Or rather– “A Research Process in the Works”
Like many students, I struggle with organization. Not only in my disheveled dorm room but also in writing.
Prior to reading, “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing”, I wasn’t exposed to the large array many different research methods. I suppose I just considered research to be a loosely organized “thing” that gave students enough information and citations to craft into a paper.
I didn’t know that BEAM was one of many different approaches to creating a research paper.
BEAM is a vocabulary to think about sources through another set of terms. For example, beam disposes the use of primary and secondary sources by employing a different lens at which writers are to approach the gathering of information for a research paper. The acronym BEAM stands for Background, Exhibit, Argument, and Method.
A distinct difference between BEAM and a more traditional research method that relies on primary and secondary sources is that BEAM allows the writer to interpret what each source can offer a paper opposed to the what a source is considered “to be” (in terms of primary and secondary).
BEAM focuses on how the source is used, which in turn, demands students to become more engaged in their research to create better papers.
To further explain BEAM I will describe what each letter means.
Background
- Sources used as facts
- Not always cited
- Considered to be common knowledge
Exhibit
- Sources for explanation
- Analysis or interpretation
- Used to demonstrate a claim or assertion.
Argument
- Related to secondary sources
- Peer reviewed
- Scholarly
- Academic writing
Method
- Genre expectation
- Formal expectation
- Framework for how you plan to approach a topic
Proposing a method like this can lend a new and arguably better way to approach writing a research paper by using sources in ways that are positioned in the best way to make “join the conversation” in an interesting and insightful way.
BEAM is a method that I will employ in my next research paper because I think that it offers valuable advantages over the traditional research method that lead me to be very disorganized. In addition to helping with organization, BEAM will force me to better understand the material so I will learn more in order to make my point in the most efficient way possible.
Until next time…
