Can You Use Personal Experience in a Research Paper

What this handout is virtually

This handout is nigh determining when to use get-go person pronouns ("I", "we," "me," "u.s.a.," "my," and "our") and personal feel in academic writing. "Outset person" and "personal experience" might sound like two ways of saying the same matter, but kickoff person and personal experience can work in very different ways in your writing. Y'all might choose to employ "I" but non make whatever reference to your individual experiences in a particular paper. Or y'all might include a cursory clarification of an feel that could help illustrate a signal yous're making without ever using the word "I." So whether or not you should use first person and personal experience are really two separate questions, both of which this handout addresses. It also offers some alternatives if you decide that either "I" or personal experience isn't appropriate for your projection. If you've decided that you lot do want to use one of them, this handout offers some ideas about how to practise and so effectively, considering in many cases using one or the other might strengthen your writing.

Expectations almost academic writing

Students often arrive at higher with strict lists of writing rules in mind. Often these are rather strict lists of absolutes, including rules both stated and unstated:

• Each essay should have exactly five paragraphs.
• Don't begin a judgement with "and" or "because."
• Never include personal opinion.
• Never apply "I" in essays.

We go these ideas primarily from teachers and other students. Oftentimes these ideas are derived from good communication but have been turned into unnecessarily strict rules in our minds. The problem is that overly strict rules almost writing can prevent us, every bit writers, from being flexible enough to acquire to adapt to the writing styles of different fields, ranging from the sciences to the humanities, and different kinds of writing projects, ranging from reviews to inquiry.

So when it suits your purpose every bit a scholar, yous will probably demand to break some of the old rules, particularly the rules that prohibit get-go person pronouns and personal experience. Although there are certainly some instructors who recall that these rules should be followed (so it is a good idea to ask straight), many instructors in all kinds of fields are finding reason to depart from these rules. Fugitive "I" can pb to awkwardness and vagueness, whereas using it in your writing can improve fashion and clarity. Using personal feel, when relevant, can add together concreteness and even authorization to writing that might otherwise be vague and impersonal.
Because higher writing situations vary widely in terms of stylistic conventions, tone, audience, and purpose, the trick is deciphering the conventions of your writing context and determining how your purpose and audience affect the fashion yous write. The rest of this handout is devoted to strategies for figuring out when to apply "I" and personal experience.

Effective uses of "I":

In many cases, using the first person pronoun can improve your writing, by offering the following benefits:

• Assertiveness: In some cases you might wish to emphasize agency (who is doing what), as for case if you demand to point out how valuable your detail projection is to an academic field of study or to claim your unique perspective or argument.
• Clarity: Considering trying to avoid the commencement person can lead to awkward constructions and vagueness, using the outset person can better your writing manner.
• Positioning yourself in the essay: In some projects, you need to explicate how your inquiry or ideas build on or depart from the work of others, in which instance you'll need to say "I," "we," "my," or "our"; if you wish to claim some kind of authority on the topic, offset person may help yous do and so.

Deciding whether "I" will help your style

Here is an instance of how using the first person tin can brand the writing clearer and more assertive:

Original example:

In studying American popular civilization of the 1980s, the question of to what degree materialism was a major characteristic of the cultural milieu was explored.

Better case using first person:

In our study of American popular culture of the 1980s, we explored the degree to which materialism characterized the cultural milieu.

The original example sounds less emphatic and straight than the revised version; using "I" allows the writers to avoid the convoluted construction of the original and clarifies who did what.

Here is an case in which alternatives to the kickoff person would exist more advisable:

Original example:

As I observed the communication styles of first-year Carolina women, I noticed frequent use of non-verbal cues.

Better example:

A study of the advice styles of first-year Carolina women revealed frequent utilise of not-verbal cues.

In the original case, using the first person grounds the experience heavily in the author'southward subjective, individual perspective, simply the writer's purpose is to describe a phenomenon that is in fact objective or independent of that perspective. Avoiding the first person here creates the desired impression of an observed phenomenon that could be reproduced and also creates a stronger, clearer statement.

