MDUM8010 Chap.4 Building an Argument with Claims and Warrants
Building an Argument with Claims and Warrants
Writing for readers who question everything
The briefing describes research writing as an objective process built from claims, reasons and warrants, following Booth and colleagues. It pictures a reader who probes each step, so the writer's task is to foresee the likely challenges and answer, in the text, the ones that carry weight.
That is a practical description of how a dissertation is read by two independent markers.
The parts of an argument
A claim is what you want the reader to accept. It is made because of a reason, and the reason is based on evidence the reader could check. The warrant is the general principle that lets this kind of reason support this kind of claim.
Acknowledgment and response address the objections a reader is likely to raise, either by answering them with more evidence or by narrowing the claim.
Why the warrant is the weak point
Students usually write the claim, the reason and the evidence, because those feel like the argument. The warrant is left out because it seems obvious to the writer.
In urban research it is often exactly where the disagreement lies: whether satisfaction measures service quality, whether more sensors mean better management, whether a before and after change was caused by the intervention. Stating the warrant makes the argument open to agreement or challenge on the right ground.
Conceding in writing
Urban data seldom isolates one cause.
Adoption rises for many reasons, samples miss people without smartphones, and administrative definitions shift. An argument that acknowledges these limits where they arise, and states the claim at the size the evidence supports, is more useful to a policy maker and more convincing to a marker than one that saves every limitation for the final chapter.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Research writing as an objective process
- 02
Claim, reason and evidence
- 03
The warrant that connects a reason to a claim
- 04
Acknowledgment and response to objections
- 05
Reason and evidence kept apart
- 06
A drafting order for one paragraph
- 07
Where to place limitations
- 08
Repairing a findings paragraph that claims too much
Worked example · free
Supply the warrant in a policy claim
- 2Label claim, reason and evidence.
- 3State the assumed warrant and the objection to it.
- 3Rewrite the claim with its limit stated.
Key terms
- Claim
- The statement an argument asks the reader to accept, made because of a reason.
- Reason
- A statement offered in support of a claim, which must itself rest on evidence.
- Evidence
- The data, records or observations a reason is based on, which a reader could in principle inspect.
- Warrant
- The general principle that justifies relating a particular reason to a particular claim.
- Acknowledgment and Response
- The part of an argument that names a likely objection and answers it or narrows the claim.
Building an Argument with Claims and Warrants FAQ
What is a warrant in a research argument?
It is the general principle that connects your reason to your claim. The briefing, following Booth and colleagues, sets it out as the principle that lets a particular reason support a particular claim. It is often left unstated because it seems obvious to the writer, but it is usually where a critical reader will push hardest.
Should I include weaknesses of my own study in the argument?
Yes. The briefing's model of argument includes acknowledgment and response: anticipate the questions careful readers will ask, then acknowledge and answer the most important ones. Doing this where each objection arises, rather than only in a closing limitations section, lets you state claims at a size the evidence supports.
How is a reason different from evidence?
A reason is a statement you offer for your claim, such as ridership rose after a change. Evidence is what that reason rests on and what a reader could check, such as monthly counts from a named operator for stated months. A reason without evidence invites the reader to ask where it came from.
Assessment move
Take the three most important paragraphs of your current draft and lay each out as claim, reason, evidence, warrant and objection in five short lines. Any line you cannot fill is the revision. Do this before every supervisor meeting from the proposal presentation onwards, and bring the objection you found yourself.
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