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Tutorial for using the CARS model in your writing

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9 views

Copy of CARS Model Activity

Tutorial for using the CARS model in your writing

Uploaded by

Danny Lugo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Creating a Research Space

We can learn the specifics of writing in our field choices as “Creating a Research Space,” or the
by identifying patterns and rhetorical choices— CARS model, which is below.
or “rhetorical moves”—that are representative of
We will return to this model in our second
how scholars in our fields make claims and
workshop on drafting when we discuss how to
arguments, conduct research and analysis, and
use texts as models for composing drafts of
situate their research in the larger context of the
specific sections, such as introductions or
field. In short, by reading in our fields, we do not
methods sections. For this workshop, we are
just acquire knowledge, but we can see how our
going to use the CARS model to think about how
fields construct and represent knowledge, which
to create a research space before you start
will vary from field to field.
drafting.
One way to begin to identify the key “rhetorical
When you get started on any project that
moves” is by comparing different articles. For
involves research, whether it is a seminar paper,
example, John Swales conducted a meta-
a conference presentation, or a journal article, if
analysis of introductions to journal articles from
you are the lead author on the document, you
multiple fields and disciplines, and he identified
will want to develop how you will position your
how these introductions made similar rhetorical
contribution within the scholarship you have
moves when they were establishing the premise
read. Before composing a specific research
of the publication. He labeled this series of
question, this handout can help you outline a
general direction for your research project.

Purdue Writing Lab, Fall 2022, Page 1


Activity: Creating a Research Space
Learning objective: To use the CARS Model (Swales, 1990) as a template for brainstorming a
research project.
Directions

You have likely identified research topics that are interesting to you. Exploration is a key part of your
development as a graduate student. Respond to the questions below and on the following pages, which
will help you conceptualize a niche for a potential research topic so that you can better conceptualize how
your research project is a contribution to your area of study. These questions try to cover as much
territory as possible, so not every question may be relevant to your needs.

What is the topic?

Try to explain the topic in a single sentence


to an educated person who may not know
anything about your topic.

What are some general terms associated


with your topic in your field?

What are some examples of significant


scholarship related to this topic? What is the
history of research on the topic in your field?
In other words, who are you in conversation
with when you write about this topic?

Is your topic part of a subset (or category) of


research in your field (ex: 18th century
French history, student assessment, solar
energy, etc.)?

Does your topic synthesize approaches from


multiple disciplines, or is there any potential
for using an interdisciplinary approach? If so,
which disciplines? (You may want to
consider completing this worksheet for each
disciplinary approach to the topic.)

What are you NOT researching? Are there


adjacent or similar topics that readers may
think are relevant to your research, or are
there approaches to a similar topic that you
will need to differentiate your topic from?

Purdue Writing Lab, Fall 2022, Page 2


Why does it matter?

Do you want to continue a theoretical


tradition? What is this tradition? Where did it
start? How do you want to contribute to or
modify this theoretical tradition?

Are you modulating, improving on, or


extending an existing study? What is the
study? What is the need for modulating,
improving, or extending the study?

Are you replicating a study to compare or


test the original study’s results? What is the
history of replication for this research area?

Are there major debates or paradigm shifts


that scholars point to when discussing your
topic? Who do you align with?

Are you attempting to fill a gap with your


research? Is it a small gap (something that
has been overlooked) or a big gap (an
unorthodox approach to an issue in the
field)? What is missing in this gap? How will
you fill this gap? What connections can you
make to other scholarship to establish there
is a gap?

Are you responding to someone in the field,


such as a theoretical debate or to test their
interpretation or analysis?

Are you responding to a call for action: have


researchers asked for more research to be
conducted on this topic? Why?

What are the stakes of this research? Who,


or what, will be impacted by this research?

What are the applications of this research?

What are the potential benefits of this


research (to the field, to participants, to
stakeholders, etc.)?

Purdue Writing Lab, Fall 2022, Page 3


How will you research this topic?

Will you engage in a literature review of


secondary sources on the topic (other
scholarship, analysis, interpretations, etc.)?
What kinds of sources? Why are they
suitable for this project? Are there any gaps
that you need to conduct more research on
for the literature review, or any sources you
know you need to read?

Will you engage with primary sources on the


topic? (historical documents, first-hand
accounts, etc.) What kinds of sources? Why
are they suitable for this project?

Will you conduct qualitative research? Why


would that be suitable for this project?

Will you conduct quantitative research? Why


would that be suitable for this project?

Will you conduct mixed methods research?


Why would that be suitable for this project?

Will you use certain theories or methods of


interpretation? Why are those
theories/methods suitable for this project?

Purdue Writing Lab, Fall 2022, Page 4

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