(30 minutes) RAP-Outline Overview

 

We have the overall argument for our paper — our RAP — written up.

Now, we can move on to building a support structure of sections and subsections — the RAP-Outline. 

Here is a quick overview of why we want to work this way and what we are building.

 

25-minute video

 

Key Takeaways:

1. The RAP-Outline is the skeleton of the paper.  It consists of all headings as well as brief takeaway messages for each planned section and subsection.  It therefore offers the gist of our paper in about a page.
2. Each takeaway message offers readers the main point of that section: the conclusion or the idea that all the details add up to.  It also indicates the RAP-relevance of this point (either by using words from R, A, or P; or by explicitly referencing R, A or P; or by linking to another takeaway).
3. The end goal of our RAP-Outline is to achieve a structure that helps readers absorb and process information.  So, the major chunks in our paper (i.e., sections and subsections) and the labels we give them (i.e., headings) should be logical from our readers' perspective; this is sometimes different from what feels logical to the writer.

 

 

 

From the RAP to the RAP-Outline

Here is a fuller treatment of an example you saw in the video above.  It shows you how you can go from the RAP to a RAP-Outline.

 

3.5-minute video

 

 

 

(5 minutes) What the RAP-Outline should look like

The RAP-Outline is a document showing all the headings (and subheadings) in a paper along with brief takeaway messages for each of these sections (and subsections). 

 

It is formatted like this and is usually about a page to a page and a half (with plenty of white space between sections).

 

 

1. Introduction     Takeaway message for the Introduction is the RAP 2. Heading for Section 2     Takeaway message for Section 2 goes here.       2.1 Heading for Section 2.1             Takeaway message for Section 2.1 goes here       2.2 Heading for Section 2.2             Takeaway message for Section 2.2 goes here. 3. Heading for Section 3     Takeaway message for Section 3 goes here     and so on.

 

 

 

"Headings" are the titles of sections and subsections.  They help readers see where to go to find answers to the main questions they have once they have understood the paper's RAP.

 

"Takeaways" are mini-paragraphs of < 4 sentences that  appear at the top of a section or subsection and offers up the RAP-relevant main point of that section.  

 

The choices we make about what sections to include and what to write in each section takeaway are disciplined by the RAP.  In fact, the names for many sections (the headings) can come right out of the RAP: seeing the RAP provokes follow-up questions and it is to answer these questions that sections can be organized (see the second video for an example).  Thus, the RAP tells us what main ideas we need to include and in what order. 

 

Looking ahead, once our RAP-outline is in good shape, we will start building regular paragraphs in it.  We work this way so that our final draft is reader-friendly: organized so that readers recognize the logic, find it easy to absorb details as they read, and remember more of the paper afterwards.

 

 

 

Lessons from the Classroom

• Make sure you don't have bullets in your RAP-Outline!  By definition, the RAP-Outline does not contain bullets.  If there are bullets in it, it may be *some* kind of outline, but it is not a RAP-Outline!
• Students say that building the RAP-Outline helps them get to know their paper better: what its various parts are; what the merits and shortcomings of these parts are; why, ultimately, they belong together and in that order. They also say it helps them prepare for presentations — they are able to explain complicated pieces of their paper succinctly and are better prepared to answer questions in seminars and interviews.  So, don't skip this step!
• The RAP-Outline is a piece you can build early in the research process: as you plan analyses for your paper.  Students say doing this helps them focus on the relevant analyses and waste less time on exercises that are ultimately irrelevant.

 

 

 

Reference Material

The Little Book of Research Writing, pp. 59-84

(10 minutes) How to Craft Headings

 

The first ingredient in our RAP-Outline is a set of headings.  Headings are the titles of the sections or subsections in our paper.  They are usually in bold and formatted to stand out from the surrounding text. 

0.5-minute video

 

Together, a full set of headings helps readers learn something *some*thing about the RAP; they may not learn everything, but the first impression they form of a paper's RAP by glancing through its headings should be, roughly, right.

 

For this to happen, each heading should allow readers to learn what a section does to advance the overall story.  That is, it should:

1. Give readers an idea of what is coming in the text beneath: what the section being heralded does.
2. Give readers an idea of how doing this advances the overall argument (the RAP)

Sometimes headings seem informative on both counts, but readers may, in fact, be misled without them (or the writer) realizing it.  See the video for an example.  (This is why we need feedback from a few others — to make sure that most readers are taking away from our headings the very story we intend them to take away.)

 

8-minute video

 

 

 

Reference Material

The Little Book of Research Writing, pp. 67-85.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(15 minutes) How to craft a takeaway

 

Next, we are going to craft brief takeaway messages for each of the sections and subsections we have planned.  These are mini-paragraphs of 1-3 sentences offering up the main point of the section (the conclusion that all the details in that section add up to) as well as the RAP-relevance of this point.

 

For some sections, it is easy to write a brief takeaway message.  For example, for a results section, you may simply summarize your main result and the RAP-relevance is apparent because the language is very similar to A.

But for other sections, articulating a concise, RAP-relevant point may not be as easy.  In some cases, you may even feel like there is no takeaway message you can possibly articulate.  In such cases, I have found that working in this way can help, if you have the right headings.

 

1. Articulate the urgent question(s) provoked by the section heading.

Usually, there are one or two urgent questions that pop right out of the section heading. Usually, there is a what question and a why question. For example, the heading "Model" provokes "What model and why this model?" Similarly, "Data" provokes "What data and why this data?"

2. Draft a concise answer.  

The answer to the what question is often a main point. The answer to the why question is often the RAP-relevance.   Allow yourself 1-3 sentences to answer both questions and you should end up with a RAP-relevant main point.  

