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Women's and Gender Studies

BEAM Method of Research

The BEAM method helps you figure out how to use sources in your argument. Find your sources and evaluate them, organizing them by BEAM categories. One source can fit into multiple categories. Background Sources used to provide context; facts A few examples: statistics, encyclopedia articles, biographies Ask yourself: Does it give generally accepted facts or foundational concepts for my argument? Evidence / Exhibit Documents, data, images, text you analyze; use as evidence within your argument A few examples: original research, contemporary reviews Ask yourself: Is it evidence I can use to support arguments in my paper? Argument Critical views and relevant scholarship; create the conversation that you're adding to Example: scholarly/peer-reviewed articles Ask yourself: Does it provide an argument about my topic that my research can be in conversation with? Method References to critical theories or methods you're using A few examples: citations of scholars using particular research methodologies, specific philosophies or ideologies, -isms Ask yourself: Is it about my method or approach to doing research? MLA citation: Bizup, Joseph. "BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing." Rhetoric Review 27.1 (2008). 72-85.

More Examples and Explanations of the BEAM Method