IV. How to Listen: Best Practices for Sound Research

Joining the Conversation: Writing and Research>How to Listen

Where do I go to listen?

Wikipedia may be useful for reminding yourself of general “common knowledge” (dates of significant historical events, etc.) and noting other people’s research (via bibliographies and linked references).  It’s not a reliable source for authoritative argument on any given subject, though.

Instead, you should be going to your nearest public or university library, where you will have access to databases full of peer reviewed or refereed sources addressing your chosen subject. Some of those sources will be scholarly journals, but others will be print material like magazines and newspapers. Some blogs and online publications may be useful, but it is always important to take steps to determine credibility.

Google Scholar can provide a useful general search platform for some topics, but once you have collected sources you’d like to review, you will probably have to go to a library to access them.

Finding Sources:

What do I do with what I hear?

Set aside ample time early in the research process to categorize and organize sources, making sure you have noted full source/citation information for each one, and determining the kinds of arguments, and the kinds of conversations,  you are looking at. This can help you determine the credibility and use value of your discoveries, once you decide to enter the conversation yourself.

Organizing Sources:

How do I know if I should listen?

If you are doing research correctly, you will find sources whose voice or position sounds either “too good to be true” –you can’t seem to find a single problem with the argument–or “worthless”–the argument is completely unsound, the tone is completely unreasonable, or you just can’t understand it at all.

You need to listen to ALL those sources, and you need to consider them critically and carefully. Why do you like that argument you like? Why do you dismiss the one you don’t? Before either endorsing or rejecting a source, take the time to write out HOW the source engages you, either positively or negatively. Cite specifics, note page numbers, write down the support and evidence that goes with the arguments you are responding to. You will use these listening notes later to shape your own argument.

Listening to sources:

How do I make sure I am listening to the whole conversation?

This part is harder, and it consists of that moment in the process when you test your own assumptions, and check them against assumptions other stakeholders might have. It means doing complete research, and not simply cherry-picking for sources that seem to support what you think you want to argue from the outset.

Never commit to an argument before you begin your research: you can and probably should tentatively articulate a position once you have synthesized your material, but bracket it as tentative, and be ready to change your mind, once you give all sides a hearing.

See also:

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