Hi All,

I started my PhD more than six months ago. And I can only conclude that I don't know how to do research. I don't have the feeling that I'm getting anywhere at all. I know that some people who do a PhD write there own research proposals. In my case it was a job that I got and the topic was already fixed.

But the topics are so general, and my supervisor asks me to do things in which there are tons of articles already written about the topic- with solutions. There are no original research ideas from my supervisor. He says try to repeat was has been done and this will lead to research questions.

How do I decide what research to 'repeat'. Repeating some research could take a year just trying to get permission to do it from an ethical committee or require a lot of money for equipment. etc

I'm finding it all really frustrating. There are no clear research questions. I'm being told that simply by being busy in the topic- questions should come. After 6 months I still have no idea.

Does anybody else have this? How can I find my way in all of this? Find order in all the chaos?

Thanks

There do seem to be two types of phD - one where you are given the topic and more or less told what to do and the other where you conceive the topic, justify the relevance, design and justify the methodology and so on.  I am doing the latter (self funded social science) and although at times I wish someone had given me the topic, in preparing my research proposal I started to get to grips with the aims of my research and methodologies that may (or may not) be appropriate. I already have and MA and an MSc but I feel as though I haven't done enough research methods training.  I know at times it can be tedious reading research philosophies, methodologies and so on but it is essential. How much research have you done before, what research training have you had, are you / have you been reading research methods texts.  If you have only done a first degree and have not been engaging with research methodology texts you will find it even harder. But it seems to be not entirely your fault - you need to speak to your supervisor.  Are there any other phD students in your department you can talk to?
Good luck

I'm doing a similar PhD - it was already decided what the studies were going to be. I was going to replicate another PhD, but with a different sample essentially. However, when I started I realised that there were so many other issues for this new sample and now the PhD has completely changed. There is 1 study that resembles the original, but even that is different.

I'd take a step back. Imagine explaining the area to your mum or someone who doesn't know anything about the field. Try to explain in terms of what's been done, what hasn't. Don't go thinking a PhD has to be groundbreaking research. In fact most PhDs are just baby steps.

What field are you in?

Hi Jackson,

Much depends on what field you're working in, but ultimately there are some general 'guidelines' or 'principles' which can be applied to any research area. As it has already been mentioned below by the others, research method books and guides can give valuable tips on how to do so. There are tons on books on Amazon, for instance. I didn't buy any until I was sure I had the right one. I found over 30 different 'How to Do a PhD' or 'How to Write a PhD Thesis' in the library. I then skimmed through them (some of them are related to specific fields - e.g. Social Sciences, Sciences, or Arts and Humanities, etc.) until I found relevant ones. It would really help you to look at some of these guides. It gave me a better idea of what a PhD is supposed to be all about, and what's expected. In addition, some guides have practical step-by-step exercises showing you how to write a proposal, come up with research questions, etc. I Google-searched websites that also offered good advice on how to write proposal and formulate research questions (i.e. the process of coming up with them).

With reference to what your supervisor has asked you to do, it would help if you just asked your self a few questions: 1. why is this topic interesting/important? 2. what are the general problems/challenges involved in this topic, and which has motivated tons of articles to be written about it offering solutions? 3. Can these solutions be divided into groups/types? 4. What are the pros and cons of each type/approach/solution (not each particular solution - because you said there were tons - but rather each school of thought, or each approach to this solution, and this may include a good few solutions offered by different thinkers, but which generally share the same approach to solving the problem)? 5. Finally, what do I make of these approaches/solutions to the given problem? Are they convincing? Do they solve the problem, but give rise to a host of other related problem? Do I find myself attached to one particular approach above others? If yes, what is it about this particular approach I find compelling? Does it have any shortcoming? Can I see a way of remedying this shortcoming by modifying, or adding on to the approach?

One way in which research questions could arise is out of someone's looking at a given problem from different angles, and trying to envisage different approaches, and then evaluating each. A little like calculating your moves during a game of chess before you decide on your final move. If you read a lot and not take the time to critically question and assess what you're reading, you'll feel bogged down by the sheer enormity of the number of solutions out there, and won't know where to begin, or what you could offer that hasn't been done already. This is normal. Take one morning out of reading, forget all about it, and get some blank paper out and let trust your mind - do spider diagrams, lists, anything that helps you unleash your minds creativity and go with it! You'll be surprised at what you find!

Hope this helps.

Best of luck!