Category Archives: gap-spotting

the problem with gap talk

Posted on July 5, 2021 by pat thomson

Gap talk. You know, the “this research fills a gap in the literature” line. Most of us have made this statement at some point in our academic life. It’s the most common starter for journal papers, proposals and theses, according … Continue reading →

Posted in gap-spotting, research warrant, thesis warrant, warrant | Tagged academic writing, CARS, gap, gap talk, Pat Thomson, research warrant, warrant | 6 Comments

addressing ‘the gap’ in the field

Posted on March 11, 2019 by pat thomson

One of the conventions of academic life is the work of justification. To justify. To say why we are going to do what we are going to do. We regularly have to justify why we want to research something and … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, deficit positioning, gap-spotting, next step, research warrant, stance, thesis warrant, warrant, what if | Tagged gap-spotting, next step, Pat Thomson, warrant, what if | 8 Comments

a different approach to research questions: a useful holiday read

Posted on December 30, 2013 by pat thomson

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 →