Finding formulating and exploring your topic.docx

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