Here's another example in which an culling to first person works better:

Original instance:

Equally I was reading this report of medieval village life, I noticed that social class tended to be conspicuously defined.

Better instance:

This report of medieval hamlet life reveals that social course tended to be clearly defined.

Although you may run across instructors who observe the coincidental style of the original example refreshing, they are probably rare. The revised version sounds more than academic and renders the statement more than assertive and direct.

Here's a final example:

Original example:

I remember that Aristotle's upstanding arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases, or at to the lowest degree information technology seems that way to me.

Better example

Aristotle'southward ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to gimmicky cases.

In this example, at that place is no real need to announce that that statement about Aristotle is your thought; this is your newspaper, so readers will assume that the ideas in it are yours.

Determining whether to employ "I" according to the conventions of the bookish field

Which fields allow "I"?

The rules for this are changing, so it's e'er best to enquire your instructor if you lot're not sure near using get-go person. Simply here are some general guidelines.

Sciences: In the past, scientific writers avoided the use of "I" because scientists often view the first person as interfering with the impression of objectivity and impersonality they are seeking to create. But conventions seem to be irresolute in some cases—for instance, when a scientific writer is describing a project she is working on or positioning that project inside the existing enquiry on the topic. Bank check with your science instructor to notice out whether it'southward o.yard. to use "I" in his/her class.

Social Sciences: Some social scientists attempt to avoid "I" for the same reasons that other scientists do. But first person is becoming more than ordinarily accepted, peculiarly when the author is describing his/her project or perspective.

Humanities: Ask your instructor whether y'all should use "I." The purpose of writing in the humanities is generally to offer your own analysis of language, ideas, or a piece of work of art. Writers in these fields tend to value assertiveness and to emphasize agency (who's doing what), so the first person is oftentimes—but non always—appropriate. Sometimes writers employ the first person in a less constructive mode, preceding an assertion with "I remember," "I feel," or "I believe" as if such a phrase could replace a existent defense of an argument. While your audience is generally interested in your perspective in the humanities fields, readers do expect you lot to fully argue, support, and illustrate your assertions. Personal belief or opinion is mostly not sufficient in itself; you will need evidence of some kind to convince your reader.

Other writing situations: If you're writing a speech, use of the commencement and even the 2nd person ("you") is by and large encouraged because these personal pronouns can create a desirable sense of connexion between speaker and listener and can contribute to the sense that the speaker is sincere and involved in the result. If you're writing a resume, though, avoid the first person; draw your experience, pedagogy, and skills without using a personal pronoun (for example, nether "Feel" you might write "Volunteered every bit a peer counselor").

A note on the second person "you lot":

In situations where your intention is to sound conversational and friendly considering it suits your purpose, as it does in this handout intended to offer helpful communication, or in a letter or speech, "you" might help to create just the sense of familiarity you're afterward. Only in most academic writing situations, "you" sounds overly conversational, as for instance in a claim like "when you read the verse form 'The Wasteland,' you experience a sense of emptiness." In this case, the "you" sounds overly conversational. The argument would read better as "The poem 'The Wasteland' creates a sense of emptiness." Academic writers nearly e'er use alternatives to the 2nd person pronoun, such every bit "one," "the reader," or "people."

Personal feel in academic writing

The question of whether personal experience has a place in academic writing depends on context and purpose. In papers that seek to analyze an objective principle or data as in scientific discipline papers, or in papers for a field that explicitly tries to minimize the result of the researcher's presence such as anthropology, personal experience would probably distract from your purpose. Simply sometimes yous might need to explicitly situate your position as researcher in relation to your subject field of study. Or if your purpose is to present your private response to a work of art, to offering examples of how an idea or theory might utilise to life, or to use experience every bit evidence or a demonstration of an abstract principle, personal experience might have a legitimate function to play in your academic writing. Using personal experience effectively usually means keeping it in the service of your argument, as opposed to letting it go an end in itself or accept over the paper.

