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Monday, 27 January 2025

How to begin...?

Azariadis (2011, p. 6)

It can be hard to begin to tease out what we want to say when writing up a research idea. Recently I sent a student some advice about how to develop a rough proposal outline, and thought I would add it here in case anyone else found it useful. 

Firstly, using a document template with all the chapter headings can help us to structure our thinking (go here to get a copy of an adapted Microsoft Word template). If we know what we need to do for each section, we can more constructively seek materials, and identify gaps in our understanding, if we have a outline to work with. Each of the chapters in this template have a brief overview of what is required.

How I start when I am trying to work through my ideas is to begin by writing what I want to say in plain English on the page. Then I read the literature, seeking those elements that I have noted down, and 'dot' bits - fragments - which I find in research articles as I read through them. I keep referring to my notes - my 'plain English' frame. Perhaps "beginning with the bones" might be a good analogy! 

Also, if I quote directly from any papers, I copy the original from the article pdf and put the part in quote marks straight away (with the page number in the citation bracket alongside) as I go. This forms my 'bit' collection, so that I keep the authors' words straight in my head from the outset... and it means that I don't need to scramble to retroactively work out who said what, which can become a bit of a nightmare. Searching for retroactive citations is not what we want to be spending our time on.  

Once I have done 'enough' work on my file, I close it. 'Enough' is when I get to a place where I feel I can leave the work for a time: a logical end to my flow of ideas. Or when I am no longer making progress. I do the admin - include all the full references, do a double check for spelling and so on, make more notes: then close out. 

When I come to do more work, I do a 'save as', and increase the file draft as the next numbered version. I tend to use a naming protocol where "Draft xx" forms a latter part of the file name. And in this next phase of work, I begin by writing my various bits - fragments - up into small paragraphs. I think of this as putting tendons, cartilage and flesh on the bones. 

This is an opportune moment to remind ourselves that paragraphs need to be a minimum of three sentences; preferably five (Azariadis, 2011). This is so each paragraph develops argument; it leads the reader through a structured thought process to the end of each section. If my writing is still at the fragments stage, then I have not yet done enough. I need to do more reading in order to tie my argument together (Brabazon, 2024). 

When I want to begin again, I save as and add another number to the version. That way, when I suddenly find something new that changes my direction, I have the older writing to go back to - just in case I have gone down a blind alley. 

One last aspect to remember is that we are working on two concurrent processes: (a) secondary research; what other researchers say, and (b) primary research; what we want to find out ourselves. Secondary constantly informs primary. These two processes are like train tracks: there are always two parallel rails. Our job is to build the ties; to keep both ideas level, balanced, and equally strong. both will begin as ricketty, sketchy ideas, but will grow stronger, more elegant and reliable as we keep working at knowing our field and topic area. Both will feel difficult at times, but if we keep working at it, a little at a time, we will gain familiarity.

And our resulting project will be level, balanced and strong.


Sam

Reference:

Azariadis, M. (2011). Graduate Research School Seminar: Editing for Academic Writing. https://slideplayer.com/slide/4234375/

Brabazon, T. (2024, May 17). Outrider 55 - The Paragraph [video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/af_-RikKZmA

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