North-West University,
Potchefstroom Campus
1st February, 2012
BRAIN BAG LUNCH
THINKING LIKE A RESEARCHER:
A TARGET FOR CANDIDATES AND A CHALLENGE FOR SUPERVISORS
Professor Emeritus Vernon Trafford
Anglia Ruskin University
Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1SQ
United Kingdom
vntrafford@aol.com // www.vernontrafford.com
When high levels of thinking about the
research process are evident in a thesis
they are recognized by examiners.
An examiner’s delight:
Very, very occasionally I have so enjoyed reading a thesis
as an examiner that I have read it again
wearing my other hat as a fellow academic.
Just to enjoy it once more was a bonus.
Professor Vernon Trafford
A CANDIDATE’S REFLECTION
Candidate A
I was a few months into my research, thinking a doctorate wasn’t all that hard after all
~ when I realised that I had missed the point.
I could not understand or explain what was happening in my research with the
conceptual tools that I had at my disposal.
I had then realised that the doctorate was not a big Masters dissertation!
My ability to conceptualise was clearly inadequate for my journey.
I then read extensively to build a foundation and framework of concepts that allowed
me to understand and, more importantly, to interpret facts.
Then I was OK, and could make real progress with my thesis.
Professor Vernon Trafford
CANDIDATES’ EXPERIENCES OF DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITIONS
Each new concept looked interesting and provided insights on my data. I felt like using
it to analyse my data, but a week later a different theory seemed just as promising.
I was conceptually lost.
I moved from not knowing what was expected of me at the doctoral level when I enrolled
to being confident and actually knowing what research was all about.
After grasping the nature of conceptualization (undertaking) the rest of my research
was almost a matter of mechanics.
By the time that I finished my doctorate I felt as if I really understood the tools of my
trade, and, moreover, I could select and use them confidently.
After my viva I suddenly realised that from now on my supervisor did not expect to be
involved with my research unless I specifically asked him for advice.
Professor Vernon Trafford
ASPIRATIONS BY SUPERVISORS OF CANDIDATES
I want to help them:
‘Understand the underlying purposes of research.’
‘Plan architectures for the research and the thesis.’
‘Produce text that reflects unquestioned scholarship.’
‘Audit the text for coherence, theoretical and methodological
consistency plus compliance with protocols.’
‘Defend their thesis with confidence in its scholarship.’
‘Claim that their research makes a modest, reasonable and
defensible contribution to professional knowledge.’
‘Know that their doctoral studies are a prelude to high-value
independent post-doctoral research.’
Professor Vernon Trafford
SUPERVISORS’ EXPERIENCES OF DEVELOPMENTAL TRANSITIONS
Each candidate arrives with different expectations of how I will help them
to gain their doctorate ~ some already appreciate what doctoral research
entails, but most do not.
I am not expert in the fields of every candidate who I supervise, but my
experience equips me to ask questions about research to make them think
academically.
I help them to put themselves in the mind of others who read their work
and so ensure that they cannot be faulted ~ they should think and behave
as mature researchers.
Making the transition from just doing research to understanding what
research is really all about becomes evident to me when the language that
candidates use becomes scholarly. They may not notice but I do!
Professor Vernon Trafford
THESES ARE EXPECTED TO CONTAIN EVIDENCE OF . . . .
Originality and
contribution to
knowledge
Post-doctoral
capability
Episteme
Critical
thinking
THE THESIS
Explicit
scholarship
Understanding
research
Confident use
of the lexicon
Use of
conceptualisation
Professor Vernon Trafford
CANDIDATES WHO THINK LIKE RESEARCHERS
Recognise and understand
the complexity, simplicity,
scope and limitations
of doctoral-level research
Understand that schools
of thought represent
options for thought with
overlapping implications
DISPLAYING
EPISTEME
Develop, express and
defend arguments in
writing and speech with
clarity and confidence
Are aware of, alert to,
and able to use conceptual
links between issues in
appropriate ways
Professor Vernon Trafford
THINKING LIKE, OR EXHIBITING, A . . . . .
EPISTEME ~ thinking like a researcher within systems
of ideas or ways of understanding that experienced
researchers can instantly recognise.
This pluralist concept is evident when candidates display
doctorateness in their approach to research, presentation
of their thesis and during its defence that includes
explanation and conceptual grasp.
Exhibiting episteme is dependent upon possessing
understanding of something and having the capability
to apply that understanding in appropriate ways.
