Guest Post

Analysis in Academic Writing: 5 Tips to Do It Right

While being in college, students have to deal with piles of academic papers, including essays, research pieces, book reviews, coursework, etc. Writing each of these papers requires formulating an argument and supporting it with valid evidence. But there is one more element of academic writing that students often underrate – it is analysis.

Thorough analysis is a core element of every scholarly work. It is what enables you to analyze external resources, look at different facts in a new light, and, eventually, write a paper with solid evidence that supports your argument.

But how do you create a strong analysis? Below, an expert online essay writer from the EssayService writing service has prepared a list of handy tips that will help you get on the right track.

1.  Learn From Experts

The first tip on strengthening your analysis is to start learning from the pros. It shouldn’t be a secret that writing essays with a solid analysis is just another skill you can improve through consistency and practice. And there is a way to get on the right track with ease.

Online paper writing services are there exactly for this purpose. By hiring them, students can get qualified academic help and a guaranteed high grade. But, at the same time, it is also an opportunity to improve your skills. By asking professionals to create a top-notch paper for you, you receive a good example that you can use to take your own writing skills to the next level. So, don’t miss a chance to use this opportunity to strengthen your analysis abilities!

2.  Ask the Right Questions

The next tip for initiating a deep and thorough analysis is quite simple. All you need to do is to ask the right questions. Asking yourself the right questions when analyzing a piece, event, or specific idea will help you find the right direction for your writing and also help you understand what a reader might want to learn from it. Simply put, questions can add meaning and give context to your analysis.

So, what questions are crucial for creating a strong analysis? Here are a few that will help you get started:

  • Is there a story behind particular evidence?
  • Where did this evidence come from?
  • What is the general situation/setting in which this evidence was born?
  • Why does it matter to my main argument?
  • How does this evidence confirm or contradict my opinion?

These are just a few of the many questions students can ask to create a stronger analysis. So, you definitely shouldn’t stop on these ones only.

3.  Let It Question and Change Your Main Argument

When writing an essay or another academic paper, students often consider analysis as the opportunity to confirm and strengthen their main argument. Of course, it makes pretty good sense. But that’s not the only purpose.

One thing that differentiates a strong analysis from a weak one is that the first can also contradict and evolve the main argument rather than just prove it. So, here is our next tip – let your analysis question your main idea. Use it as a tool to discover the complexity of the argument and then apply critical thinking to change or develop it. This is one of the most meaningful ways to use analysis in academic writing.

4.  Connect the Evidence to Your Argument

The key to creating a strong analysis in a paper is to ensure that every piece of evidence is connected explicitly to the main idea you present. Although this can sound pretty obvious, many students neglect this tip. Most often, they don’t bother linking their evidence to the main idea because they feel like the meaning of the evidence in the context of the general argument is obvious. But that’s not always true.

The thing is that there may be plenty of ways to interpret the same piece of evidence. And sometimes, different interpretations might look completely opposite, which can cause frustration among your readers.

It brings us to the next tip. To create a strong yet clear analysis, be sure to always provide one or a few sentences that interpret how particular evidence fits in the overall argument.

5.  Avoid Empty Analysis

Just like certain things can make your analysis strong, some things can make it weak or even empty. So, the last tip we have for you is to avoid such patterns.

So, what exactly do you need to avoid? Some of the most common patterns of empty analysis include:

  • Creating generalization to arrive at the desired argument instead of leveraging objective thinking;
  • Offering solutions or advice without any prior research;
  • Not analyzing the most relevant and significant evidence to the fullest;
  • Leveraging biased tone or claims;
  • Replacing analysis of the previous evidence with a new fact or piece of evidence.

These mistakes are common. Typically, students use these to fill the space and avoid doing too much work. But it’s not hard to guess that such an approach won’t make your analysis any better. So, you should do your best to avoid using them in your writing.

Conclusion

That’s all we have for you. Now, you know that analysis plays a huge role in academic writing. So leverage the tips you’ve just learned to create a solid analysis with ease. Good luck!