THEOLOGICALTHEOLOGICALTHESIS & RESEARCHTHESIS & RESEARCH
PREPARATIONPREPARATION
8 Oct. 2008
Tom Power
Foundational QuestionsFoundational Questions• What is your topic?
• Why does it interest you?
• From what disciplinary perspective will you approach it? (theological, pastoral, biblical, historical)
• What questions emerge as you reflect on the topic?
• Where would you begin searching for relevant sources?
StrategiesStrategies
• 1. The Question
• 2. The Method
• 3. The Sources
• 4. The Conversation
• 5. The Claim
1. The Question1. The Question• Good theological research begins
with an inquiry, a question, a topic of investigation
• “Faith seeking understanding” expressed in questions
• Anselm posed the question: “Why did God become man?” He answered it in his book, Cur Deus Homo
• Key Point: Begin with a carefully formulated research question
Question: ExampleQuestion: Example
• 1.Identify your topic: – Luther’s understanding of grace
• 2.Reformulate it as a question: – “Was Luther’s concept of grace a distinctly
‘Protestant’ doctrine?
• 3.Extend, refine, & clarify the question: – “…or was it inherent in the Augustinian
tradition that grounded his study of the New Testament”
• 4. Explain why the question interests you and why is might concern a wider theological audience
2. The Method2. The Method• Questions lead to methods• If you ask questions in a particular
way, then you are proceeding from a methodology or research perspective
• Range of methodologies: liberation, feminist, evangelical, exegetical, historical
• Methodology chosen will impact conclusions
• Key Point: Identify the methodology you will use
3. The Sources3. The Sources• Questions can only be answered by
engagement with texts: ad fontes• Familiarity with key theological &
biblical sources + specific ones relating to your topic
• Facility with library and online searching techniques: location, evaluation, use
• Requires familiarity with documentation, citation styles, avoidance of plagiarism, and bibliographic conventions
• Key Point: Become familiar with sources, their location, & use
Tools for Research
Tutorial
Bibliographic Format
4. The Conversation4. The Conversation• Research means entering into a
conversation involving you, the sources, other theologians, & the topic/question posed as the point of reference
• Conversation driven by: research question, methodology chosen, & sources identified
• Based on the research question posed, with whom do you want to have the conversation?
• Key Point: Think about your question, your methodology & your sources to determine your conversation partners
5. The Claim5. The Claim• Culmination: Research claim or hypothesis• Path from question formulation to research
claim declaration: sees you accessing sources & narrowing topic in tandem
• Difficult but critical stage: expanding bibliography & narrowing topic simultaneously
• Narrowing a natural/logical process by virtue of continuous questioning, refinement
• Survey literature (summarize in thesis statement)
• Identify gap & carve out your research claim• Key Point: Broad sifting of sources +
narrowing of topic leads to your hypothesis
ResourcesIn the preparation of this guide I have drawn on thefollowing sources:• Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Research
Papers, Theses, and Dissertations 7thed. (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007)
• Lucretia B. Yaghjian, Writing Theology Well: A Rhetoric for Theological and Biblical Writers (New York: Continuum, 2006)
• Barber, C. & R.M. Krauss, An Introduction to Theological Research: A Guide for College and Seminary Students (Lanham: University Press of America, 2000)
• D. Core, The Seminary Student Writes (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2000)