Reflections on Research Strategies

Research for me usually starts with a question. This key guiding question usually leads to other smaller questions about what I need to know in order to answer this question properly. Usually I decide on a topic based on some knowledge I already have plus a curiosity about another aspect of the problem. Most common research questions start with a how or a why. Why was this the outcome? How did this happen? Gathering information starts with building on former scholarship. We learn from the great minds of the past in order to explore new areas.

Usually, I start with several secondary scholarly sources and their references lead me to other sources. It’s basically like detective work where you follow leads until they end somewhere or the deadline is up.

Before a publication goes public it is usually reviewed by other scholars and editors, as well friends who are just interested in the topic. In a nutshell, any published product, even though if it is single-authored, goes through a refining process so that one could say it is he result of a communal effort.