Research

Synthesizing sources

When you read and interpret a source—for example, when you consider its purpose and relevance, its author’s credentials, its accuracy, and the kind of argument it is making—you are analyzing the source. Analysis requires you to take apart something complex (such as an article in a scholarly journal) and look closely at the parts to understand the whole better.

For academic writing you also need to synthesize—group similar pieces of information together and look for patterns—so that you can put your sources (and your own knowledge and experience) together in an original argument. Synthesis is the flip side of analysis: you already understand the parts, so your job is to assemble them into a new whole.

To synthesize sources for a research project, try the following tips:

Read the material carefully. Don’t just grab a quotation and move on; make sure you really understand. See tips on reading with a critical eye.
Understand the purpose of each source. Make sure the source is relevant and necessary to your argument.
Determine the important ideas in each source. Take notes on each source. Identify and summarize the key ideas of each piece.
Formulate a position. Review the key ideas of each source and figure out how they fit together. Look for patterns: discussions of causes and effects, specific parts of a larger issue, background information, and so on. After considering multiple perspectives, decide what you have to say.
Summon evidence to support your position. You might use paraphrases, summaries, or direct quotations from your sources as evidence, or your personal experience or prior knowledge. Integrate quotations properly, and keep your ideas—not just the information in your sources—central to the piece of writing.
Deal with counterarguments. You don’t have to use every idea or every source available; some will be more useful than others. However, ignoring evidence that opposes your position makes your argument weaker. You should acknowledge the existence of valid opinions that differ from yours, and try to understand them well before explaining why they are incorrect or incomplete.
Combine your source materials effectively. Be careful to avoid simply summarizing or listing your research. Think carefully about how the ideas in your reading support your argument. Try to weave the various sources together rather than discussing your sources one by one.

Using sources effectively can pose challenges. Even after you have evaluated a source, take time to look at how well it works in your specific situation. And if you change the focus of your work after you have begun doing research, be especially careful to check whether your sources still fit.

Talking the Talk: Saying something new

Storyboards on synthesis

Student Writing: Synthesis project (Caroline Warner)