7.2. Preparing to Synthesize
Many writers begin the synthesis process by creating a grid, table, or an outline organizing summaries of the source material to discover or extend common themes with the collection. The summary, grid, or outline will allow quick comparison of the material and reveal gaps in information.
Summarizing
The process of building a “library” from which to draw information is critical in preparing for synthesizing. An annotated bibliography can be an intellectual structure that reveals connections among sources and a means to initiating the writing of a synthesis.
Examples – Two entries from an annotated bibliography
Nafisi, A. (2003). Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House.
A brave teacher in Iran met with seven of her most committed female students to discuss forbidden Western classics over the course of a couple of years, while Islamic morality squads staged raids, universities fell under the control of fundamentalists, and artistic expression was suppressed. This powerful memoir weaves the stories of these women with those of the characters of Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, and Vladimir Nabokov and extols the liberating power of literature.
Obama, B. (2007). Dreams from My Father. New York: Random House.
This autobiography extends from a childhood in numerous locations with a variety of caregivers (a single parent, grandparents, boarding school) to an exploration of individual heritage and family in Africa, revealing a broken/blended family, abandonment and reconnection, and unresolved endings. Obama describes his existence on the margins of society, the racial tension within his biracial family, and his own identity conflict and turmoil.
Using a chart or grid
Below is a model of a basic table for organizing source material.
| source | detail #1 | detail #2 | detail #3 | notes |
| #1 | ||||
| #2 | ||||
| #3 |
Exercise 7.2.1.
- Read the excerpts from three sources below. Determine the common topic and themes.
- Complete a table like the one above using information from these three sources.
Source #1
Completion of a dissertation is an intense activity. For both groups [completers and non-], the advisor and the student’s family and spouse served as the major source of emotional support and are most heavily invested in the dissertation. Other students and the balance of the dissertation committee were rated as providing little support. Since work on the dissertation is highly individual and there are no College organized groups of students working on the dissertation that meet regularly, the process can be a lonely one. Great independence and a strong sense of direction is required. Although many students rated themselves as having little experience with research, students are dependent on their own resources and on those closest to them. It was noted that graduates rated emotional support from all sources more highly than students rated it. This may be a significant factor associated with dissertation completion.
The scales and checklists suggest that there are identifiable differences between the two groups. Since the differences are not great, the implications are that with some modification of procedures, a greater proportion of students can become graduates. Emotional support, financial support, experience with research, familiarity with university and college dissertation requirements, and ready access to university resources and advisors may be factors to build into a modified system to achieve a greater proportion of graduates.
Kluever, R., Green, K. E., Lenz, K., Miller, M. M., & Katz, E. (1995). Graduates and ABDs in colleges of education: Characteristics and implications for the structure of doctoral programs. In Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Francisco, CA. Retrieved from the ERIC database.
Source #2
In this writing group, students evaluated their goal achievement, reflected on the obstacles before them, and set new targets. This process encouraged them to achieve their goals, and they could modify or start a new target instead of giving up. The students also received positive feedback and support from other members of the group. This positive environment helped the students view failure as part of the nature of writing a thesis.
On the other hand, daily monitoring encouraged the students to focus more on the process and less on the outcome; therefore, they experienced daily success instead of feeling a failure when the goals were not achievable.
Patria, B., & Laili, L. (2021). Writing group program reduces academic procrastination: a quasi-experimental study. BMC Psychology, 9(1), 1–157. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00665-9
Source #3
The promotion of awareness of the tension between core qualities and ideals, and inner obstacles, in particular limiting thoughts, in combination with guidelines for overcoming the tension by being aware of one’s ideals and character strengths is characteristic of the core reflection approach and appears to have a strong potential for diminishing academic procrastination behavior. These results make clear that a positive psychological approach focusing on strengths can be beneficial for diminishing students’ academic procrastination. In particular, supporting and regenerating character strengths can be an effective approach for overcoming academic procrastination.
Visser, L., Schoonenboom, J., & Korthagen, F. A. J. (2017). A Field Experimental Design of a Strengths-Based Training to Overcome Academic Procrastination: Short- and Long-Term Effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1949–1949. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01949
Outlining
A topical outline is another tool writers may use to organize their material. It begins as a simple list of facts gleaned from various sources and arranged by category.[4]
A topical outline might look like this:
- causes
- fact #1/source #1
- fact #2/source #1
- effects
- fact #3/source #1
- fact #4/source #2
Exercise 7.2.2.
Identify relevant facts presented by the three sources in Exercise #1. Determine the relationships between them. Consider how to categorize and arrange them in order to support or extend a related concept.
Exercise 7.2.3.
Produce a 2- to 4-sentence synthesis using information from and properly citing each of the sources in Exercise #1.
