Persuasive Essay: Defending Your Research Topic and Question: Part 2

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, please read the article by Vassallo (2002), Persuading Powerfully: Tips for Writing Persuasive Documents, and review the supplemental material titled Critical Thinking: A Guide to Skillful Reasoning (Links to an external site.).

Part 2

Prior to beginning this assignment, you must complete the Identify Your Research Question: Part 1 (Peer Feedback) discussion and have received feedback. Review the discussion threads you, your classmates, and your instructor posted. Make note of any constructive suggestions you can integrate into your own analysis of your research topic and question, and incorporate feedback from your instructor and classmates into your paper.

Navigate to this week’s discussion forum to review your feedback if necessary.

In a paper of at least 1,800 words (not including title, abstract, and reference pages), persuasively argue that your topic of interest and the specific research question you have identified are pertinent to your field of study and of interest to the broader academic and practitioner community. Build on material from your weekly Discussion Forums and the feedback from your classmates and your instructor to address the following:

• Analyze the over-arching topic you are interested in and what justifies your research question, basing your analysis on the information you have gathered on the topic throughout this course. Cite literature you have found that explores, studies, or debates critical aspects of the topic or question.
• Create a compelling argument that reinforces why you believe your topic is relevant to your field of study, and why your research question is important to answer, using principles of persuasive writing.
• Assess the audience for a research study on your topic of interest, describing who might be interested in the answer to your research question.
  • Analyze how practitioners might use the answer to your research question to improve client service or to advance understanding in your field of study
  • Predict how the results of a study to address your research question might be used.
• Appraise how you as a researcher might overcome any ethical concerns that could be associated with conducting a study to address your research question.

Your paper should incorporate the following persuasive-writing elements:

• A strong opening that engages and draws in your reader to the arguments you will make in your paper;
• Powerful descriptors and arguments that identify and support your positions with respect to the topic and question you have identified;
• Responses to anticipated questions or potential disagreement about the importance of your choice of topic or research question; and
• Summary points that tie up loose ends and leave your reader with a clear picture of your position with respect to the topic of interest and research question you have selected.

The Defending Your Research Topic and Question paper

• Must be at least 1,800 words in length (exclusive of abstract, title and reference pages), and formatted according to the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.)
• Incorporate at least five scholarly sources (see Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)).
• Include title, abstract and reference pages in your paper.

Use resources listed in the Week 1 assignment to help you correctly format your paper.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.