3. Distill that answer even further.

Try to say the same thing in fewer words; smooth out logical connections along the way.  Usually, students who see improvements, do this several times, often with feedback between trials. 

 

 

 

Here is a video offering an overview of the process.

1-minute video

 

And a video working through a concrete example:

6-minute video

 

 

 

Here is another example.  Say we have a section with this heading:

 

 

3. MEASURING SLANT

1. Articulate Urgent question(s):

How do you measure slant and why do you measure it this way?

 

2. Draft a concise answer:

We measure slant by counting how often particular phrases appear in newspapers and compare this with how often they appear in political records.  We do it this way because we are trying to figure out whether the newspaper’s language is more similar to that of a congressional Republican or a congressional Democrat.  In other words, what its ideological slant is.   

 

3. Revise & distill:

To measure the slant of a newspaper, we compare phrase frequencies in the newspaper with phrase frequencies in the 2005 Congressional Record.  This allows us to identify whether the newspaper’s language is more similar to that of a congressional Republican or a congressional Democrat.   

Adapted from: https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA7195

 

Keep distilling until the text is easy for readers to take away; until it is short and specific with sentences that connect with one another.

 

(10 minutes) Roadmap vs. takeaway

 

 

 

Often, what you will see at the top of a section is a roadmap rather than a takeaway.  Here is the difference.

 

Roadmap:   Tells readers what a section will do.  Often in the form of a list. "In this section, I will describe the data used, the key variables, and some key patterns that emerge and are relevant for the analysis that follows."

Takeaway: Tells readers what we learn from doing all of this that is of relevance to the overall story. "Using IRS data, we are able to document a pattern: people who..., do not... This pattern motivates our assumption of...."

 

A roadmap is better than nothing.  At least the reader knows what things are coming before being thrown into a sea of detail.  But a roadmap does not usually say much about the specific argument itself: you can often pick up a roadmap from one paper and stick it in another paper (because that paper does similar things).

 

Takeaways are more valuable. They help readers see key pieces of logical support for the overall argument.  So, if you must offer a roadmap, offer it in addition to a takeaway (not in place of it).  

 

 

 

 

Takeaways: 2 Components

 

The takeaway message has two components: the main point and the RAP-relevance of this main point.  These are woven together.  But let us think about them separately so we know what each component brings.

 

The main point

The main point is an idea that the details in a chunk yield, an idea that readers can carry away from the chunk.  For readers, seeing this idea early on helps them interpret the details now, as they read, and to better remember them later.  But for writers, deciding what this idea should be is not easy.  

 

Think about a section describing a model or the data.  There are so many details to choose from, so many ways to assemble them!  In fact, for such chunks, you can come up with a few different main points.  Choosing one is hard. Nevertheless, the job of an expert writer is to articulate what she thinks the main point is: what key idea she thinks would be most helpful for readers to see so they can grasp what that chunk brings to the whole.  And in a way, this is what expertise is: the ability to extract main points from details in a way that most readers would find reasonable.  

 

A main point can be articulated in a single sentence.  Here are some examples:

 

"Ethnic fractionalization has a strong negative correlation with growth"

"We add a behavioral assumption to the canonical model."

"Estimates using the new series indicate large and statistically significant effects on real output."

 

The main point prepares readers to assess and absorb the details that are coming by provoking good follow-up questions: questions that will be answered by the very details in that section. Here are some examples:

 

"Ethnic fractionalization has a strong negative correlation with growth" ↳ How strong? How do you go about finding this?

"We add a behavioral assumption to the canonical model." ↳ What assumption? Why this one? What happens once you add it?

"Estimates using the new series indicate large and statistically significant effects on real output." ↳What estimates? How do you get them? How large? How statistically significant?

 

 

RAP-relevance

By putting the main point in the takeaway, we are fulfilling one function of the takeaway: preparing readers to understand and absorb the details in a chunk.  But the takeaway has another function: helping readers see that this chunk, with its main point, advances the overall argument.  That is, we want to make sure that readers can see that this section, with its main point, is relevant to the RAP.

 

There are a few ways to weave RAP-relevance into a takeaway:

 

• We can repeat words from the RAP.  Then, readers can literally see the RAP-relevance: the repeated words reflects a deeper logical link between the RAP and this section.

 

"Estimates using the new series indicate that monetary policy has large and statistically significant effects on real output." Here, R includes the words "effects of monetary policy."  Seeing the same words in this takeaway helps readers see that this section is relevant to the whole.

"Motivated by evidence from psychology, we add a behavioral assumption to the canonical model." Here, P includes the words "evidence from psychology".  Seeing the same words in this takeaway helps readers see that this section is relevant to the whole.

 

 

• We can repeat key terms from another section or subsection. That is, we can deliberately include words from either the heading or takeaway of another section or subsection.  

 

"Extending our analysis to 150 countries confirms the predictions of our model: ethnic fractionalization has a strong negative correlation with growth." Here, the word "Model" appeared in the heading of a previous section.  Seeing it again in this takeaway helps readers see that the same thread of logic is being carried forward.

"We have seen that agents have an incentive to cheat. Our empirical analysis now shows that many do." Here, the words "agents have an incentive to cheat" appeared in the takeaway for the previous section.  Seeing them again in this takeaway helps readers see that a thread of logic is being carried forward.

(6 minutes) Quiz 1: How to write a takeaway

 

Question 1

Question 2

 For *MOST* readers, what urgent questions are provoked by the following heading?

 

3. Developing a Proxy

Question 3

 For *MOST* readers, what urgent questions are provoked by the following heading?

 

6. Implications for Welfare and Fairness

Question 4

 For *MOST* readers, what urgent questions are provoked by the following heading?

 

 6. Industry Setting and Assumptions