Research Methods Selecting a Topic I. Introduction A. The key to genuine research is a good question. (Badke, 4) B. General goals of a research paper (adapted from Turabian, 12): 1. Ask a question worth answering. 2. Find an answer that you can support with good reasons. 3. Find reliable evidence to support your answer. 4. Draft a report that makes a good case for your answer. 5. Revise the draft until readers think you met your first four goals. C. If you are not clear about what you are trying to find out, you will waste research time and your writing will wander without aim. D. Four interrelated aspects of the topic (4 ways of looking at the topic): 1. topic: the area you will write about 2. major question: what you want to find out with the research 3. purpose statement: a 1 sentence summary of what you want to accomplish with the research. This consists of: a. the topic b. the question c. why the question matters 4. thesis statement or claim: a 1 or 2 sentence summary what you prove in the report. This answers you major question. E. The process of refining your topic as you do research 1. Do a preliminary survey of the literature in the basic topic area you want to study. 2. As you do preliminary research on the subject, make a list of unanswered questions. 3. Select a major question that your research will answer. State this as a purpose statement. 4. As you research the answer to this question, develop a working hypothesis, which will be tested against further data. State this in the form of a thesis statement. 5. Continue your research until you have enough evidence to support your thesis statement and, in the case of a dissertation, until you have covered the literature exhaustively. 6. You are now ready to write! II. Selecting a topic. A. Characteristics of a good topic 1. Something that there could be disagreement about or more than one viewpoint. E.g. the impact of sin in the kings of Israel is too trivial, since it can be answered with a single reading of the book of Kings. 2. Narrow enough that you can treat it adequately in the time and space you have available. B. Special topic requirements for a thesis or dissertation 1. Must be original contribution to scholarship. a. Either: (1) A new solution to an old question (2) New insights or information about an old question (3) New questions b. A Master s thesis does not have to be a major contribution, but it cannot simply summarize what has been done. It still must say something new. Copyright 20012 Dr. Harry A. Hahne
Research: Selecting a Topic Page 2 c. E.g. the impact of the sin of the kings of Israel could become a thesis if you had new insights into the history of the kings or the processes of divine judgment or the mercy of God or fresh archaeological evidence into the idolatry of Ahab and Jezebel, etc. 2. Should be very narrow, so you can cover the topic comprehensively. a. You become the world s expert on that small area of knowledge. b. Example: (1) quite broad: Paul s theology of election (2) better: Individual election in Paul s letters (3) more focused: Is election in Romans 9-11 corporate or individual? C. Purpose statement: You should be able to describe the purpose of your project in a sentence (Turabian, 6-7) 1. Three parts to a purpose sentence: 1. I am working on the topic of X, 2. because I want to find out Y, 3. so that I can help others understand Z. 2. This combines 3 things: a. The topic b. The major question c. Why the question matters 3. Example: 1. I am working on the theology of Second Temple Jewish apocalypses and comparing this to Romans 8:19-22, 2. because I want to find out whether Rom. 8:19-22 has a theological outlook similar to Jewish apocalypses, 3. so that I can help others understand the relationship between Paul s thought and early Jewish apocalyptic thought and thus better understand the theological relationship between early Christianity and early Judaism. 4. The sooner you determine this project purpose, the more focused your research will be. It will guide the sources you read and the notes you take and it will keep you focused when you write. 5. You will probably refine your purpose statement as you continue research. 6. A purpose statement for a thesis or dissertation tends to be one very long sentence. D. To find a good topic, you must read widely in your general subject area. 1. Become up to date on the major monographs and journal articles in your field. 2. Read summaries of the history of research. a. These describe the views of the major players and show how one person s ideas led to the ideas of others. b. They give you a sense of the ongoing scholarly discussion which you are going to join. c. Some examples: (1) Ben Witherington, The Jesus Quest, discusses the history of research on the historical Jesus. (2) What are They Saying... series by Paulist Press, summarizes the issues and major voices in current research. Some examples: (a) Donald Senior. What Are They Saying About Matthew? New York: Paulist, 1996. (b) Gowler, David B. What Are They Saying About the Parables? New York: Paulist, 2000. (c) Veronica Koperski. What Are They Saying About Paul and the Law? New York: Paulist, 2001. 3. Read book reviews in scholarly journals to keep up with the hot issues of debate, new perspectives, and scholarly response to new perspectives.