It'southward also ordinarily all-time to keep your real or hypothetical stories brief, but they can strengthen arguments in need of concrete illustrations or even merely a little more vitality.

Here are some examples of effective ways to contain personal experience in academic writing:

• Anecdotes: In some cases, brief examples of experiences you've had or witnessed may serve every bit useful illustrations of a point you're arguing or a theory y'all're evaluating. For instance, in philosophical arguments, writers often use a real or hypothetical state of affairs to illustrate abstract ideas and principles.
• References to your own experience tin explain your interest in an event or even aid to constitute your authority on a topic.
• Some specific writing situations, such every bit application essays, explicitly call for discussion of personal experience.

Here are some suggestions near including personal experience in writing for specific fields:

Philosophy: In philosophical writing, your purpose is generally to reconstruct or evaluate an existing statement, and/or to generate your own. Sometimes, doing this effectively may involve offering a hypothetical example or an illustration. In these cases, you might notice that inventing or recounting a scenario that y'all've experienced or witnessed could help demonstrate your point. Personal experience can play a very useful role in your philosophy papers, as long as you always explain to the reader how the experience is related to your statement. (See our handout on writing in philosophy for more information.)

Faith: Religion courses might seem like a place where personal feel would exist welcomed. But almost religion courses have a cultural, historical, or textual approach, and these generally require objectivity and impersonality. So although you probably have very strong beliefs or powerful experiences in this surface area that might motivate your interest in the field, they shouldn't supplant scholarly analysis. But enquire your instructor, as it is possible that he or she is interested in your personal experiences with faith, especially in less formal assignments such as response papers. (See our handout on writing in religious studies for more than information.)

Literature, Music, Fine Arts, and Picture show: Writing projects in these fields can sometimes benefit from the inclusion of personal feel, as long every bit it isn't tangential. For instance, your badgerer over your roommate's habits might not add much to an analysis of "Citizen Kane." However, if you're writing virtually Ridley Scott's treatment of relationships between women in the moving-picture show "Thelma and Louise," some reference your own observations nearly these relationships might be relevant if it adds to your analysis of the motion-picture show. Personal experience tin be especially appropriate in a response paper, or in any kind of assignment that asks about your feel of the work equally a reader or viewer. Some moving-picture show and literature scholars are interested in how a picture show or literary text is received by unlike audiences, so a discussion of how a detail viewer or reader experiences or identifies with the piece would probably exist appropriate. (See our handouts on writing virtually fiction, art history, and drama for more information.)

Women's Studies: Women's Studies classes tend to be taught from a feminist perspective, a perspective which is generally interested in the ways in which individuals experience gender roles. And then personal experience can ofttimes serve as bear witness for your belittling and argumentative papers in this field. This field is as well i in which you lot might be asked to go along a periodical, a kind of writing that requires you to use theoretical concepts to your experiences.

History: If you're analyzing a historical period or upshot, personal experience is less likely to advance your purpose of objectivity. However, some kinds of historical scholarship exercise involve the exploration of personal histories. So although you might not be referencing your own feel, yous might very well be discussing other people's experiences as illustrations of their historical contexts. (See our handout on writing in history for more data.)

Sciences: Because the principal purpose is to report data and fixed principles in an objective way, personal experience is less likely to have a place in this kind of writing. Ofttimes, equally in a lab study, your goal is to depict observations in such a mode that a reader could duplicate the experiment, then the less extra information, the better. Of form, if you're working in the social sciences, case studies—accounts of the personal experiences of other people—are a crucial office of your scholarship. (See our handout on writing in the sciences for more than information.)

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You may reproduce it for non-commercial employ if you use the unabridged handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Source: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/should-i-use-i/#:~:text=Personal%20experience%20can%20be%20especially,as%20a%20reader%20or%20viewer.

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