Finding formulating and exploring your topic.docx
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Finding formulating and exploring your topic.docx
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Findingformulatingandexploringyourtopic
Finding,formulatingandexploringyourtopic
Differenttopiccreations
Manystudentshaveinmindsomethingthattheywanttoworkon;otherswanttoworkwithaparticularscholarorresearchcentre.Inthefirstcase,studentssearchforacompatiblesupervisor.Inthesecond,foratopic.Regardlessofthesepreliminarycircumstances,thetopicisverylikelyonlyroughlyformulatedatthisstage.Thisisusuallyenoughtohaveyourenrolmentaccepted.
Readingtheliterature
Onceyouhaveageneralidea,youcouldstartbytalkingtoyoursupervisorandotherscholars.But,mostimportantly,youhavetothinkwhyyouwouldliketoworkonit,orwhyanyonewouldwanttodoso.Askyourself,"Whyisitimportant?
Whatisinterestingaboutthis?
SupposeIsolveit,orfindit,orpullitalltogether,whatuseisit?
Whatisitssignificance?
"Then,withsomequestionssuchastheseinmind,goandreadmoreaboutittoseewhatisthereandfindoutwhataspectsofithavebeenexhausted,whatneglected,whatthemainideas,issuesandcontroversiesareinthearea.Itisregardedasyoursupervisor'sroletodirectyoutothemostfruitfulstartingpointinreadingandsurveyingtheliterature.
Cycleofliteraturereview
Allofthisisnotaonceonlyactivity,butisacycleyougothroughagainandagain.Soyouread,think,anddiscussitwithyoursupervisorandthen,asaresult,comeclosertotheformulationofthetopic.Andthenwitheachcycleofreading,thinkinganddiscussingyourtopicbecomesmorespecificandfocussed.Thisisnotthefinalformulationandthelasttimeyouwillfocusyourtopic.Butyoucouldprobablyletgoofthisroundofgeneralexplorationandembarkonthenextstage.YoursupervisorbythistimeshouldhaveenoughofanideaofyourtopictojudgewhetherornotwhatyouproposetodoisfeasiblewithinthetimeavailableandhasthepotentialtomeettherequiredstandardsforaPhD.Toseethefullpotentialofyourtopicor,tothecontrary,seethatitisnotgoingtodeliverwhatyouwanted,youdoneedtobegindoingyourresearch.This,ofcourse,iswhypilotstudiesareoftenundertaken.
Makingsenseoftheliterature
Wedotrulywishwecouldtellyouaboutareliableorsimplewaytomakesenseoftheliterature.Wecansay,however,thatyouneedtoattendtothingsattwolevels:
∙Oneisestablishingasystemthatwillallowyoutoorganisethehardcopiesofthearticlesetc.,anddevelopadatabaseforreferences,soyouhaveeasyaccessunderrelevantcategoriesanddon'tchasethesamereferencesrepeatedly.
∙Theotheristhemoredemandingtaskofunderstandingandusingtheliteratureforyourpurposes.
Withoutattendingtothefirsttask,youcouldeasilybecomeinefficientandfrustrated.However,althoughitisnecessarytohavesomewayofkeepingtrack,don'tspendallyourenergiesonperfectingyoursystem.Itmaybeagoodideatoattendacourseforresearchersonhandlinginformation.Checkwhetheryouruniversity'slibraryorcomputercentreofferssuchacourse.
Theothertaskaheadofyou-ofunderstanding,reviewingandusingtheliteratureforyourpurposes-goestotheheartofyourthesis.Weconsiderthisinthreestages.
Makingsenseoftheliterature-firstpass
Whenyoufirstcometoanareaofresearch,youarefillinginthebackgroundinageneralway,gettingafeelforthewholearea,anideaofitsscope,startingtoappreciatethecontroversies,toseethehighpoints,andtobecomemorefamiliarwiththemajorplayers.Youneedastartingpoint.Thismaycomeoutofpreviousworkyou'vedone.Ifyou'renewtothearea,yoursupervisorcouldsuggestfruitfulstartingpoints.Oryoucouldpursuesomerecentreviewarticlestobegin.
Toomuchtohandle
Atthisstagethereseemstobemassesofliteraturerelevanttoyourresearch.Oryoumayworrythatthereseemstobehardlyanything.Asyouread,thinkaboutanddiscussarticlesandisolatetheissuesyou'remoreinterestedin.Inthisway,youfocusyourtopicmoreandmore.Themoreyoucancloseinonwhatyourresearchquestionactuallyis,themoreyouwillbeabletohaveabasisforselectingtherelevantareasoftheliterature.Thisistheonlywaytobringitdowntoamanageablesize.
Verylittlethere
Ifinitiallyyoucan'tseemtofindmuchatallonyourresearcharea-andyouaresurethatyou'veexploitedallavenuesforsearchingthatthelibrarycanpresentyouwith-thenthereareafewpossibilities:
∙Youcouldberightatthecuttingedgeofsomethingnewandit'snotsurprisingthere'slittlearound.
∙Youcouldbelimitingyourselftotoonarrowanareaandnotappreciatingthatrelevantmaterialcouldbejustaroundthecornerinacloselyrelatedfield.
