Objective Research Writing:

Be Like Switzerland

By Randee Baty at The Lukeion Project

    What is Switzerland known for besides its fabulous chocolate, beautiful mountains, and high-quality knives? It is neutrality, of course! You, as an academic writer, should strive for that same quality. Strong academic writing is neutral and objective. In a world where feelings sometime seem to prevail over reason and truth seems like a moving target, scholarship should be a world where evidence, neutrality, and objectivity rule. Contrary to what many students may think, professors do not care how you feel about anything, at least as far as academic writing is concerned. They care what you can validate objectively with evidence.

Objectivity is crucial in academic writing because it ensures academic honesty. The reader should be able to trust that what a researcher is saying is based on evidence and findings, not on the author’s opinion. A quick way for me to tell whether the paper I am reading is based on evidence and not on opinion or feeling is to watch for words such as “unfortunately,” “sadly,” or “regrettably.”

“Unfortunately, a flight to Mars cannot happen in this decade” tells me that the author has formed an emotional attachment to her subject. The author is not just reporting evidence, but also editorializing on it. “Happily,” “fortunately,” and “luckily” are just as bad. Rather than analyzing and interpreting the data she finds, she is offering her opinion about it. Leave anything out of your academic research writing that spell out your feelings on the subject. Analyze and draw conclusions about your evidence and your topic so that the reader can clearly see what your interpretation of the data rather than your feelings about the data. You may conclude that colonizing Mars is doable and worthwhile. In formal academic writing, the reader should not know whether you love the idea of becoming a Martian. He should only know your conclusion based on data. Once you spell out how you feel about your topic, all research going forward will be—and should be—suspect in the eyes of the reader.

Not only do words such as “sadly” or “luckily” show your feelings about the subject, but they also take the writing from a formal tone to an informal tone. This alone is enough to cause the reader to question the seriousness of your work. Solid research is harder to produce than opinions. A piece filed with personal emotions about a topic may seem more like a blog or op-ed and give the impression that that the paper is poor effort. Communicating evidence well is challenging work. If you say, “As shown in the Journal of Mars Exploration, the cost of colonizing Mars may be less than NASA originally thought,” you will get a better response from your professor than if you say, “We should jump on the chance to go to Mars because it won’t cost that much.” The first sounds like someone did their research. The second sounds like someone wants to be Captain Kirk.

Another way that a research author can show subjectivity rather than objectivity is to promote only resources that agree with the opinion you already have. This is confirmation bias. As a researcher / writer, be willing to follow evidence wherever it takes you. Do not assume you already know the outcome or stick to your conclusion when evidence takes you elsewhere. You may be sure that you know whether it is possible for humans to colonize Mars, but if you don’t keep an open mind to following the evidence in your sources, you end up only reading the sources that agree with you and miss important evidence that might show your initial thoughts are in error.

One of my most satisfying moments as a teacher was when a student told me, “I thought I knew exactly what the research was going to show me, but after reading several sources, I’ve completely changed my mind on this topic.” Be sure you are following the evidence and not cherry-picking it to suit a pre-conceived idea. Look for counterarguments to your point of view. Weigh their merits. Be honest, neutral, and objective about the evidence.

Speaking of those sources, be scrupulous in finding the most trustworthy, objective sites you can find. Using trustworthy sources assures your reader that your conclusions are not based on assumptions or unsupported opinions. Do not use a source if it does not have verifiable credentials. Take the time to find out who the author is and why you should trust her. Most websites will not meet the criteria needed for scholarly research and writing. Use academic publications, such as those found on JSTOR or in a research library, to ensure that your readers have reason to trust your conclusions are based in fact and not in opinion. Do not consult and cite sites such as Wikipedia, The History Channel, and personal blogs when you are trying to remain neutral and objective.

Switzerland is certainly the most beautiful country I’ve visited outside of the United States (plus the paragliding is fabulous!) Keep it in mind as you do academic writing and research. Reward yourself with a great piece of chocolate once that paper is handed in!