ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND

RESPONSES
From The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb,
and Williams

WHY QUESTION YOUR ARGUMENT?

You should question your argument as your
readers might
Anticipate reader questions and respond so as to
show the reader that

You

recognize other points of view

You appreciate that academic discussion is a quest for
truth and your argument needs to be tested
Your argument can withstand reasonable questions
and testing

WHEN TO QUESTION YOUR

ARGUMENT
Anticipate obvious questions and counterexamples as you develop your thesis
But dont worry too much about them when
writing the core of your argument
Go over your claim, reasons, and evidence after
you have written them to find counterarguments, objections, and questions that you
could acknowledge and/or answer

TWO CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONS

Intrinsic soundness:
Is

your claim clear?

Are your reasons relevant?
Is your evidence reliable?

Extrinsic soundness:
What

are alternative explanations of the evidence?

What are possible objections?
What have others said about your topic?
What evidence did you ignore?

QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK

Question Your Problem:

Why

is this a problem?
Is this a practical or conceptual problem?
Maybe the real problem is different.
Your definitions are incorrect.

Question Your Solution:

What

kind of solution do you propose?

What are you asking me to do: understand or act?
Does the solution match the problem?
Is your claim too strong? (I can think of exceptions)
Why is your answer better than others?
Your practical solution is not very practicaltoo
expensive, unrealistic, or creates other problems.

QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK

Question Your Support

This

is the wrong kind of evidence

The evidence isnt
accurate
precise enough
representative

You

need more evidence

QUESTIONS READERS MAY ASK

Alternatives to your argument
Where to find alternatives:

Sources

Journals

Discussions

in your field
Imagine other explanations
Ask colleagues to read your argument and think of
alternatives

RESPONSES

You may respond to questions by:

Fixing

your argument
Finding more and better-quality evidence
Acknowledging obvious objections and explain why
they do not pertain to the argument
Recognizing weak evidence
Recognizing insufficient evidence
Using warrants to show how evidence supports your
reasons and claims

WHAT TO ACKNOWLEDGE?
Too many acknowledgments will distract readers;
too few will make you seem indifferent to their
views
Priorities:

Plausible

charges of weakness that you can rebut

Alternative lines of argument in your field
Alternative conclusions that readers want to be true
Alternative evidence readers know
Important counterexamples that you can explain
away

WHEN YOU CANT ANSWER A

QUESTION

Acknowledge questions you cant answer

This

shows you to be honest.

You can:

Show that the rest of your argument compensates for the

weakness
Claim that more research will answer the question
Show that your argument still offers a partial solution that you
or another researcher could use to later develop a better solution

Change your claim to one that you can defend

You

can present the original claim as the problem or

misconception in your introduction
Your original claim can be used as a hypothesis in the
scientific methodyou tested it and found it false
Develop a better claim based on your evidence

USE RESPONSES AS SUBORDINATE

ARGUMENTS

If needed, give reasons and evidence in your

response to an objection
This

enables you to give more reasons and evidence for your

claim

Learn by example: see how others respond to

objections and thicken their arguments

VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Downplay objection

/ Regardless of / Notwithstanding] A, B.
[Although / While / Even though] A, B.
[Despite

VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Indirect acknowledgment

[seems / appears] true, but B is true.

A [may / could] be true, but B.
A [plausibly / justifiably / reasonably /
surprisingly / certainly] has merit, but B.
A

VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Attribute alternatives to unnamed sources:

is easy to [think / imagine / say / claim / argue]

A, but there is [another / alternative / possible]
[explanation / line of argument / account /
possibility].
Some evidence [might / may / can / could / does]
[suggest / indicate / point to / lead some to
think] A, but B.
It

VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Attribute alternatives to a more specific sources:

are [some / many / few] who [might / may /
could / would] [say / think / argue / claim /
charge / object] that A is R, but, in fact, A is B.

There

Then quote or cite representative sources that give these

claims
Avoid dismissive adjectives: nave, careless, ignorant, etc.

VOCABULARY OF
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Show you understand alternative viewpoints

[understand / know / realize] A, but B.

It is [true / certain / likely / possible] that no good
evidence proves A. However, B.
It [must / should / can] be [admitted /
acknowledged / noted / conceded] that A.
Nevertheless, B.
[Granted / Admittedly / True / To be sure /
Certainly / Of course,] Smith has claimed A.
However, B.
We [could / can / might / would] [say / argue /
claim / think] A, but B.
I

VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE

You dont understand

[I do not quite understand how / I find it

difficult to see how / it is not clear to me how] X
can claim A when B . . .

But

Unsettled issues

there are other issues here . . .

But there remains the problem of . . .
But

VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE

Acknowledged position is irrelevant or unreliable

as insightful as A may be, it [ignores / is

irrelevant to / does not bear on] the issue at hand.
But the [evidence / reasoning] is [unreliable /
shaky / thin].
But the argument is [untenable / weak / confused /
simplistic].
But the argument [overlooks / ignores / misses]
key factors.
But

VOCABULARY OF RESPONSE

Be civil

evidence is important, but we must look at all

the available evidence.
X explains some of C, but [C] is too complex for a
single explanation.
X holds in many situations, but not in all.
Xs

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph

M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 3rd ed.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2008.