Okay, so you’re writing your research project, right? What do you do if you have sources that don’t agree? Panic? Slam your computer? Delete your research project?

No! Of course, none of these.

Having sources that disagree is a wonderful thing. You must have different viewpoints, right? If all of your sources agreed on something, why would you be writing about it? If you are writing about a topic that everyone agrees on, then the topic is not worth writing about.

However, the trick is weaving your sources into coherent paragraphs so that you can clearly demonstrate how your sources are different. See the example below of a paragraph that shows there are two different sides two an issue:

I am of two minds about whether or not monogamy is “natural” or not. On one hand, religious values dictate that monogamy must be upheld in all marriages. On the other hand, documented research shows that monogamy is not natural to human behavior. As a result, [idea 1] is valuable because… At the same time, [idea 2] is valid because…

All of the text in bold is transitional or signal text that explains how I am linking ideas together. In other words, I am using clear transitions to show that there are two sides to an issue. Instead of ignoring one side of an argument, I am instead putting the disagreement into the spotlight where I can examine it, which makes for interesting reading.

If your paper is not examining a problem, you should reconsider your main argument.

Remember: all writing should create problems! (Scary, right?)