CaRS Model: Create a Research Space
The CaRS Model can help you build an introduction, especially in STEM fields. The
model consists of three rhetorical moves that help identify the background, motivation,
and focus of the research. This framework can help give your reader a basic overview of
your larger project.
Move 1: Establish a Research Territory
The research territory, or broad topic, is the context required to both understand and conduct
the research being explored. Your goal is to explain the current state of scholarship in the field
and answer the question, “Why is this general research area important?”
Step 1 Claiming importance and/or
Step 2 Making topic generalizations and/or
Step 3 Reviewing items of previous research
Language for Establishing a Research Territory
__________ has been extensively studied...
Interest in __________ has been growing...
Recent studies have focused on...
__________ has become a major issue...
Move 2: Establish a Niche
The niche is the reason or motivation for the research. You are preparing your audience
to understand how your research relates to the background you have given, highlighting
gaps/problems in current knowledge that justify or explain the need for further
investigation.
Step 1a Counter-claiming or
Step 1b Indicating a gap or
Step 1c Question-raising or
Step 1d Continuing a tradition
Language for Establishing a Niche
Previous studies of __________ have not examined...
Such studies are unsatisfactory because...
One question that needs to be asked, however, is...
Research on __________ has mostly been restricted to _________ so...
Move 3: Occupy the Niche
This step is an explanation of how you are responding to the need for further
investigation. Explain how your research addresses the need you identified in the
previous step and list your specific research objectives, questions, or methods.
Step 1a Outlining purposes or
Step 1b Announcing present research
Step 2 Announcing principle findings
Step 3 Indicating article structure
Writers can use these moves as a guide for revising their own writing, or for helping
others.
Language for Occupying the Niche
The purpose of this literature review is to...
This study aims to...
The evidence collected from this study demonstrates...
This review outlines/examines...
https://uwaterloo.ca/writing-and-communication-centre/cars-model-create-research-space
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/organization_CARS_Model.html
Example
Move 1. Stress is an ever-present factor in the lives of university students, many of
whom have difficulty regulating stress and functioning to their fullest potential. Many
individuals choose to relieve their stress by listening to music, and stress relief as a
result of music listening has been researched through both physiological and self-
perception studies. Music listening decreases physiological stress by indirectly
decreasing cortisol levels (a hormone linked to high stress levels) through a down-
regulation of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis (Linnemann, Ditzen,
Strahler, Doerr, & Nater, 2015). Studies focused on self-perceived stress levels found
that listening to music with the goal of relaxation is significantly more effective than
listening to music for the purpose of distraction according to self-report measures
(Linnemann et al., 2015). Move 2. While the positive relationship between music
listening and stress relief has been supported within the general population, little
research has been done to examine music’s effect on the mental health and stress levels
of university students in particular. University students exhibit a higher rate of both
stress-induced depression and anxiety than the general population due to the pressures
of completing complex programs while often living away from home for the first time
(Hanser, 1985, p. 419; Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts, 2013). As a result, student stress relief is
a critical part of ensuring student wellbeing, especially with student mental health at the
forefront of many recent discussions among university faculty, staff, and
students. Move 3. This investigatory survey is the first step in a multi-stage study on
how undergraduate residents at Conrad Grebel University College use music in relation
to stressful situations, and how stress relief through music listening is perceived. We
hypothesize that students will report stress-relief as one of the primary reasons they
choose to listen to music, and that they will report choosing music they enjoy when they
need to relieve stress. Patterns observed in student responses will be used to determine
specific research questions for further investigation, and research on student stress
relief could help to inform university policy makers on ways to create healthier
campuses
