Category Archives: research methods

route recalculation – starting the phd

Posted on August 29, 2022 by pat thomson

Expectations are a funny thing. Particularly when it comes to the doctorate. On the one hand you want to anticipate the smoothest and most interesting route through the PhD. But focusing only on the dream doctorate can leave you shocked … Continue reading →

Posted in doctoral research, emotional research, research agenda, research as process, research design, research methods, research plan | Tagged Pat Thomson, research, research plan, research recalculation | 1 Comment

what is an audit trail and why do you need one?

Posted on March 21, 2022 by pat thomson

The term audit trail is shorthand. i use it to describe “evidential” material that you provide for a reader. I am a bit suspicious of the overuse of the word evidence, and I prefer “audit” because it describes what actually … Continue reading →

Posted in audit trail, data analysis, methods, methods chapter, research methods | Tagged audit trail, data analysis, methods, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, reader, trustworthy research | Leave a comment

learning from live pandemic research

Posted on June 8, 2020 by pat thomson

I haven’t taught research methods for a year or so. But right now I do wish I still was. I’m not asking for additional workload. Not at all. It’s just that there is so much potential for learning in the … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, epistemology, mess, methodology, methods, ontology, pandemic, research methods | Tagged knowledge-making, live research methods, ologies, pandemic, sciences | 5 Comments

research as creative practice

Posted on March 9, 2020 by pat thomson

Health warning – this is a tiny rant about one of my pet peeves, research “training”. It also draws on my own research in creativity and education. My starting point – Research is a creative process. The connection between research … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, courses, creativity, doctoral education, doctoral pedagogies, doctoral research, methods, research methods, research training | Tagged creativity, doctoral researchers, Pat Thomson, research nethods, training | 12 Comments

a festive gift from patter – a checklist for revising methods chapters

Posted on December 23, 2019 by pat thomson

PhDers sometimes find writing the thesis methods chapter a pretty tedious business. But the methods chapter is a key part of the examination process – it shows that the researcher knows how to research. You see, examiners make their decision … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, data, data analysis, methodology, methods, methods chapter, research methods, revision, revision strategy, thesis revision | Tagged data analysis, methodology, methods chapter, revision, revision strategy | 5 Comments

tiny texts – small is powerful

Posted on February 11, 2019 by pat thomson

I work a lot with tiny texts. Abstracts. Storyboards. Story threads. Lines of argument. Tiny texts are my academic writing tool of choice. If I had to abandon all the other writing strategies I have in my repertoire, this is … Continue reading →

Posted in abstracts, academic writing, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Tiny Text | Tagged abstratc, argument, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, thesis, Tiny Text | 8 Comments

#readingforwriting: being specific in qualitative research

Posted on July 10, 2017 by pat thomson

Every now and then patter offers a close-up of research writing. This near-sighted exercise is intended to illustrate how ‘reading for the writing’ can be helpful. This particular ‘reading for writing’ post looks at writing qualitative methods in a journal … Continue reading →

Posted in research methods, research plan, research project, research question, vagueness | Tagged be specific, Pat Thomson, reading for writing, research methods | Leave a comment

making the familiar strange – two book recommendations

Posted on June 29, 2017 by pat thomson

Today, as this post publishes, I’m giving a talk to postgraduate researchers. One of the things I will talk about is why it’s important for all researchers to practice seeing things differently. We already have ways of describing this imperative … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity, defamiliarisation, reflexivity, research methods, the familiar | Tagged creativity, defamiliarisation, Keri Smith, Lynda Barry, Pat Thomson, research methods | 9 Comments

three things examiners look for in methods chapters

Posted on June 26, 2017 by pat thomson

Once upon a time, when I worked in schools, early childhood teachers routinely issued young children with a ‘pen license’. A pen license was much sought after as it meant that a child could ‘advance’ to using a pen instead of … Continue reading →

Posted in data, data analysis, examiner, methods, methods chapter, research methods, thesis, Uncategorized | Tagged examiner, methods chapter, Pat Thomson, research | 7 Comments

an ethnographer and photographer walk into a bar – creative photography and research

Posted on June 30, 2016 by pat thomson

This is a guest post from Shawn Sobers. Shawn is Associate Professor of Lens Media, and teaches in the Photography BA programme, and MA Research Practice at University of the West of England, Bristol. He is a filmmaker, photographer and researcher. His … Continue reading →