Geoff Schoenberg

Beginning a thesis is a trying task, especially when you have little to no research background. Sure, I wrote a few papers in my undergrad, but these were mostly done in a short period of time with fairly clear guidelines and expectations. There was usually a pretty specific topic and an argument or point of view was not hard to develop. I quickly learned how to find quotes that served my purpose, but didn’t take the time to read/understand the full context of the ideas presented by the author. I simply came up with my ideas and then looked for research that supported them.

A masters thesis is different. I need to have a complete understanding of the area of study before forming the research question and argument.  While, I have an overall concept of where the research will go, there needs to be justification for undertaking that research. This means actually reading the articles, understanding what what is being said, and trying to determine what the implications are for my own research. It means making sure that the research hasn’t already been done, that a fresh perspective can be obtained.

The first stage is to paint a picture of the current knowledge landscape using other people’s work. This picture (why not carry the metaphor further?) needs to accurately depict the ENTIRE landscape and, at the same time, reflect the details of each individual leaf and grass.

Part of the struggle so far was coming to understand the point of the literature review. Being new to research, I was confused by what the point of it was and is. The more I’ve read, the more I’ve seen how authors use a literature review to frame their topic and setup the purpose of their research. A well done literature review clearly makes the reader bob their head in agreement. The reader finds themselves intrigued as to the research done to help answer a clearly defined problem. The lit review is the setup, it frames the rest of the paper and is a crucial part of any good research. It is also a tool for the author. An excellent literature review will build itself from general knowledge to shared knowledge and will culminate in presenting the lack of knowledge in a specific area.

My next post will talk about what sort of strategies and methods I’m using during this intial phase…