THEOLOGICAL THESIS & RESEARCH PREPARATION

1. THEOLOGICALTHESIS & RESEARCHPREPARATION 8 Oct. 2008 Tom Power

2. Foundational 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?

3. Strategies • 1. The Question • 2. The Method • 3. The Sources • 4. The Conversation • 5. The Claim

4. 1. 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

5. Question: 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

6. 2. 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

7. 3. 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

8. Tools for Research Tutorial Bibliographic Format

9. 4. 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

10. 5. 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

11. Resources In the preparation of this guide I have drawn on the following 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)