Research as Conversation, Community, and Formation

Research as Conversation

Have you ever experienced the awkward feeling of sharing dinner with acquaintances when, all of a sudden, the conversation turns to a topic that you know absolutely nothing about? Your mind starts racing, “Oh no! I’m going to sound like an idiot” or “How can I change the subject without them really noticing?” This situation is similar to the beginning of the research process—when one often feels ignorant, unaware, and unable to contribute anything of value. That is actually a fine place to start because good research is about understanding, listening to, entering into, participating in, and contributing to an academic conversation (that may have been going on for centuries).

But how does one begin to understand a scholarly conversation, enter it, and become an active participant in that conversation? While we could say much here, a few practical steps will go a long way.

1. Spend time with tertiary sources.

First, to understand and enter the academic conversation, you need to spend time with tertiary sources. Tertiary sources are materials that introduce and summarize academic conversations. Dictionaries and encyclopedias are the best examples of tertiary sources. For example, if you want to understand and enter the conversation around W. H. Auden’s poetry, you should probably start with the article on W. H. Auden in the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature. If you want to contribute to research on cognitive behavioral therapy from a Christian perspective, crack open the Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology and Counseling. To understand and enter the conversation, start your research with the tertiary sources.

2. Carefully and critically engage secondary sources.

Second, to become an active participant in the conversation, you need to move from the tertiary sources to a careful and critical engagement with secondary sources (e.g., books, journal articles, academic monographs, dissertations). By immersing yourself in the secondary literature, you can form your own opinions on the topic in conversation with experts who have spent years thinking about the same topic. You might start with a relatively short book on the topic you are studying (e.g., 40 Questions on the Historical Jesus). You would then proceed to more advanced resources such as N. T. Wright’s Christian Origins and the Question of God series or John Dominic Crossan’s The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (to compare different views). Finally, you would consult peer-reviewed academic journal articles and Ph.D. dissertations on the historical Jesus. As you engage all these resources, you are shaping your own perspective in conversation with these scholars. Moreover, you are ready to contribute your own perspective and, perhaps (!), original contribution to the discussion!

Much more could be said here, but this is one way to understand, enter, and participate in an academic dialogue.

Research as Communal

Since conducting research is accepting the invitation to be an active participant in an ongoing conversation, research presents an opportunity to grow, be shaped, and be included. When doing research in community, you have the chance both to refine your ideas and questions and to receive encouragement as you bounce ideas off others. This process can help you to find your own voice in the ongoing conversation. It also helps you to know that you are not alone in trying to find your place in an intimidating context.

Additionally, research provides the researcher the ability to engage in the lived experience of others. You have the author putting their ideas out there to be engaged with, those who have engaged with that author in their writing, and even the newest student sitting at the table starting the research process for the first time and seeing the world of the topic opening up before them. Research provides the opportunity to learn, grow, come along side, and encourage, and it also provides experienced researchers the opportunity to mentor new researchers. Research is a key foundation for academic community that should bring people together to engage in the ongoing conversation.

Research as Spiritual Formation

Research is not simply the quest for knowledge but rather the pursuit of wisdom. Research is difficult. It takes time and effort to enter the conversation on a particular topic. At the same time, it is humanizing—it recognizes that we do not know everything and provides us opportunities to understand God’s good creation. It also should drive us to recognize the humanity of others and to represent them and their ideas well. If the person that you are interacting with either in print or in person would not recognize your presentation of their idea or viewpoint, then you are not just doing them a disservice, you are misrepresenting them for your own gain.

Research can and should be an act of worship, a time when we are able to use our minds to glorify our God who gave us that ability. We must do it to the best of our ability as we lay it out at the feet of our Creator. By doing research in community and viewing it as a chance for spiritual formation, we should see it as an opportunity to love our neighbors. It is an opportunity to demonstrate to those whose work we interact with that we will treat them and their work the way we would like to be treated. We should represent it correctly and interact with it critically regardless of our agreement or disagreement.

Conclusion

Doing research well teaches you how to communicate effectively because you are sitting at the feet of those who have attempted to communicate their ideas. You are learning how to enter an ongoing conversation, to arrive at a position, and interact with others. We end this piece with a word of encouragement: be curious, follow the threads, and engage others charitably.