In writing a synthesizing essay, you need to have the purpose for the paper in mind so that you may not fall out of topic during your discussion. Reading this section first can help you decide if the article is relevant to your topic or interests. Franz (2008) studied undergraduate online students. An alternate way to organize your articles for synthesis it to create an outline. Whether you’re synthesizing literature for an essay, a literature review, or any other paper, you should make sure you can answer yes to all of these questions. She looked at 42 females and 50 males and found that males were significantly more inclined to use citation software (p < .05). Once you've identified the important aspects of the article by underlining or highlighting the topic sentence in each paragraph, it's time to create your summary outline. The various contexts of the creation of the article could include the political or social meaning. How to synthesize articles? You may wish to further organize them by topic and then chronologically or alphabetically by author. For example, you could underline important passages, circle confusing ones, and star inconsistencies. Reading the abstract is a great way to get an idea of what information the article will cover. Do I discuss the similarities or differences between the sources, rather than summarizing each source in turn? The topic sentence signals what the whole paragraph is about; every sentence in the paragraph should be clearly related to it. Journal articles provide fact-based, professional information on a … You will need to use the data in your thesis as the starting point for writing your article. As long as the ideas flow logically, the author is free to structure the article as he feels. Is the paragraph organized around a single idea? At first glance, a journal article may seem to be a confusing collection of unfamiliar terminology and complicated tables. And describe each article briefly in … Instead, make your point, and back it up with the evidence found in those sources. How to Synthesize Articles. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t use quotes at all. The Introduction:The second section of the article introduces the problem a… After collecting the relevant literature, you’ve got a lot of information to work through, and no clear idea of how it all fits together. a WRITTEN TEXT presenting or discussing information from several texts or from other type of resources If you need help with your academic language or extra feedback on structure, consider using a professional academic editing service. Source Used with Permission: The Chicago School. In order to successfully synthesize your sources, you might begin by grouping your sources by topic and looking for connections. By Shona McCombes, published March 28, 2020. äp=¡b*yçTõïÁS;
ã½ÌnÕDù!°(a?Îêí+Òëø#)hæ}%=µy;_þ ÿÿ PK ! A topic sentence can be a simple summary of the paragraph’s content: For an effective synthesis, you can use topic sentences to link back to the previous paragraph, highlighting a point of debate or critique: By using topic sentences, you can ensure that your paragraphs are coherent and clearly show the connections between the articles you are discussing. In a literature review, it can helpful to think about synthesis occurring at both the local (or paragraph) level and the global (or section/paper) level. Although Perez (2010) expanded on Franz's original study with a larger, more diverse sample... 4 Steps to synthesize information from different sources. Synthesis Matrix Definition; Examples; A synthesis matrix helps you record the main points of each source and document how sources relate to each other. If your sources cover a broad time period, and you found patterns in how researchers approached the topic over time, you can organize your discussion chronologically. You can also include columns for your own evaluation and analysis. Before you can start writing, you need to organize your notes in a way that allows you to see the relationships between sources. Expounding on the context wherein the article was created. #~_ÊFKý«Sµõc For more information consult the following sources. McCombes, S. (2020, March 28). høt¡ â _rels/.rels ¢( ¬ÛJ1ïß!Ì}7Û*"ÒloDèÈú c2»ÝH¦Ò¾½¡àaa-½Ó?_òÏz³w£x§mð Synthesis essays are all about presenting a strong position and identifying the relationships between your sources. Synthesizing simply means combining. It is possible to synthesize multiple articles in one paragraph. What does it mean to “Synthesize Articles” It means that in your literature review you examine a number of studies on a shared topic and note aspects that are of interest for your own work It also may mean that you draw and state a conclusion about the similarities and differences in the studies you review Created by Alice Frye, Ph.D, … ô´7úc,Tî 0¦
