Introduction

This is my second research methods course, but my first at the graduate level. I completed my undergraduate degree in History, and took a course entitled "This Practice and Philosophy of History." This course emphasized methodologies in research techniques and the writing of history. The research methods that I learned from this course helped me to complete original research papers in history. One such original research project was on the residential schools in Canada, which took me into the archives where I poured through documents and newspapers to extract information, and ultimately wrote a paper based on the completed research.

While I found the previously completed course on research methods to be very helpful in learning how to study, research, and write about history, I do not have a lot of experience conducting research in other fields of study. Additionally, in previous research I have always used qualitative research methods, and have not had the opportunity to use, as Luker discussed, both qualitative and quantitative methods together. I am hoping to expand my research methods knowledge and skills throughout this course.

I agree with Karey, in that when conducting research I like to go on a journey of "discovery" rather than "predication." I made the mistake early in my undergraduate experience of deciding on a topic and formulating my thesis right away, without even researching the topic. As I learned, it is important to research the topic first to see where the initial research leads. I have also learned that a research question and thesis can change throughout the research process, depending on where the research leads. I also like to ask myself, as Professor Grimes discussed in class, "so what" or "who cares" when I am thinking about a topic to research. There have been cases where I think I have a really good research topic and question, but then when I really think about it and ask "so what" I realize that it probably is not a worthwhile topic or question to pursue.