Source: Perkins, 2006
Professor Vernon Trafford
WHEN CANDIDATES ‘THINK LIKE A RESEARCHER’
EPISTEME
UNDERSTANDING THE EXPECTATIONS
OF OTHERS REGARDING THE CONDUCT OF
RESEARCH AT THIS ‘LEVEL’ OF SCHOLARSHIP
CONFIDENT
CHOICE,
AND USE OF,
RESEARCH
APPROACHES BY
MAKING EXPLICIT
THE LINKAGES
UNDERTAKING AND REPORTING
ON RESEARCH SO THAT OTHERS
INSTANTLY RECOGNISE, AND ACCEPT,
ITS SCHOLARLY MERIT
BETWEEN KEY
COMPONENTS IN
THE RESEARCH
PROCESS
Professor Vernon Trafford
EVIDENCE OF EPISTEME IN DOCTORAL RESEARCH
DEMONSTRATING
Formative assessment
• Debate/defence of research
• Constant auditing of thesis
Understanding research
as an integrated process of
scholarship, informed strategies,
decisions and the appropriate
use of techniques.
DEFENDING
Findings, originality, decisions,
scholarship and the research process
in academic discourse, plus displaying
the potential to undertake
unsupervised post-doctoral research.
ACQUIRING
Knowledge of, and capabilities in,
undertaking ‘high quality’ research
plus appreciating how it is a process
of combing originality, choice,
meaning-making and scholarship.
Summative assessments
• Final audit of the thesis
• The viva
Professor Vernon Trafford
MAKING THINKING VISIBLE
By producing draft and finished text, taking part in group discussions,
making poster presentations, presenting at in-house workshops
and conferences, submitting journal articles candidates are:
Developing ideas or text for discussion
Presenting initial ideas or text for informal discussion
Contributing to discussions of ideas or text for others
Defending own ideas at formal events
Becoming thoughtful researchers
Supervisors can then monitor and advise for improvement . . .
Candidates can then explain, defend, learn to improve it . . .
Source: Adapted from Ritchhart and Perkins, 2008
LEVELS OF THINKING IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Candidates’
Paradigms
understanding of, and
ability to explain, these
links are justifying WHY
their research is
coherent.
Research
approach
Examiners usually want
to know more about
WHY and HOW than
WHAT or WHO issues.
Methodology
Supervisors normally
What are
the links ?
How and
where
are they
described
in theses?
Methods
Instruments
devote more time to
developing candidates’
critical thinking than
to exploring the
straightforward
methodologies of
doing research.
Professor Vernon Trafford
ROUTES OF PROGRESS TO EPISTEME
Gradual learner
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Regulatory
presumptions
Late developer
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Professor Vernon Trafford
EVIDENCE OF EPISTEME IN PRACTICE
In the thesis
Influence of Supervisors’ guidance
Evidence of Candidates’ scholarship
AND
Potential for Examiners’ understanding
of the text
In doctoral defences
Motives behind Examiners’ questions
about the text and to the candidate
AND
Depth of Candidates’ understanding
and capacity for scholarly responses
Professor Vernon Trafford
THE LONG VIEW OF PREPARING FOR THE VIVA
ASSUMPTION or ACTIVITY
IMPLIED CONCLUSION
Candidates use examiners’ assessment
criteria to guide them as they undertake
and draft their research.
Understanding and addressing these
criteria IS preparing for the viva.
The quality of the thesis determines
the outcome of the viva.
Producing a thesis that will pass
IS preparing for the viva.
Supervision, through constantly
asking (Socratic) questions, is both
challenging and developmental.
Defending and engaging
academically IS preparing for the viva.
Critical re-reading of the text
strengthens and refines arguments and
improves the presentation.
Auditing clarity of meaning throughout
the text IS preparing for the viva.
Constructive reviews reinforce
understanding and show potential
for research synergy and cohesion.
Achieving understanding of research as
a total process IS preparing for
the viva.