∙Unfortunatelythere'sanotherpossibilityandthisisthatthere'snothingintheliteraturebecauseitisnotaworthwhileareaofresearch.Inthiscase,youneedtolookcloselywithyoursupervisoratwhatitisyouplantodo.
QualityoftheLiterature
Thisbeginsyourfirststepinmakingsenseoftheliterature.Youarenotnecessarilycloselyevaluatingitnow;youaremostlylearningthroughit.But,sometimesatthisstagestudentsdoaskushowtheycanjudgethequalityoftheliteraturethey'rereading,asthey'renotexperts.
Youlearntojudge,evaluate,andlookcriticallyattheliteraturebyjudging,evaluatingandlookingcriticallyatit.Thatis,youlearntodosobypractising.Thereisnoquickrecipefordoingthisbuttherearesomequestionsyoucouldfindusefuland,withpractice,youwilldevelopmanyothers:
∙Istheproblemclearlyspelledout?
∙Aretheresultspresentednew?
∙Wastheresearchinfluentialinthatotherspickedupthethreadsandpursuedthem?
∙Howlargeasamplewasused?
∙Howconvincingistheargumentmade?
∙Howweretheresultsanalysed?
∙Whatperspectivearetheycomingfrom?
∙Arethegeneralisationsjustifiedbytheevidenceonwhichtheyaremade?
∙Whatisthesignificanceofthisresearch?
∙Whataretheassumptionsbehindtheresearch?
∙Isthemethodologywelljustifiedasthemostappropriatetostudytheproblem?
∙Isthetheoreticalbasistransparent?
Incriticallyevaluating,youarelookingforthestrengthsofcertainstudiesandthesignificanceandcontributionsmadebyresearchers.Youarealsolookingforlimitations,flawsandweaknessesofparticularstudies,orofwholelinesofenquiry.
Indeed,ifyoutakethiscriticalapproachtolookingatpreviousresearchinyourfield,yourfinalliteraturereviewwillnotbeacompilationofsummariesbutanevaluation.Itwillthenreflectyourcapacityforcriticalanalysis.
Makingsenseoftheliterature-secondpass
Youcontinuetheprocessofmakingsenseoftheliteraturebygainingmoreexpertisewhichallowsyoutobecomemoreconfident,andbybeingmuchmorefocusedonyourspecificresearch.
You'restillreadingandperhapsneedingtore-readsomeoftheliterature.You'rethinkingaboutitasyouaredoingyourexperiments,conductingyourstudies,analysingtextsorotherdata.Youareabletotalkaboutiteasilyanddiscussit.Inotherwords,it'sbecomingpartofyou.
Atadeeperlevelthanbefore,
∙youarenownotonlylookingatfindingsbutarelookingathowothershavearrivedattheirfindings;
∙you'relookingatwhatassumptionsareleadingtothewaysomethingisinvestigated;
∙you'relookingforgenuinedifferencesintheoriesasopposedtosemanticdifferences;
∙youalsoaregaininganunderstandingofwhythefielddevelopedinthewayitdid;
∙youhaveasenseforwhereitmightbegoing.
Firstofallyouprobablythoughtsomethinglike,"Ijusthavetogetahandleonthis".Butnowyouseethatthis'handle'whichyoudiscoveredforyourselfturnsouttobethekeytowhatisimportant.Youareverylikelygettingtothislevelofunderstandingbytakingthingstopiecesandputtingthembacktogether.
Forexample,youmayneedtosetupalongsideoneanotherfourorfivedifferentdefinitionsofthesameconcept,versionsofthesametheory,ordifferenttheoriesproposedtoaccountforthesamephenomenon.Youmayneedtounpackthemthoroughly,evenattheverybasiclevelofwhatistheimpliedunderstandingofkeywords(forexample'concept','model','principles'etc.),beforeyoucanconfidentlycomparethem,whichyouneedtodobeforesynthesisispossible.
Or,forexample,youmaybetryingtosortthroughspecificdiscoverieswhichhavebeenvariouslyandconcurrentlydescribedbydifferentresearchersindifferentcountries.Youneedtoaskquestionssuchaswhethertheyarethesamediscoveriesbeinggivendifferentnamesor,iftheyarenotthesame,whethertheyarerelated.Inotherwords,youmayneedtoembarkonverydetailedanalysesofpartsoftheliteraturewhilemaintainingthegeneralpicture.
Makingsenseoftheliterature-finalpass
Youmakesenseoftheliteraturefinallywhenyouarelookingbacktoplaceyourownresearchwithinthefield.Atthefinalpass,youreallyseehowyourresearchhasgrownoutofpreviouswork.Sonowyoumaybeabletoidentifypointsorissuesthatleaddirectlytoyourresearch.Youmayseepointswhosesignificancedidn'tstrikeyouatfirstbutwhichnowyoucanhighlight.Oryoumayrealisethatsomeaspectofyourresearchhasincidentallyprovidedevidencetolendweighttooneviewofacontroversy.Havingfinishedyourownresearch,youarenowmuchbetterequippedtoevaluatepreviousresearchinyourfield.
Fromthispointwhenyouhavefinishedyourownresearchandyoulookbackandfillinthepicture,itisnotonlythatyouunderstandtheliteratureandcanhandleitbetter,buty
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