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T»&q~écáEvj²NîÿbÚÒá8à"ÈNCð::Áèo£\F'xà*:ÁûèÙ8>B|UÌâËb_³øÂÅQF¥ÜÎ7t'ÿ2;¹ÎÌÆÝYmÜ©ÿ ûÄC+ ¿ì yuàí¯ÿ«hÓV? What sets a synthesis apart from a summary is that it combines various sources. If the article was a photo, what kind of photo would summarize it? Instead of just restating the important points from text, synthesizing involves combining ideas and allowing an evolving understanding of text. The goal is to cut the existing 1100 words down to around 200-300 words, maximum. Be ready to mine your life for ideas. Each column in the table lists one source. Underline all action words in the directions. There are a few different approaches you can take to help you structure your synthesis. The introduction should also contain your thesis statement. ² 88Synthesizing simply means combining² 8Synthesizing include main three things ³ ¸¹..nstead of summarizing the main points of each … var pfHeaderImgUrl = 'https://www.simplypsychology.org/Simply-Psychology-Logo(2).png';var pfHeaderTagline = '';var pfdisableClickToDel = 0;var pfHideImages = 0;var pfImageDisplayStyle = 'right';var pfDisablePDF = 0;var pfDisableEmail = 0;var pfDisablePrint = 0;var pfCustomCSS = '';var pfBtVersion='2';(function(){var js,pf;pf=document.createElement('script');pf.type='text/javascript';pf.src='//cdn.printfriendly.com/printfriendly.js';document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(pf)})(); This workis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Don’t try to cover every single point from every single source – the key to synthesizing is to extract the most important and relevant information and combine it to give your reader an overall picture of the state of knowledge on your topic. SAMPLE LESSON: Synthesize Our Thinking in Fiction Second grade teacher Apryl Whitman began teaching her students to synthesize their thinking in fiction by reading fables with them. Based on your review of the collected articles, group them by categories. Each row is labelled with a specific concept, topic or theme that recurs across all or most of the sources. function Gsitesearch(curobj){ curobj.q.value="site:"+domainroot+" "+curobj.qfront.value }. If your topic involves a debate between different schools of thought, you can organize it theoretically. Notebooks, databases, etc. As you write your paragraphs, avoid quoting directly from sources: use your own words to explain the commonalities and differences that you found in the literature. Structure of a perspective, opinion, or commentary article. A short video about how to write dissertation paragraph. Create a unique symbol to differentiate between parts of the text that might be confusing, important, or inconsistent. Additional tips when asked to synthesize. Findings suggest that females might graduate sooner. The easiest way to think about this is that each paragraph should discuss a few different sources, and you should be able to condense the overall point of the paragraph into one sentence. watched felt comfortable citing sources, suggesting that variables among participant and control group populations must be examined more closely. Then, for each source, you summarize the main points or arguments related to the theme. You met with stakeholders to determine the research scope and goals, you designed a research plan, you ran research sessions, and you took great notes. If you’re drawing on literature from various different fields or they use a wide variety of research methods, you can organize your sources methodologically. A synthesis matrix is useful when your sources are more varied in their purpose and structure – for example, when you’re dealing with books and essays making various different arguments about a topic. U
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®³îÞ9ò. Although Franz (2008) found This page no longer exists. Into the Book defines synthesizing as “ [creating] original insights, perspectives, and understandings by reflecting on text (s) and merging elements from text and existing schema.” That is, record things together in some form. var idcomments_post_url; //GOOGLE SEARCH We can do better. For example, if you were researching the pros and cons of encouraging healthy eating in children, you would want to separate your sources to find which ones agree with each other and which ones disagree. A perspective, opinion, or commentary is based on ideas, opinions, and insights, and hence does not follow a strict structure like the IMRaD. He looked at 17 females and 18 males and found that none of them liked APA. Note any important differences that are relevant to your study. (I’ll explain this in more detail when we talk about the writing process.) Now you should have a clear overview of the main connections and differences between the sources you’ve read. Most often, it is the last sentence of the introductory paragraph. Studies of undergraduate students reveal conflicting conclusions regarding relationships between advanced scholarly study and citation efficacy. You can decide which headings to include based on what’s most relevant to the literature you’re dealing with. This is a good approach if your sources tend to have a similar structure – for instance, if they’re all empirical papers. 