Search Results for: questions approach

a questions approach to the literature review

Posted on November 28, 2013 by

There are various ways to approach literature reviewing. The most common is to start by scoping the field. (See the post on Inger and my blogging paper for an example of what scoping looks like.) Once you’ve scoped, you then … Continue reading →

Posted in literature review, literature themes, questions | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

a different approach to research questions: a useful holiday read

Posted on December 30, 2013 by

We don’t talk enough about research questions. Well, that’s according to the authors of a book I’ve just read. They are Mats Alvesson and Jorgen Sandberg, and the book is Constructing research questions: Doing interesting research (Sage 2013). Alvesson and … Continue reading →

Posted in gap-spotting, problematisation, questions, research question | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

paper not working? try the “what’s the problem?” approach

Posted on January 16, 2017 by

Ever find yourself with a draft of a journal article that you’re just not happy with? Can’t put your finger on what’s wrong? Well you’re not alone. The being-disgruntled-with-a-paper-but-unsure-of-the-reason syndrome is the most common problem I see in writing workshops. Unhappy … Continue reading →

Posted in introduction, journal article, what's the problem | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

thinking about research questions

Posted on September 8, 2014 by

I’ve been asked a few times to post about research questions. My response up to now has been that there is already a lot out there on the topic and I’m not sure what I could add. But of course … Continue reading →

Posted in research, research design, research question | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

getting research questions wrong – then right

Posted on October 3, 2013 by

It’s the time of year when beginning doctoral researchers start to think about formulating their research proposals. In addition to reading a lot – to locate their study and find useful ideas and approaches – they also have to come … Continue reading →

Posted in Paul Trowler, PhD, research question | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

what do research questions want?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by

Understanding what research questions want can be helpful. Different kinds of questions produce different kinds of knowledge contributions and often imply particular kinds of methods. Descriptive questions aim to provide some qualitative or quantitative information about something – they want … Continue reading →

Posted in research methods | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

a Foucauldian approach to discourse analysis

Posted on July 10, 2011 by

A Foucauldian notion of discourse (1) holds that: discourse is a culturally constructed representation of reality, not an exact copy discourse constructs knowledge and thus governs, through the production of categories of knowledge and assemblages of texts, what it is possible to talk … Continue reading →

Posted in discourse, research methods | 33 Comments

starting the PhD – finding the literatures you need

Posted on November 30, 2015 by

There is no one way to find the literatures that you need to read. There are many different strategies to use. One that I find helpful is based around the questions that are generated from the topic that you are … Continue reading →

Posted in literature review, literature reviews, questions | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

working with literatures #phdknowhow

Posted on August 21, 2015 by

It’s the time of year when many doctoral researchers are either just starting their PhDs, or starting to write their texts. Here are some things to remember when approaching the task of working with literatures. Rather than literature work being … Continue reading →

Posted in laundry, list, literature mapping, literature review, literature themes, PhD | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

planning v creativity in academic writing

Posted on January 9, 2014 by

Now a lot of people know that I’m an advocate of planning your writing. I’m not a great fan of just writing and just writing and then editing and just writing again and editing some more. I know people do … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, creativity, literature review, planning, planning a paper | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments