In tip #11, I started a
series on developing a thesis structure, with plans to write at least one post
on each chapter that needs to be written. This blog post will focus on the
conceptual framework and review chapter. The specific focus in this post is on
locating references. This will also have to be followed by another post on how
to structure the chapter.
series on developing a thesis structure, with plans to write at least one post
on each chapter that needs to be written. This blog post will focus on the
conceptual framework and review chapter. The specific focus in this post is on
locating references. This will also have to be followed by another post on how
to structure the chapter.
Determining if You Have
Tapped Substantial References
A common question that all research scholars
struggle with is when to know if you have read enough. Well unfortunately the
answer to this is that there is no way to know. There will always be more to
read and at the end of the day you are very likely to run into someone who
mentions a reference that you haven’t read, or worse, never heard of. If you
think your PhD is going to make the best expert on the subject, you really need
to rethink what you are doing here. The only way to develop expertise is to
keep reading and to know that you will always have more to read.
struggle with is when to know if you have read enough. Well unfortunately the
answer to this is that there is no way to know. There will always be more to
read and at the end of the day you are very likely to run into someone who
mentions a reference that you haven’t read, or worse, never heard of. If you
think your PhD is going to make the best expert on the subject, you really need
to rethink what you are doing here. The only way to develop expertise is to
keep reading and to know that you will always have more to read.
Having said that, there are ways to know how much is
enough. One way to do it is to visit your department/ university library and browse
through thesis. Every department will have at least a few scholars from the
recent batches who are known to be good at reading. When you attend seminars
and colloquia, you are able to discern who is good at fieldwork, who is good at
writing, and who is good at citing references. Another way to go about it is to
ask your supervisor about a recent good thesis submitted in the department.
Once you have identified at least ten such scholars of the past five years, go
through the thesis of each of these. Remember that at least a few of these ten
should be related to the kind of work that you are doing. This may be in
similar subject area, but more importantly, employ a similar research
methodology. Note down the number of references that each of them has tapped
into and you will get a major idea of how much each one has read. If you want
to be a bit more thorough, you can span out how many books and journal articles
they have tapped into, as well.
enough. One way to do it is to visit your department/ university library and browse
through thesis. Every department will have at least a few scholars from the
recent batches who are known to be good at reading. When you attend seminars
and colloquia, you are able to discern who is good at fieldwork, who is good at
writing, and who is good at citing references. Another way to go about it is to
ask your supervisor about a recent good thesis submitted in the department.
Once you have identified at least ten such scholars of the past five years, go
through the thesis of each of these. Remember that at least a few of these ten
should be related to the kind of work that you are doing. This may be in
similar subject area, but more importantly, employ a similar research
methodology. Note down the number of references that each of them has tapped
into and you will get a major idea of how much each one has read. If you want
to be a bit more thorough, you can span out how many books and journal articles
they have tapped into, as well.
Tap in to a Review Article
Another good idea is to locate a review article in
the area of your research work. This will be a valuable reference as part of
your review chapter. In addition it will also give you a list of references
that you can possibly tap. As a PhD scholar you would be expected to refer to
original sources rather than secondary one. If you plan to continue working in
the area of research and academics, if you don’t refer to primary works of key
authors right now, you will pass your PhD, but you will regret it later. So the
reference of the review paper will be key to giving you a comprehensive view of
what all you need to refer to. In fact reading the references of every article,
chapter or book that you read will be a good practice to develop. This will
help you to locate interesting works by authors you may not refer to.
the area of your research work. This will be a valuable reference as part of
your review chapter. In addition it will also give you a list of references
that you can possibly tap. As a PhD scholar you would be expected to refer to
original sources rather than secondary one. If you plan to continue working in
the area of research and academics, if you don’t refer to primary works of key
authors right now, you will pass your PhD, but you will regret it later. So the
reference of the review paper will be key to giving you a comprehensive view of
what all you need to refer to. In fact reading the references of every article,
chapter or book that you read will be a good practice to develop. This will
help you to locate interesting works by authors you may not refer to.
Ideological Positions
Another way to check if you have referred to
adequate sources is to see the dominant ideological positions taken by scholars
in your work. Have you explored the works of authors with different viewpoints?
Of course you can choose to support only one position, but you should have
reasons why you are choosing this one and not another. If you have referred to
sources from all ideological positions then you can be assured that you are on
the right path.
adequate sources is to see the dominant ideological positions taken by scholars
in your work. Have you explored the works of authors with different viewpoints?
Of course you can choose to support only one position, but you should have
reasons why you are choosing this one and not another. If you have referred to
sources from all ideological positions then you can be assured that you are on
the right path.
Visiting Libraries
A common manner in which we tend to tap resources
these days is to find ebooks, and articles online. If your university provides
access to journals, then you would be happy to find a wealth of articles
online. These are often more than we are able to position in our texts. This
helps you to meet the number criteria but definitely not of comprehensiveness.
If you are planning on doing a good research, there is no alternative to going
to the library. There are a lot of journals and books that are not available in
digital format and these are equally important. Further, there are limitations
to undertaking keyword search and you may miss out on important publications
because you chose to write one word in the online search but not another. In
the era of scoring and gradation, e-journals respond to search engines in
different ways and much of the results you get will depend on which keywords, boolean
operators and search engines you are using. I suggest you make the effort of
toiling for hours in the library rather than only searching online for
researches.
these days is to find ebooks, and articles online. If your university provides
access to journals, then you would be happy to find a wealth of articles
online. These are often more than we are able to position in our texts. This
helps you to meet the number criteria but definitely not of comprehensiveness.
If you are planning on doing a good research, there is no alternative to going
to the library. There are a lot of journals and books that are not available in
digital format and these are equally important. Further, there are limitations
to undertaking keyword search and you may miss out on important publications
because you chose to write one word in the online search but not another. In
the era of scoring and gradation, e-journals respond to search engines in
different ways and much of the results you get will depend on which keywords, boolean
operators and search engines you are using. I suggest you make the effort of
toiling for hours in the library rather than only searching online for
researches.
A good review chapter will be helpful in two ways.
One, it will help you work on the path of developing expertise in your area. In
addition, and more importantly, this chapter will guide the kind of analysis
you will undertake in subsequent chapters. Thus, spending a good deal of time
on it is a good idea.
One, it will help you work on the path of developing expertise in your area. In
addition, and more importantly, this chapter will guide the kind of analysis
you will undertake in subsequent chapters. Thus, spending a good deal of time
on it is a good idea.