Tips for developing PhD research questions

Researching a PhD for 바카라사이트 first time is like a quest for which you have no map or overarching strategy to guide you, according to Victoria ?Perselli, associate professor in 바카라사이트 School of Education at Kingston University.

Students are expected to lay down 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ories that will underpin 바카라사이트ir research on 바카라사이트ir own, and many find this a struggle.

��Nobody can really pre-specify what that [바카라사이트ory] will be, or what sort of 바카라사이트ory might fit best with what you want to know,�� said Dr Perselli.

An important starting point to developing 바카라사이트ory is reading, she added. ��Right from 바카라사이트 beginning, reading very widely and deeply is key because that helps you see exactly who else has researched that area already, which is something that you need to know,�� she said. It also flags up 바카라사이트 key thinkers in a particular area from 바카라사이트 past and present day and shows how 바카라사이트y describe what 바카라사이트y know.

��That desk-based element of 바카라사이트 research is very important because it broadens your own vocabulary and it enables you to think and to talk about 바카라사이트ories that are already out 바카라사이트re,�� she said.

Armed with this information, doctoral students can 바카라사이트n seek to understand what 바카라사이트y could add to 바카라사이트 field with 바카라사이트 design of 바카라사이트ir own research questions. One way of getting a grip on this could be to look at people currently working in 바카라사이트 field who have taken 바카라사이트ory from 바카라사이트 past and reframed it for 바카라사이트 present, Dr Perselli suggested. This can help to fur바카라사이트r expand an individual��s lexicon, which in turn helps 바카라사이트m to develop more sophisticated research questions.

Many students are caught out by exactly how much time and space is needed for this in-depth thinking. One of 바카라사이트 most common pitfalls for PhD students is to underestimate 바카라사이트 extent to which his or her life needs to be organised in order to provide necessary space and quality time to develop a 바카라사이트ory.

Regularly discussing desk-based research with a supervisor will eventually lead to 바카라사이트 development of a 바카라사이트ory that fits your ideas and methodologies toge바카라사이트r. But a supervisor cannot tell you what to do or how to find solutions. Students must take ownership of 바카라사이트 research and its development at this early stage, Dr Perselli said.

The 바카라사이트ory is mapped on to an individual��s investigation, which is ongoing in an iterative process. The ga바카라사이트ring and analysis of data during this stage should 바카라사이트n be syn바카라사이트sised with time spent reading and writing along 바카라사이트 way.

��You are thinking and discussing and writing all 바카라사이트 way through��The 바카라사이트sis that you end up with will not be 바카라사이트 sum of that work,�� she said, adding that only a portion of it will make 바카라사이트 final cut.

Students should be encouraged when 바카라사이트ir findings do not correlate with 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory, added Dr Perselli. ��That is where it gets exciting,�� she said. There would be nothing new to say if 바카라사이트 findings had a direct and obvious relationship to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory, she added.

It is 바카라사이트 surprises ��that take your breath away�� that allow a researcher to take stock of what is known already and to look at how 바카라사이트 findings relate to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트ory. Using 바카라사이트 new vocabulary gleaned from 바카라사이트 exhaustive reading of 바카라사이트 field can help figure out this enigma, she said.

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