So I just edited the research paper of one of my classmates, and I realized that editing a research paper is much like editing a news story. You still need the context, you still need credible sources, and you still need hard facts to legitimize the main idea.
But, with this, I found myself asking for analysis. It was kind of tough. The paper I edited was really well-written and had some great facts. But it allowed the readers to make their own assumptions. That seems like a negative aspect to a research paper... a great aspect for a news story though.
I think it's tough for journalism students to write research papers for that very fact. We've been trained to leave all opinion behind us and let the facts tell the story. You can't really do that with a research paper, or else it starts to become weak.
So what's my point? I guess I'm saying it was a challenge of my editing skills to edit a research paper. If it weren't to late, I might start taking some English classes in case the journalism thing falls through and I become a researcher. I don't think that would ever happen.
And if our lab instructor reads this, maybe she won't deduct as many points if our arguments are weak...
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I definitely agree that writing a research paper is very different compared to the type of writing we usually do as journalists. I am currently working on two more research papers, and whenever I complain, my roommates and friends say "But you're a journalist, don't you like to write?" The answer is yes, I do like to write. But the type of writing we do as journalists is so much more appealing to me. While the fundamentals of writing apply to both research papers and journalistic stories, I think the main difference is the human element present in journalistic stories.
ReplyDeleteI found writing a research paper on an editing topic to be challenging as well. I did not want to "take sides" and have an opinion. However, I remember a few years ago that I kept taking sides with my first journalism stories. In just a few years, and many journalism classes my writing has changed. I'm not too opinionated and I want to make the story as short and simple as possible. This tendency makes it hard to meet a 1,500 world requirement. After learing the journalism way of life, research papers are horrible!
ReplyDeleteI thought that my research paper writing skills were weakened because of my journalism training. I remember in high school that I loved writing research papers, it wasn't a challenge to me and I liked picking a side and interjecting my opinion. My classes in journalism have changed that and now I find that I am afraid to put too much of my opinions into anything. I would prefer just to tell the story. The 420 research paper was definitely a challenge after writing news for three years.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else, I agree that it is hard to write a research paper. Sometimes it's okay to use "I" in the papers, too, which is really weird to me. It's just a matter of applying our writing skills differently, but that's no so easy!
ReplyDeleteI, too, face this challenge when writing a research paper. All too often, I don't want to formulate a thesis now, because I am hesitant to form an opinion. As a journalist, you acquire a different writing style that many students are not used to.
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