Bad Ideas-Rashed Saikat

1. What’s wrong with starting research with a thesis statement? When is it okay to start with one?
2. How comfortable are you with the possibility of never finding “answers” to your research?
3. How do you do research? What tools and tips do you have/use?

1.The problem with starting a research with a thesis statement is it’s used to verify our existing ideas or thesis. We  assume we need to know the answers to our problems or questions before the research process gets underway, we don’t get to consult and evaluate what others have said. It leads to a one sided idea instead of getting different ideas and consultation into the research. A potential harm of the thesis first of research that the attendant assumption that the research process is linear.  In a typical thesis statement question is posed and answer is generated. It often misleads the research because research is something that involves many diversions, bumps, and missteps. Thesis can also change over time as research develops. Author Vinetta Bell suggests that the thesis writing process begins during the “preliminary research” stage. A genuine inquiry that often leads to new ideas, thoughts, and important choices tends to begin with questions, unsolved issues rather than with the thesis statements or predetermined answers .

2. I do feel uncomfortable when it comes to the possibility of never finding answers to my research. Because when I do a research I always look at different areas of my research such as what i’m trying to look for, where i’m going to find my sources, and how i’m going to execute my research plan etc. Without finding the answer it’s not possible to complete a research.

3. The way I do my research is I try to find the key sources of my research, I take notes, and I try to brainstorm. I also tend to identify possible sources of information in many types of formats which is very effective when it comes to research and also refine the search strategy as necessary. Whenever I take important notes I like to keep them in a separate folder so I can keep track of all my research items. One of the most effective and important tool that I use for research is different websites, google, research related studies, and sometimes books if the information isn’t available online. The era we are living in information can be found in one click which reduces the hassle of going to a library and looking for books. So I mainly use online sources to do my research.