As an undergraduate, you learn how to construct an argument and provide evidence to support your points. As a graduate student, you learn how to do professional-level research that includes an original argument to advance scholarship in the field. Understanding the research process can help you become successful in constructing a strong argument that succeeds at this goal.
Start with a Question
Researchers at both Iowa State University and the University of Florida say that research begins with a question. Start with a topic that you are interested in learning more about, and come up with some questions that you need to answer. This is the brainstorming stage of your research, so don't limit your choices. The bolder or more outrageous your proposed topics, the more potential they are likely to have. Graduate-level research must be original, so the more unique the proposition, the better your chances that no one has explored the hypothesis.
Review the Literature
Good research involves reading a lot of books, articles, and other scholarship. A thorough literature review not only helps you to understand the current state of research in your field, but also helps you to position your thesis within the current body of research. Rice University says that the most common mistake researchers make is to lose sight of purpose during the literature review, making it too broad. The review should focus only on the relevant area of research, but it should be comprehensive. Rice University also recommends showing how your own research fits within the existing scholarship, helping to move your field of study forward.
Conduct Field Research
In addition to reading thoroughly about your research topic, you may also need to conduct field research, or action research. Northwestern State University of Louisiana says that field study allows researchers to study a problem through scientific methodology -- such as a lab experiment or a survey -- and it provides opportunities to reflect and assess in order to shape the research as new information is discovered. Therefore, as results come in, you may learn your hypothesis is flawed or needs to take on a new focus.
Refine the Research Topic
As you conduct your research -- whether it be through a review of the literature or field study -- you should learn as much as you can about your topic and refine your original hypothesis as a result. If a research topic started as a question, now is the time to take the answers discovered through research and turn them into a hypothesis. If research started with a hypothesis, the information gathered may show that the hypothesis was too broad or narrow, made incorrect assumptions, or was flawed in some other way -- all leading to a need to change the hypothesis. Refining the research topic can ensure that an original argument is put forward that advances current scholarship.
- Rice University: Writing a Research Paper for a Graduate Seminar in Political Science
- University of Florida: Guidelines for Writing a Thesis or Dissertation
- Iowa State University: Research Primer for New Graduate Students
- Northwestern State University of Louisiana: General Guidelines for Theses, Field Studies, Creative Research or Research Papers-in-lieu-of-Thesis
- Capella University: The Writing Process
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis: Beginning the Master’s Thesis Research Process
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