose of this paper is to inform the auidence regarding your topic.  You are not trying to convince them to agree with any specific position, only inform them what the positions on your topic are.  You are simply providing them with the necessary information that will help them understand the topic and then decide for themselves what their own positions are without any influence from you, the writer.  Keep in mind that you are not attempting to show your reader the "absolute truth" regarding your topic.  You are merely relating "probabilites of truth" as seen through the eyes of various researchers and their studies (as well as the opinions of experts on the topics).

In order to adequately inform your audience, you will need to determine what they already know about your topic and what more they need to learn.  Who will you be addressing in your paper?  Will they be familiar with your topic?  What values, beliefs, and traditions that may shape their opinions and viewpoints of your subject?  What is their age, sex, socioeconomic background, race, and education level?  How might these characteristics determine what type of evidence and information you reveal to them? 
As a general rule, keep in mind that you are addressing a highly educated audience of academics, scholars, researchers, professors, and other students who are academics and scholars themselves. 

You are to assume that this paper will appear in an academic journal; therefore, you may not use slang, first person ("I"), personal pronouns (you, me we us, etc.), or contractions (can't becomes cannot, don't becomes do not, etc.).

•Beginning with an interesting title and a catchy lead sentence or paragraph. The first few sentences arouse your reader’s interest and focus their attention on the subject.  Your lead-in, can be a short description, a question, a statement of a problem, a startling fact or statistic, or an arresting quotation.  From your title and your introductory paragraph, a reader should be able to ascertain what you entire essay is about. 

In the intro you should answer the “Wh” questions to help focus your investigation.  What has happened to signal to you and the rest of the world that something interesting or controversial has occurred?  Who are the interested parties and what are their various perspectives?  What are their values, beliefs, and traditions that shape their opinions?  Do they agree with one another on the subject? Why or why not?

Stating the main idea, question, or focus of the investigation.  The purpose of an investigative report is to convey information as clearly as possible.  Readers shouldn’t have to guess the main idea. Your main idea, or thesis statement, is the idea or concept you plan to illustrate in the body of your paper.  Remember you are to report all relevant perspectives on the topic.   You should note connections between these perspectives and your own ideas, but do so using your own academic “voice”.  UNDERLINE YOUR THESIS IN THE INTRO AND THE RESTATEMENT OF YOUR THESIS IN THE CONCLUSION.


•In the body, Give background information by answering the relevant who, what, when, where, and why questions.  This assignment is journalistic in spirit, meaning that you are to only report the facts and to show all sides of the story/topic.  DO NOT INSERT YOUR OWN OPINION.  You are merely reporting the ideas of others.  Answering the reporter’s “Wh” questions ensures that readers have sufficient information to understand your report. 

Show the "for", "against," and neutral positions for your topic; Don't concentrate too much on one of these positions.  Give equal time to each position.  Your goal should be to present a fair and balanced investigative report, presenting all perspectives, using formal, academic language.  When using your “academic voice,” make use of qualifiers to, avoid being perceived as favoring one side of the issue over another.  Qualifiers aid a writer avoid giving the appearance of inserting their own individual personal opinion (i.e.:  many argue, some feel, critics state, research has shown, studies reveal, observers note, etc.).  This type of voice allows you to remain unbiased and to note all of the connections between the various perspectives and ideas without appearing to be biased in any way while at the same time suggesting the possible importance of material as well as possible connections between sources. 

•       When summarizing or quoting from written or oral sources, make use of  author tags and always introduce your source; avoid plagiarism.  Quote accurately any statistics, data, or sentences from your sources.  Cite authors and titles using MLA format.  If the information isn’t common knowledge and you didn’t know it before hand, you must give credit to the appropriate source.  To do otherwise, would be considered plagiarism.  The first time you use a source, you should ALWAYS introduce it.  Robert Jones, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, argues in his article, “Media Violence and Its Effects on Adolescent Behavior” that…  When referring to the article on subsequent occasions, you should merely refer to the author by last name.  Jones argues that, Jones points out that, Jones explains that, Jones relates that, etc. (These are referred to as author tags).

NOTE:  EVERY SENTENCE IN YOUR PAPER SHOULD CONTAIN AN AUTHOR TAG OR A QUALIFIER.  EVEN THOUGH YOU INTRODUCE A SOURCE AND USE AN AUTHOR TAG, YOU STILL MUST CITE ALL BORROWED MATERIAL.

Any ideas that are not your own or are not common knowledge should be cited using MLA citations.  There should be a citation after every direct quotation and at the end of each paraphrase.

•Define key terms and describing what something is.  Analyze and define by describing, comparing, classifying, and giving examples (avoid dictionary definitions).  May need to define terms like “violent/sexual,” “art,” free speech/freedom of expression, etc.  but you should only do so by providing examples you locate in your research or from the experience of others.  NEVER, for instance, state, “Webster’s dictionary defines “violence” as stabbing or killing.” We as readers are intelligent enough to know this already.  This is common knowledge.  Find a new, fresh way to “show” us as readers what this term may mean to a parent of a six year old or what this term may mean to a rap artist for example.

•Support your explanations with specific evidence. 
Use descriptions, examples, comparisons, analogies, images, facts, data or statistics from credible sources.  You may use magazines, journals, newspapers, scholarly journals and the library’s databases to locate your sources of information.  Most of the information contained within these types of sources has been verified as truthful and factual.  You may not use information found on the World Wide Web (internet sources).  Anyone can post information on a website and say whatever they want without it being verified as factual.  Usually, these sites are also biased in some way.  Vary the types of sources you use.  Don’t, for instance, rely only on newspaper articles.  You will not get enough important information this way.  Books and scholarly journals will contain more statistical data, case studies, and serious academic inquiry, which is what you will need a good deal of in this paper.