From: Trafford and Leshem, 2008: 11-32, 192
Professor Vernon Trafford
DEVELOPING RESEARCHER CAPABILITIES
PROTOCOLS
Respecting academic conventions and courtesies
Using conferences for presenting ideas, networking and extending CVs
Understanding the regulatory frameworks in which research is undertaken
Anticipating the social, interpersonal and scholarly dynamics of the doctoral viva
DOCTORAL EDUCATION
Recognising and resolving threshold concepts
Academic structuring, writing and referencing
Demonstrating doctorateness throughout research
Appreciation of originality and scholarship in research
Making scholarly thinking explicit and coherent throughout the text of the thesis
Developing capabilities in critical approaches and defending an academic stance
RESEARCH PROCESS
Planning, scheduling, producing and auditing
Familiarity with appropriate schools of thought about research
Developing skills in the choice and application of research techniques
Appreciating research as a coherent integration of different components
Professor Vernon Trafford
IMPLICATIONS FOR SUPERVISORS
Very few candidates present accounts of doctoral research that is either poorly designed or
inappropriately conducted.
Thus, this suggests that they have understood the fundamentals of undertaking research.
Examiners are particularly concerned to know how candidates have conceptualised their
research and have demonstrated their scholarship.
Thus, the questions ask candidates to explain / justify their research reasoning and choices.
Evidence shows that the priority / strategy of supervisors to raise a candidate’s
level of conceptual thinking may clash with most candidates’ preference to
discuss their topic, issues of content, chosen methodology or fieldwork.
Thus, enabling candidates to think like researchers
is a behavioural rather than a technical supervisory tactic.
Professor Vernon Trafford
STEPPING STONES TO DEVELOPING EPISTEME FOR CANDIDATES
WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY
Auditing their own work
Reading and thinking and writing
Presenting at Dept:/Faculty workshops
Explaining/justifying all research decisions
Critiquing the work of others ~ for discussion
Participating in research communities of practice
Engaging in mature scholarly discussions with supervisor(s)
EXTERNAL TO THE UNIVERSITY
Submitting articles for publication
Networking in discipline/subject areas
Informed correspondence with experts
Joint writing with supervisors and/or peers
Participating/attending/reporting on, workshops
Participating in research communities of practice
Presenting research-in-action posters at academic events
Professor Vernon Trafford
SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL INTERCONNECTEDNESS
Undertaking technical processes effectively
depends as much on possessing the ‘how’
technical skills as understanding the ‘why’
aspects of the entire process.
Source: Adapted from Emery and Trist, 1960
Professor Vernon Trafford
SO SIMPLE AND YET SO COMPLEX
There is nothing so practical
as a good theory.
Source: Lewin, 1952:169
Professor Vernon Trafford
THE BEGINNING OR THE END?
When Vaughan Chopping gained his doctorate
at Chelmsford, on Monday, 2nd February, 2004,
the final question at his viva was:
‘What have you learned from your doctoral studies?’
Vaughan’s answer was
‘I now appreciate the role and value of good theory.’
Professor Vernon Trafford
SOURCES
Emery, F.E. and Trist, E.L. 1960. Socio-technical systems. In: West Churchman, C. and Cerhulst , M. (Eds)
Management sciences: models and techniques. New York: Pergamon. Volume 2.
Honey, P. and Mumford A. 1982. A manual of learning styles.
Maidenhead: Peter Honey Publications.
Land, R., Meyer, J.H.F. and Smith, J. (Eds) 2008. Threshold concepts within the disciplines.
Rotterdam: Sense Publications.
Leshem, S. and Trafford, V.N. 2007. Overlooking the conceptual framework.
Innovations in Teaching and Education International. 44. 1. 93 -105.
Meyer, J.H.F and Land, R. (Eds) 2006. Overcoming barriers to student understanding:
threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. London: Routledge.
Perkins, D. 2003. New horizons for learning. www.newhorizons.org Accessed 26.03.10
Perkins, D. 2006. Constructivism and troublesome knowledge.
In: Land, R. and Meyer, J.H.F. (Eds.) Overcoming barriers to student understanding: threshold
concepts and troublesome knowledge. London: Routledge.
Ritchhart, R. and Perkins, D. 2008. Making thinking visible. Educational leadership. 65.5.57-61.
Trafford, V.N. and Leshem, S. 2002. Anatomy of a doctoral viva.
Journal of Graduate Education. 3. 2. 33 - 40.
Trafford, V.N. Conceptual frameworks as a threshold concept in doctorateness.
In: Land, R., Meyer, J.H.F. and Smith, J. (Eds) 2006. Threshold concepts within the disciplines.
Rotterdam: Sense publications.
Trafford, V.N and Leshem. S. 2008. Stepping stones to achieving your doctorate.
Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Professor Vernon Trafford