{"product_id":"where-research-begins-9780226801117","title":"Where Research Begins","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Mullaney and Rea have given us a little gem of a book, packed with smart, readable, compassionate guidance on the biggest question: how to start and what to do next. Read it, use it, read it again.\" -- William Germano, author of On Revision, Getting It Published, From Dissertation to Book, and (with Kit Nicholls) Syllabus \"This is a book we have all needed for a long time: a practical, helpful and reassuring guide for those facing the scary task of defining a research topic. With clarity, humor, and compassion, Mullaney and Rea  provide a step by step guide to figuring out what interests you, why, and how to tackle the problem you have defined. Where Research Begins will prove an invaluable addition to research-centered courses as well as a guide for individual readers seeking to define their intellectual agenda.\"    -- Sarah Maza, Northwestern University \"High-achieving students-those who undertake mentored or independent research, write undergraduate theses, apply for prestigious fellowships and awards, and complete graduate degrees-are often high achievers because they are good at following directions and pleasing others. But when does simply following the instructions result in transformative research? To be effective scholars, students need genuine curiosity and relevant research skills coupled with commitment to a problem. Compelling research becomes possible only once the problem in all its glorious complexities, implications, and associations has been identified.     In this engaging workbook, Mullaney and Rea guide their readers through a sequence of reflective exercises with the goal of defining a compelling and meaningful research problem. Equally valuable to students and to those who teach, advise, and mentor them, Where Research Begins isn't a book you read and then return to the shelf. Instead, it's a workbook that requires you to reflect and to document what you discover along the way. Engage with this book, and you will learn to assess your interests critically, differentiate between topics and questions wisely, understand sources dynamically, tap into networks productively, relate to your field astutely, and-ultimately-share your understandings of the process generously. We need more books of this sort: those that pull back the curtain on the intensely cerebral and iterative practice behind all research worth pursuing.\"    -- Steven E. Gump, Associate Director of Fellowship Advising, Princeton University\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e Self-Centered Research: A Manifesto\u003cbr\u003e Centered Research Is the Best Research\u003cbr\u003e How to Use This Book\u003cbr\u003e Introversion, First. Extroversion, Second.\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Write Here, Right Now\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part 1: Become a Self-Centered Researcher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1: Questions\u003cbr\u003e A Topic Is Not a Question\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Search Yourself\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Let Boredom Be Your Guide\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Go Small or Go Home\u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Start Building Your Research Network \u003cbr\u003e You Have Questions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2: What’s Your Problem?\u003cbr\u003e Don’t Jump to a Question (or You’ll Miss Your Problem)\u003cbr\u003e Stress-Testing Your Questions\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Run a Diagnostic Test on Your Questions\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Use Primary Sources to Educate Your Questions\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Make Your Assumptions Visible\u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Identify the Problem That Connects Your Questions\u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Get Leads on Primary Sources \u003cbr\u003e You Have a Problem (in a Good Way)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3: Designing a Project That Works \u003cbr\u003e Primary Sources and How to Use Them (or, Fifty Ways to Read a Cereal Box) \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Treat Your Primary Source Like a Cereal Box \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Envision Your Primary Sources \u003cbr\u003e Connecting the Dots: Getting from Sources to Arguments \u003cbr\u003e Sources Cannot Defend Themselves \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Connect the Dots Using Your Sources (in Pencil) \u003cbr\u003e Taking Stock of Your Research Resources \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Decision Matrix \u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Is Your Decision Matrix Complete? \u003cbr\u003e Two Types of Plan B \u003cbr\u003e Setting Up Shop \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Get Money for Nothing (Prepare a Formal Research Proposal) \u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Share Your Proposal with a Trusted Mentor (Who Understands How Preliminary This Is) \u003cbr\u003e You Have the Beginnings of a Project \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Part 2: Get Over Yourself \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4: How to Find Your Problem Collective \u003cbr\u003e Identify Researchers Who Share Your Problem \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Change One Variable \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Before and After \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Map Out Your Collective (Secondary Source Search) \u003cbr\u003e Rewriting for Your Collective \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Find and Replace All “Insider Language” \u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Does the Lay Version of My Proposal Make Sense? \u003cbr\u003e Welcome to Your Collective \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5: How to Navigate Your Field \u003cbr\u003e Find the Problems within Your Field \u003cbr\u003e Read Your Field for Their Problems: Reimagining the “Literature Review” \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Start Your Own “What’s Your Problem?” Bookstore (aka Organize Your Field into Problem Collectives) \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Change Their Variables \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Rewrite for Your Field \u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Find a Sounding Board in Your Field \u003cbr\u003e Welcome to Your Field \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6: How to Begin \u003cbr\u003e Don’t Worry. It’s All Writing. \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Create “Draft 0” \u003cbr\u003e See What You Mean: Writing Draft 1 \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Move from 0 to 1 \u003cbr\u003e Perfection Is Boring \u003cbr\u003e SOUNDING BOARD: Talk to Yourself \u003cbr\u003e Welcome to Self-Centered Research \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e What’s Next in Your Research Journey? \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Find a New Problem and Start a New Project \u003cbr\u003e TRY THIS NOW: Help Someone Else \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Acknowledgments \u003cbr\u003e Further Reading \u003cbr\u003e Index ","brand":"The University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732921954647,"sku":"9780226801117","price":72.2,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780226801117.jpg?v=1719998960","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/where-research-begins-9780226801117","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}