How to Develop Research Questions/Topics
Before you begin the search,
Think about
1) Which topic in this class are you interested in?
-- think about all the readings, anything you find it useful
2) What are the current scholarships on this topic?
-- from the topic, try some search on Summon, Google Scholar or OBIS to start with.
3) What are the arguments/thesis of these scholarship? Do they agree with each other or against each other?
4) Which side of the argument you agree or disagree? Do you have your own argument?
-- from what you have found, extend your search, using keyword generator; or Subject Heading search in OBIS, or particular database search for alternative keywords
Search Tips: how to use "AND" "OR" and "NOT";
| And | Or | Not |
| Each result contains all search terms. | Each result contains at least one search term. | Results do not contain the specified terms. |
| The search heart and lung finds items that contain both heart and lung. | The search heart or lung finds items that contain either heart or items that contain lung. | The search heart not lung finds items that contain heart but do not contain lung. |
What is a background source?
Background sources are written for a general audience and are intended to give an overview of a topic, fill gaps in the reader’s knowledge, and provide context for deeper understanding. Examples include Wikipedia, introductory textbooks, and reference works such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks.
When working on a new research topic, it is often helpful to begin with these three questions,
· What research question you want to answer in this paper?
· How to narrow down to specific topic?
· What are the available USEFUL resources for your topic?
Beginning with reading a basic overview of the subject is often a good start.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide such overviews to help you familiarize with relevant vocabulary and to provide useful suggestions for further readings.
Reference & Dictionaries
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions by ISBN: 9780192800947Publication Date: 2000-12-14Abridged from the acclaimed Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, this is the most comprehensive and up-to-date dictionary of religion available in paperback.
Sources of Indian Traditions by ISBN: 9780231510929Publication Date: 2014-04-08For more than fifty years, students and teachers have made the two-volume resource Sources of Indian Traditions their top pick for an accessible yet thorough introduction to Indian and South Asian civilizations. Volume 2 contains an essential selection of primary readings on the social, intellectual, and religious history of India from the decline of Mughal rule in the eighteenth century to today. It details the advent of the East India Company, British colonization, the struggle for liberation, the partition of 1947, and the creation of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and contemporary India.
A Dictionary of Hinduism by ISBN: 9780198610250Publication Date: 2009-03-25Covering all the major Hindu practices, festivals, beliefs, gods, sacred sites, languages, and religious texts, this is the most comprehensive Hinduism dictionary of its kind.
On Hinduism by ISBN: 9780199360079Publication Date: 2014-03-03This series of interconnected essays and lectures surveys the most critically important and hotly contested issues in Hinduism over 3,500 years, from the ancient time of the Vedas to the present day.The essays contemplate the nature of Hinduism; Hindu concepts of divinity; attitudes concerning gender, control, and desire; the question of reality and illusion; and the impermanent and the eternal in the two great Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Among the questions Donigerconsiders are: Are Hindus monotheists or polytheists? How can atheists be Hindu, and how can unrepentant Hindu sinners find salvation? Why have Hindus devoted so much attention to the psychology of addiction? What does the significance of dogs and cows tell us about Hinduism? How have Hindu conceptsof death, rebirth, and karma changed over the course of history? How and why does a pluralistic faith, remarkable for its intellectual tolerance, foster religious intolerance?
Religions of Asia in Practice by ISBN: 0691090602Publication Date: 2002-04-14The acclaimed volumes of Princeton Readings in Religions present the remarkable range of all that is encompassed in the practice of religions, across the centuries and across the world.
South Asian Religions by ISBN: 9780415448512Publication Date: 2013-01-11The religious landscape of South Asia is complex and fascinating. While existing literature tends tonbsp;focus on the majority religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, much less attention is given to Jainism, Sikhism, Islam or Christianity.nbsp; While not nelecting the majority traditions, thisnbsp;valuable resourcenbsp;also exploresnbsp;the important role which the minority traditions play in the religious life of the subcontinent, covering popular as well as elite expressions of religious faith.
- Digital Dictionaries of South AsiaSearchable dictionaries of South Asian languages.
