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POLS 203 International Relations: Examine an Existing Argument

Why examine all sides of an argument?

Keep an open mind - it is important to investigate, read, and consider different points of view.  This helps you to critically evaluate any evidence presented, to inform your own opinion, and to understand and better address the counter arguments.

Pro/Con in CQ Researcher

Finding Pro/Con Arguments in CQ Researcher

Using the Pro/Con Section of CQ Researcher Reports

Many reports in the CQ Researcher database include a pro/con section. Two authors will debate one small question related to the larger topic.

  • Once you have the report open, click the "Pro/Con" section from the contents menu on the side, or scroll down to that section of the article and expand each author's point of view. 
    • Note, not all reports will include a Pro/Con section, but many do!

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Screenshot showing the two ways to get to the Pro/Con section of the article as explained in the text above the image

Locating Pro/Con Articles by Subject Area

You can also browse a list of reports that have Pro/Con sections 

  1. From the CQ Researcher starting page, click the "Pro/Con" tab 

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The image shows the CQ Researcher homepage and highlights the tab to browse "Pro/Con" articles

  1. As shown in the image below, you will then see an alphabetical list of topics that you can click through. 

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the image shows the expanded pro/con section with a clickable, alphabetical list of topics

  1. Once you click on a larger topic area, you will then see a list of reports related to that topic - along with the questions posed and answered in those report's Pro/Con sections

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The image shows the list of pro/con sections and the related reports the sections are from

Finding editorials in the databases

Locating Editorials

Editorials are a great way to find reasoned opinions on current controversial topics. You can limit to a collection of databases using the link below. Or you can use the tabs in this box to see specialized searches to full-text editorials in the library's databases:

Using Academic Search Complete

In this database, you can search using a keyword, and then add "editorials" in as an actual Subject Term (selecting "SU Subject Terms" from the "Select a Field (optional)" dropdown as shown in the image below:

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Editorials AND AI - Acad Search Comp

 

Using ProQuest

In this database, you can use the "Document Type" limiter as outlined in the text and images below:

  • First, type in your search terms
    • Be sure to use quotation marks around specific terms to search the terms as a single concept, rather than two independent words
  • Here you can also limit to "Full-text" - so you will only see results for articles that you can immediately download. 
  • Based on your topic, you may need to also limit by date to find the most recent articles. Choose an appropriate date range.

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screenshot of Proquest, showing the search boxes, highlighting the "full-text" box to check, and the date range option to narrow your results if needed. 

  • Then, as shown in the image below, scroll down on the advanced search page to limit by "Document Type" - choosing "Editorials" from the options before searching.

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screenshot of the "document type" limiting option on the advanced search page of ProQuest

Using Pro/Con Sections from CQ Researcher Reports

  • Most CQ reports include two opposing editorials on a topic. The image below shows how to scroll or click to find these sections within the reports.  

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The image shows the Pro/Con section of CQ Researcher

Using Opposing Viewpoints

  • As shown in the image below, you can carry out a keyword search at the top of the page, or you can select advanced search
  • You can choose "Browse Issues" from the top menu to see a list of topical articles
  •  Issues have multiple, informed sides. Learn more about those perspectives by looking at "Viewpoints". 
  • Just above the results, you can see a list of all the types of sources your search resulted in, such as videos, images, viewpoints,academic articles, etc.
  • This is a great place to search, but be sure to search other databases as well, as the section is limited in Opposing Viewpoints and not all topics will be covered here.

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screenshot of the search results page, pointing out how to narrow your search as written in text above image