1. For each topic or subtopic you identified du… 0Ë Create an Outline. Do I discuss more than one source in the paragraph? Do I introduce the paragraph with a clear, focused topic sentence? Sometimes you may be asked to synthesize your own ideas, theory, or research with those of the texts you have been assigned. WD University's Pitch an Article: Write for Today's Marketplace will teach you how to craft a good pitch letter and do it well. 3. a/an = indefinite article. There are certainly tools to compile large amounts of information. First lets consider how not to synthesize articles It is not unusual to see a student paper that reviews one article after another It describes each article in one or two or more paragraphs Usually giving sample size, method, findings, etc. Perez (2010) also studies undergraduate students. The introduction is generally one paragraph that includes the sources that you plan to synthesize throughout the essay. //Enter domain of site to search. This allows you to group sources by relevant similarities, as well as noticing important differences or contradictions in their findings. A summary table collates the key points of each source under consistent headings. var idcomments_post_id; The original piece is a pretty typical informational article, packed with a lot of valuable information…but lacking in the visual department. Do I mention only the most relevant findings, rather than describing every part of the studies? AVOID beginning your paragraphs by presenting quotations or facts from your sources. Depending on your topic and the type of literature you’re dealing with, there are a couple of different ways you can organize this. Use those action words as a guide for what you will write. Among a sample of 50, all females, all confident in their abilities to cite and were eager to write their dissertations. ãLýÂxU?¦0îÕ)õc Now you need to synthesize the data in order to uncover new insights, but you’re not sure where to start… Step 1: Review your research goals and use them as a North Star to focus your analysis However, turning your thesis into a journal article will not be a simple matter of copy and paste. Each row in the table lists one source, and each column identifies a specific part of the source. How to Synthesize Written Information from Multiple Sources Step 1: Organize your sources. Do I put the findings or arguments of the sources in my own words? Creating a legend with assigned symbols allows you to quickly mark up an article. This article presents guidelines for writing an evidence-based clinical review article for American Family Physician. Converting it into a journal article has many steps. Be sure to maintain a good flow of your work. tyCbÔ%7çR9uß\ç½? You should organize your data to make it accessible; you should interpret the data to help the reader understand how the sources relate to each other and your thesis. The summary table gives you a quick overview of the key points of each source. var domainroot="www.simplypsychology.org" var idcomments_acct = '911e7834fec70b58e57f0a4156665d56'; The key to any kind of synthesis is the same. Simply Psychology. English has two articles: the and a/an. Next, you need to decide how you’ll group them together and the order in which you’ll discuss them. The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. For example, you might include columns for things like aims, methods, variables, population, sample size, and conclusion. When you write a literature review or essay, you have to go beyond just summarizing the articles you’ve read – you need to synthesize the literature to show how it all fits together (and how your own research fits in). I'm sure there are people that do research as to how the brain does it. When researching a topic for a paper or class project, journal articles can be an excellent resource for information. If the literature covers various different topics, you can organize it thematically. Links mentioned in this episode. Synthesize: combine separate elements to form a whole. In your other college classes you'll probably find yourself synthesizing information from graphs and tables, pieces of music, and art works as well. That doesn’t mean you just summarize each paper in chronological order; instead, you should group articles into time periods and identify what they have in common, as well as signalling important turning points or developments in the literature. When writers synthesize successfully, they present new ideas based on interpretations of other evidence or arguments. that no participants enjoyed learning citation style, Goldstein (2012) determined in a larger study that all participants What follows are a few general essay writing tips for students who have been asked to synthesize. Is the paragraph directly relevant to my research question or topic? One common type of essay is an article analysis essay. Fables are a useful genre for introducing synthesizing because of their short structure and straightforward messages. It is the purpose of your paper that will determine the sources that you will use for your paper outline. How to synthesize written information from multiple sources. Create a legend for your markings. 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Table collates the key points of each source in the literature covers various different topics, could... ; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns size, and each identifies... A summary is that it combines various sources source in turn those sources and were eager to write dissertation.. This is called a topic or interests words down to around 200-300 words, maximum your that. Short structure and straightforward messages of their short structure and straightforward messages you a quick skimmable. Have been assigned each paragraph or section focuses on a specific part the! Photo would summarize it evidence or arguments related to it help with your academic language or feedback. Of other evidence or arguments show the reader where the sources that you will write been to. Paragraph is about ; every sentence in the paragraph each column identifies a specific theme and explains how theme!