Where research begins : choosing a research project that matters to you (and the world) / Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea.

By:

Mullaney, Thomas S. (Thomas Shawn) [author]

Contributor(s):

Rea, Christopher G [author]

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Chicago guides to writing, editing, and publishingPublisher: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2022Description: 210 pages; 22 cmISBN:

9780226817446
9780226801117

Subject(s):

Research

DDC classification:

001.4 MUL

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	Moylish Library Main Collection	001.4 MUL (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Checked out	11/09/2023	39002100609982

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Plenty of books tell you how to do research. This book helps you figure out WHAT to research in the first place, and why it matters.

The hardest part of research isn't answering a question. It's knowing what to do before you know what your question is . Where Research Begins tackles the two challenges every researcher faces with every new project: How do I find a compelling problem to investigate--one that truly matters to me, deeply and personally? How do I then design my research project so that the results will matter to anyone else?

This book will help you start your new research project the right way for you with a series of simple yet ingenious exercises. Written in a conversational style and packed with real-world examples, this easy-to-follow workbook offers an engaging guide to finding research inspiration within yourself, and in the broader world of ideas.

Read this book if you (or your students):

have difficulty choosing a research topic know your topic, but are unsure how to turn it into a research project feel intimidated by or unqualified to do research worry that you're asking the wrong questions about your research topic have plenty of good ideas, but aren't sure which one to commit to feel like your research topic was imposed by someone else want to learn new ways to think about how to do research.

Under the expert guidance of award-winning researchers Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea, you will find yourself on the path to a compelling and meaningful research project, one that matters to you--and the world.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

Introduction (p. 1)
Self-Centered Research: A Manifesto (p. 4)
Centered Research Is the Best Research (p. 6)
How to Use This Book (p. 8)
Introversion, First. Extroversion, Second. (p. 13)
Try This Now: Write Here, Right Now (p. 14)
Part 1 Become a Self-Centered Researcher (p. 17)
Chapter 1 Questions (p. 19)
A Topic Is Not a Question (p. 19)
Try This Now: Search Yourself 27
Try This Now: Let Boredom Be Your Guide 33
Try This Now: Go Small or Go Home (p. 36)
Sounding Board: Start Building Your Research Network (p. 40)
You Have Questions (p. 41)
Chapter 3 What's Your Problem? (p. 43)
Don't Jump to a Question (or You'll Miss Your Problem) (p. 44)
Stress-Testing Your Questions (p. 46)
Try This Now: Run a Diagnostic Test on Your Questions (p. 47)
Try This Now: Use Primary Sources to Educate Your Questions (p. 51)
Try This Now: Make Your Assumptions Visible (p. 59)
Try This Now: Identify the Problem That Connects Your Questions (p. 64)
Sounding Board: Get Leads on Primary Sources (p. 65)
You Have a Problem (in a Good Way) (p. 66)
Chapter 3 Designing a Project That Works (p. 67)
Primary Sources and How to Use Them (or, Fifty Ways to Read a Cereal Box) (p. 67)
Try This Now: Treat Your Primary Source Like a Cereal Box (p. 75)
Try This Now: Envision Your Primary Sources (p. 78)
Connecting the Dots: Getting from Sources to Arguments (p. 82)
Sources Cannot Defend Themselves (p. 87)
Try This Now: Connect the Dots Using Your Sources (in Pencil) (p. 92)
Taking Stock of Your Research Resources (p. 94)
Try This Now: Decision Matrix (p. 97)
Sounding Board: Is Your Decision Matrix Complete? (p. 99)
Two Types of Plan B (p. 99)
Scenario 1: Same Problem, Different Case (p. 100)
Scenario 2: Same Topic, Different Project (p. 102)
Setting Up Shop (p. 104)
Try This Now: Get Money for Nothing (Prepare a Formal Research Proposal) (p. 108)
Sounding Board: Share Your Proposal with a Trusted Mentor (Who Understands How Preliminary This Is) (p. 114)
You Have the Beginnings of a Project (p. 115)
Part 2 Get Over Yourself (p. 117)
Chapter 4 How to Find Your Problem Collective (p. 121)
Identify Researchers Who Share Your Problem (p. 121)
Try This Now: Change One Variable (p. 125)
Try This Now: Before and After (p. 133)
Try This Now: Map Out Your Collective (Secondary Source Search) (p. 138)
Rewriting for Your Collective (p. 142)
Try This Now: Find and Replace All "Insider Language" (p. 146)
Sounding Board: Does the Lay Version of My Proposal Make Sense? (p. 149)
Welcome to Your Collective (p. 150)
Chapter 5 How to Navigate Your Field (p. 152)
Find the Problems within Your Field (p. 154)
Read Your Field for Their Problems: Reimagining the "Literature Review" (p. 156)
Try This Now: Start Your Own "What's Your Problem?" Bookstore (aka Organize Your Field into Problem Collectives) (p. 159)
Try This Now: Change Their Variables (p. 164)
Try This Now: Rewrite for Your Field (p. 169)
Sounding Board: Find a Sounding Board in Your Field (p. 173)
Welcome to Your Field (p. 174)
Chapter 6 How to Begin (p. 175)
Don't Worry. It's All Writing (p. 176)
Try This Now: Create "Draft 0" (p. 180)
See What You Mean: Writing Draft 1 (p. 183)
Try This Now: Move from 0 to 1 (p. 185)
Perfection Is Boring (p. 189)
Sounding Board: Talk to Yourself (p. 191)
Welcome to Self-Centered Research (p. 192)
What's Next in Your Research Journey? (p. 193)
Try This Now: Find a New Problem and Start a New Project (p. 194)
Try This Now: Help Someone Else (p. 196)
Acknowledgments (p. 201)
Further Reading (p. 203)
Index (p. 205)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Thomas S. Mullaney is professor of history at Stanford University and a Guggenheim fellow. His books include The Chinese Typewriter: A History and Your Computer Is on Fire.
Christopher Rea is professor of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia. His books include Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 and The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China.