Synthesising

Synthesising is a important skill within academic writing. It entails combining the ideas, perspectives or findings of multiple sources within one section of your writing, often with the view of  re-contextualisation of information available in order to present it from a new vantage point. Synthesising is a high-level skill and often makes extensive use of paraphrasing and summarising.

Synthesis Paragraphs

Single paragraphs which contain multiple references to scholarly sources are often dealing with academic content in a more general, or less, critical manner.  However, as with all syntheses, the reader is expecting to see some contribution or interpretation from the writer. This may be in how the sources are presented, or through the inclusion of the writer's voice (e.g. use of an adjective). Individual paragraphs reviewing multiple sources are most commonly found in introductory sections, or at the tops of literature reviews. Please see below for examples.

Synthesis Sections

Syntheses can also be presented on a 'sectional' level. This refers to instances where the author considers scholarly sources over several paragraphs. A common approach is to designate one or two paragraphs to reviewing each source, with a final paragraph that considers the relationship(s) between the sources. Please see below for examples.

Dialectic Approach

In contemporary academics, the “thesis, antithesis, synthesis” pattern has become a conventional approach to structuring academic syntheses, particularly where one source provides a counter-argument to another source. It is seen in all disciplines, and is particularly useful in situations where the writer can provide a critical overview of (or contribution to) the existing scholarship.

Following this method, knowledge is seen to be gained through a three-step approach, involving:

  • Proposing a “thesis”: a scholarly position
  • Considering the “antithesis”: the negation of (or reaction to) the first position
  • Arriving at a “synthesis”: a new idea that stems from the common or compatible elements that the writer observes in the first and second positions. This can also be seen as a 'mediated solution' that marries, or unifies, the first two

Please see the example below, for examples of a successful, and less successful, dialectic synthesis

Oxford Synthesis Example

Please follow the link below to see examples of different kinds of syntheses:

Examples

  • Dialectic Synthesis

 

 

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