Opinion in research paper often includes personal thoughts, norms, feelings, evaluations, or judgments made after logically analyzing the facts. In broader terms, it allows an author to persuade readers by telling them that he/she takes the right position in a particular scenario. In research, the author or researcher’s opinions are of great importance. It tells the other researchers to make their research plan in the light of these logical opinions. To further clarify the importance of the author opinion in a research paper, this article will answer the following questions one by one:

Can you give opinions in a research paper?

A research paper is one of the most sophisticated and formal forms of document. In a formal writing style, you are allowed to insert your own opinions. The opinion helps researchers understand what you interpret in the light of the evidence. The information in the form of opinions is more reader-friendly as compared to straightforward data stuffing.

Opinions increase the acceptability

Opinions increase the acceptability, reliability as well as generalizability of your research paper. Moreover, the style of giving opinions in a research papers differs greatly between formal and informal writing styles. In daily life conversation, whenever we feel disagree with certain points of a speaker, we say, ‘In my opinion, the same thing can be viewed from some perspectives as well. According to this example, we start the conversation by using the words, ‘in my opinion.’ This is a humble way of giving opinions in informal or even formal conversation. However, informal academic writing, such as research paper writing, the use of ‘in my opinion is not advisable. Rather, in papers, you can insert opinions in the form of the thesis statement.

The thesis statement is the formal form of opinion that allows you to share views in a paper. All in all, you can insert opinions in a research paper, but the method of its insertion needs proper guidance.

What are the types of research papers? Can you give opinions in all?

Mainly, research papers are of several types. It is important to know whether you can insert opinions in all types of a research papers. The basic type of research papers includes analytical papers, argumentative papers, cause and effect papers, interpretative papers, definition or review papers, and compare and contrast papers. Other types include experimental research papers, reflection papers, survey research papers, and opinion papers. Without any doubt, opinion articles are those that give the author full liberty to share his viewpoints.

Reflection papers

Reflection papers also allow authors to describe a phenomenon, event, or situation in the light of personal experiences and thoughts. In argumentative essays, the proper stage for argument cannot be set without expressing your thoughts. On the same ground, in the survey papers, definition papers, and experimental papers, the scope of the author’s opinion along the body of the paper is quite limited. In the big picture, the author’s opinions are important in all types of research papers, but their scope may vary from type to type.

How do you state your opinions in a research paper?

In research papers, the word ‘opinion’ refers to the viewpoint, judgment, or statement that must be constructed on the basis of facts rather than being conclusive. Thus, to give opinion in research paper, you can follow the following points:

Topic Selection

Select the topic about which you have personal thoughts. The topic of interest helps you better interpret the facts and figures to provide final statements as well as opinions.

Important point in giving an opinion

The most important point in giving an opinion, especially for a student, is to distinguish between the expressions and phrases that one uses to emphasise his views explicitly or implicitly. Generally, the implicit expression that expresses your thoughts more precisely is preferable in academic research.

Certain cases, even in research papers

In certain cases, even in research papers (opinion or reflective papers), you can use personal pronouns such as ‘I’ and ‘My’ to clarify that the opinion is solely yours. Thus, there is no hard and fast rule that you cannot use personal pronouns while giving opinions in a research paper. Again, it is not recommended to use personal pronouns every time when you give an opinion.

Reflective papers

In reflective papers, the reader or the supervisor remains curious to know how beautifully you narrated your experiences. The perfect reflective paper is the one that describes personal experiences by adding personal opinions as well. In this type of paper, you can give opinions by using both personal and impersonal pronouns.

Shake your reader’s trust

Remember, there are some expressive phrases that, instead of clearing your position in a situation, shake your reader’s trust. For example, suppose you are a medical researcher and want to emphasize on the use of a particular medicine in a research paper. In this case, the use of the term ‘I think that…,’ ‘I hope that….’, and ‘as per my personal experiences….’ may stop the reader from believing you. Here, to win your reader’s trust, you should give an opinion by using some alternative phrases like ‘I strongly believe that….’, ‘I assert that….’, ‘after a year of thorough research I concluded that….’ I am highly convinced that …….’ and many more. This set of expressive phrases is more likely to help you in verbal speech than in giving opinion in research paper.

Explicit stating

In another case, when you have to give an opinion by using ways of explicitly stating it, you can use another set of expressive phrases that contain adjectives. Examples of this case include ‘I take into account the consideration as it is crucial/useful/ essential….. In case you are not sure about your expression, the phrases ‘I suppose that…..’, ‘I presume that…..’ and ‘I conjecture that…..’ are the most appropriate personal phrases in giving  opinions in research paper.

Worth examining

There are many impersonal ways to give opinion in research paper as well. For example, you can write, ‘It is worth examining/recalling/emphasizing…..’ to remain formal or to follow your teacher’s guidance to use formal or impersonal ways to express your views.

Big picture:

In the light of the above discussion, we can conclude that the opinions occupy a noteworthy place in the process of writing research papers. You can insert opinions in almost all types of research papers, though its scope may vary in different types. To give opinions in your research paper, you can follow a number of ways. The uses of adjectives and adverbs with personal or impersonal pronouns are among the most common methods to give opinion in research paper.

Author Bio:

Robert Fawl is a professional Content Writer based in London, UK. He is an author and blogger with experience in writing different academic assignments. If you need assignment writing, essay writing etc. you can contact him.