The Craft of Research

12 February 2013

I am coming to the end of my research and have been working on writing up my thesis, which explains why I have not posted very much here over the past few months. I hope to remedy this once the thesis is complete.

This means I have been thinking about the process of studying for a PhD. I have benefitted greatly from meeting with other students in a small ‘Reading Group’. At one of our meetings we discussed how to structure the thesis and how to turn a vague and general topic, which is what most of us start with, into a more specific set of questions, which together form a research ‘problem’, to which we propose a solution in our theses.

There are some useful books around which provide guidance on how to do this. One book I have found helpful is The Craft of Research. This provides advice on turning a broad topic into a focussed topic, a focussed topic into a set of research questions and a set of research questions into a research problem.

Wayne C. Booth, Gregry G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 2008) Third edition

Some French theorists call this problematizing your topic, which is not the sort of thing we British normally do, but the authors of this book make it all seem quite simple. If you are working on a history, humanities or social science PhD, I would recommend you buy a copy, or borrow it from your library, and read it. The following is taken from my notes on the relevant chapters. (Any errors, omissions and misunderstandings are therefore mine, and not the fault of the book or the authors).

1) From a broad topic to a focused topic

A topic is probably too broad if you can state it in four or five words. Topics can be narrowed by adding words – nouns derived from verbs expressing actions or relationships - in particular conflict, description, contribution, development. This makes the topic dynamic rather than static.

2) From a focused topic to research questions

The key point here is to think about:

- What you are writing about – I am working on the topic of …
- What you don’t know about it – because I want to find out …
- Why you want your reader to know and care about it - in order to help my reader understand …

This can be simplified to:
Topic: I am studying …
    Question: because I want to find out what / why / how …
        Significance: to help my reader understand …

3) From research questions to a research problem

A conceptual problem simply means not knowing or not understanding something.

The significance or importance of a conceptual problem lies in its consequence. Because we don’t understand one thing, this means that we don’t fully understand something else of greater significance.

This aims to answer the ‘So what’ problem.

Topic: I am studying …
    Question: because I want to find out what / why / how …
        Significance: to help my readers understand …
            Consequence: so that …

I have found this very helpful in my own research, trying to make sense of the mass of data I have accumulated and thinking about how to structure it all in the final thesis.

Here is my own version:

I am studying:
- The contribution made by twelve important and influential individuals to the development and implementation of British policy in occupied Germany, in the first three years after the end of the Second World War.

Because I want to find out:
- What these twelve individuals aimed to achieve, and why and how this changed over time.
- Why British policy apparently changed from unconditional surrender, strict controls enforced by a long occupation and non-fraternisation with the German people, to physical and economic reconstruction, political renewal and personal reconciliation.

To help my readers understand:
- The reasons for some of the apparent contradictions in British policy.
- How and why British policy in occupied Germany changed very soon after the end of the war.
- How and why British attitudes towards their former enemy changed in the transition from war to peace.
- How individuals implemented, modified and interpreted official policies.
- The successes and failures of the British in occupied Germany. How can you judge success or failure without understanding the original intention(s)?

So that my readers understand better:
- The British contribution to the development of post-war Germany.
- The origins of the Cold War, in particular how former enemies became allies and vice versa.
- Some of the ways in which British people engaged with the rest of the world, through the British Empire and as a great power in Europe, what motivated them and what they were trying to achieve.
- What happens in the aftermath of war, some of the problems faced by victors when they occupy the country of their defeated enemy, and how to plan better for occupation of a defeated country, after winning the war.