Research: Selecting a Topic Page 3 4. Browse topics of other dissertations in your field. a. This shows you what has been done already. b. It shows types of topics that are suitable for a dissertation c. It shows areas that are missing in the research. d. When you have an area narrowed down, skim related dissertations. e. Abstracts are available through Dissertation Abstracts online on First Search. 5. Lurk on scholarly discussion forums on the Internet and blogs to see what people are debating. E. Some questions to help select a topic: 1. What subject areas are you interested in? You may be able to find a subcategory to research. 2. What are issues of current debate in journals? 3. What are unanswered questions that others raise? 4. What are the holes in current research literature? (issues that people leave unanswered or assume) a. E.g. My dissertation filled 2 holes in research: (1) commentaries typically say that Rom 8:19-22 is apocalyptic in outlook and influenced by Jewish apocalypses. Yet no one really defines what makes it apocalyptic, even though the genre is not an apocalypse. My dissertation explored the Jewish apocalyptic perspective on nature and tests whether Rom 8:19-22 fits this perspective. (2) There are no major works on nature in Second Temple Judaism. So my dissertation filled that gap for apocalypses. 5. Is there a question for which you have a different solution than has been proposed? 6. Is there a good answer to a question that could be explored more deeply or applied to a different text (e.g. someone proposed a solution in the undisputed Pauline letters and the same topic could be explored in Colossians, Ephesians or the Pastoral Epistles) III. The major question A. The question defines what you are looking for in your research. 1. It is more focused than the general topic. 2. Constantly keep this question in mind as you do your research, looking for data to help answer the question. B. Example: Does Rom. 8:19-22 have a theological outlook similar to Second Temple Jewish apocalypses? C. Three kinds of questions researchers ask 1. conceptual: what should we think (main type in academic research in the humanities) 2. practical: what should we do? (common outside academic world; typical of DMIn projects, not PhD and ThM) 3. applied: what must we understand before we know what to do? a. bridges the gap between conceptual and practical a step toward solution to a practical problem b. DMin asks this in the research section of their project report 4. For a ThM or PhD in biblical studies or theology, your thesis or dissertation must focus on conceptual questions. There may be applied implications, but you should not develop these. D. Characteristics of a good question 1. There must be more than one plausible answer. a. Not simply factual questions that can be answered from an encyclopedia. b. Test the question by proposing 2-3 working answers. You can t assume your answer is right unless you can prove others are wrong. c. Example: (1) basic factual: what were the beliefs of Sadducees? (2) better: what sociological factors influenced the development of the theology of the Sadducees? 2. It must be focused and narrow. This lets you dig more deeply into it and answer it thoroughly. a. You are responsible to read all scholarly literature on your topic.
Research: Selecting a Topic Page 4 b. example: (1) quite broad: What is Paul s theology of election? (2) more focused: Is election in Romans 9-11 corporate or individual? (3) even more focused: What is the function of the Jacob and Esau story in Paul s theology of election? c. example: (1) too broad: What did Second Temple Jews believe about the Messiah [too much literature and too many theological positions for a dissertation] (2) more focused (only choose one): (a) What was the messianic theology of the Qumran community? (b) What are the similarities and differences between the beliefs of the Pharisees and Sadducees concerning the Messiah? (c) How did Hellenism influence Jewish messianic beliefs in the 2 nd century BC? d. example: (1) broad: What is the messianic theology of the OT? (2) Focused: What is the messianic theology of Isaiah? (3) More focused: What was the sociological impact of the messianic theology of Isaiah on Hellenistic Jews of the 2 nd century B.C.? 3. It should be relevant and have useful implications The answer should be worth knowing! a. Readers will ask so what? b. This is why the purpose statement has part 3: so that I can help others understand... c. Thre may not be immediately practical applications. But the conceptual background may be useful for future practitioners. d. Example: My project on Jewish apocalyptic and Rom. 8:19-22 has implications for the influence of Jewish theology on early Christianity, the origin of Paul s theology and debates about the relationship between Jewish apocalypticism and Paul s theology. IV. The thesis statement A. A thesis statement ( claim in Turabian) is 1-3 sentences that summarizes the claim that you will prove. 1. Must be specific, clear, unambiguous, focused. 2. A thesis in this sense is what you are going to prove in the report. 3. The thesis statement is your answer to your major question. B. Characteristics of a good thesis statement (adapted from Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services, http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/thesis_statement.shtml) 1. Concerns a subject about which reasonable people could disagree. 2. Can be adequately treated within the limitations of time and space for the project. 3. Expresses one main idea. 4. Asserts your position on the subject. 5. Specific. C. When you begin your research, your thesis statement is your working hypothesis, which you will test. 1. It will be refined as you do more study until you have the thesis statement that will guide your writing. 2. This does not need to bias your thinking or mean you cannot change your answer with further data. D. Example: my dissertation on Rom. 8 19-22 1. Title: The Corruption and Redemption of Creation: Romans 8:19-22 in Light of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature 2. Thesis statement: Paul s perspective of the natural world in Rom. 8.19-22 is similar to that strand of Jewish apocalyptic thought that believes that the fall of Adam damaged the natural world and that looks forward to God s eschatological transformation of creation, by which the damage caused by sin will be removed and creation will be perfected and glorified.
Research: Selecting a Topic Page 5 V. Workshop: In small groups, discuss one of these sample topics and seek to improve them. Narrow the topic down and create a major question suitable for a thesis or dissertation. Form a thesis statement with a specific answer to this question. A. Justification by faith in Paul B. The Exodus story in Old Testament interpretation