How do I organise my "What-if" research paper?

Upvote:0

In this time of so many divisions and attitudes I would choose to be a resolutionist rather than the old school either or culprit. Please consider taking another road and talk more about the influences that are occurring on the either side or on the or side. Sometimes assignments are made by teacher to see who are the followers or the leaders. Perhaps you should think outside the box and simply go to a higher level. Toss your original plan and make an inspired new plan

Upvote:4

I would agree with Killing time. Adding to his answer I would say that a large part of historic investigation is being able to take a source, evaluate bias and weight it against your current evidence. This can sometimes lead to a change in conclusion. Knowing when this is appropriate can be difficult but can also lead to an increased level of acceptance of your thesis. Going where the evidence takes you no matter if you are right or wrong should build you respect. If your teacher doesn't accept that then I would question them. I would also add that usually teachers use these "pre-paper" tasks to just validate you have started thinking about your topic so I wouldn't fret over it.

Upvote:10

I'd say that the original flaw in your approach was to choose the conclusion and then look for evidence to support it. Working this way leads to cherry-picking evidence that suits your conclusion (and, possibly, avoiding evidence that opposes it). As you've discovered, by picking an answer in advance, you can end up backing the wrong horse if your actual reseach leads to the alternative conclusion.

The proper approach is to assemble all of the evidence first and then decide upon a conclusion based on the balance of that evidence. It might not always be the correct conclusion, because in some cases crucial evidence might be missing, but it's certainly a more professional approach.

In the case of "what if...?" counter-factuals, it's always more complicated because the relationships of cause and effect aren't always obvious or even identifiable. That's one of the reasons that counter-factual questions are off-topic here, they result in too much speculation over fact.

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