What is Synthesis?
In academic writing, a synthesis is to interpret and analyze multiple sources (which may include themes, ideas, or any type of information), and then compare, contrast, and make insightful connections to create a new whole. A synthesis is not a summary, in that it does not just restate the ideas in each source. Instead, a synthesis aims to make new knowledge that has roots in but is different from original sources.
Why does your course paper, article, dissertation, or thesis need source synthesis?
An effective source synthesis helps you
- gain a greater and deeper understanding of a particular topic
- demonstrate how you join the current academic conversations and scholarship
- Showcase how you build on/expand/extend/connect to prior work and add your ideas, perspectives, and/or insights to the existing knowledge
How do you synthesize sources?
Synthesis involves (1) quoting, summarizing, and/or paraphrasing the important ideas that are relevant to your research focus from multiple sources; (2) organizing, interpreting, and analyzing them to present the connections (e.g., similar, overlapping, or different ideas/findings) between these sources; (3) incorporating these quotations, summary, and/or paraphrasing of the sources into your work and adding your ideas and/or perspectives.
Summarizing
A summary is to present a large amount of information in a short and concise version of a longer original source. It includes only the most important ideas of the original text and answers basic questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how.
Quoting
Quoting is an important approach, but don’t overuse it.
- Choose the quotes whose authors are most distinguished in/for your work
- Combine the quotes with your own interpretation
- Close your text with a new idea or perspective
- Tip—use quote burger to structure your writing: first introduce the quotation, then add the quotation, and lastly explain the quotation
Summarizing Example
Original Text
- “The movement toward education by computer is developing fast. Massive Open Online Courses, called MOOCs, are changing how people learn in many places. For years, people could receive study materials from colleges or universities and take part in online classes. But such classes were not designed for many thousands of students at one time, as MOOCs are.”
Source: (MOOCS Are Moving Forward, Voice of America, learningenglish.voanews.com)
Appropriate Summary
- According to a Voice of America article, a fast-growing MOOCs movement allows thousands to take online classes at once, changing how we learn.
Note: The appropriate summary keeps the original main idea, and it is much shorter than the original text.
Quoting Example
Introducing the Quotation
Stivers and Sidnell (2005) describe multimodality as encompassing
Quotation
- ‘‘the precise ways in which talk, gesture, gaze, and aspects of the material surround are brought together to form coherent courses of action’’ (p. 1).
Explaining the Quotation
- This designation destabilizes a longstanding attitude held by both ordinary speakers and researchers alike that privileges verbal language as the central---or even the only---significant component of face-to-face communication.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing requires and shows a more critical engagement with your sources; thus, it is preferable.
- Use your own language to paraphrase the most important and relevant information from your source(s)
- Establish and emphasize your authorial voice/argument in your writing
- Improve the flow and transition in your writing
- Tip—take these steps to structure your paraphrase: read to understand → look for borrowing phrasing → write in your own words → compare with original → cite
Example:
Read to Understand
“Writers' proficiency in a language will thus be measured not by their ability to produce an abstracted set of conventional forms. Rather, it will be shown by the range of practices they can draw on; their ability to use these creatively” (p. 308).
Look for borrowing phrasing:
- In their ________ publication, ____ advocate _____ .
- In a detailed analysis of ____, examine_____.
Write in your own words
In their 2011 publication, Horner et al. advocate an approach to writing instruction where a writer's proficiency is demonstrated by the range of practices that the writer can draw on and use creatively.
Compare with original
Cite
Synthesizing
Synthesis is to put together what you summarized, quoted, and/or paraphrased in a logical way that connects to your research, add your analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of that information, and then conclude by providing your new idea or perspective.
Example:
Of all the ways you can get physical exercise, walking is one that people continue long-term (American Heart Association, 2014). However, in the small Wisconsin communities she surveyed, Prince (2013) found that community leaders usually recommend group physical activities that result in short-term weight loss. [analysis]Thus, community leaders are not following evidence-based methods when they suggest fitness methods that the citizens are less likely to continue. [Conclusion]Instead, community leaders should encourage walking programs and group activities with citizens’ long-term benefits rather than short-term weight loss in mind.
Summary, quotation, and/or paraphrasing of sources
Analysis
Conclusion
A sample wording to use for synthesis:
- "With reference to __________, X(author) describes ____________ by saying _______________. Y(author), on the other hand, agrees that ________________ but instead concludes that _____________.
When synthesizing sources, DON’T
-
- construct the body of your paper out of a series of summaries.
- list your sources one after another.
- bombard your readers with undifferentiated masses of facts, examples, and quotations.
- begin/end your paragraphs by presenting quotations or facts from your sources.