PhD
Research: Six Steps to Success
Monday
15th and Tuesday 16th December 2008
Holiday
Inn, Camden Lock, London
Report
Funded
by the AHRC and ESRC Religion and Society Programme for students undertaking
PhD research in the area of religion and society, this event proved
to be engaging and stimulating for postgraduates from a wide range
of disciplines and stages of research.
Professor
Kim Knott of the University of Leeds, Professor Linda Woodhead
of Lancaster University, and Professor Thomas Tweed of the
University of Texas were the guiding lights in how to successfully
undertake a PhD, alerting students to the potential pitfalls through
the 'Six Steps to Success'. These six steps took students on a journey
through the research process, from finessing the research question
to epistemology, through to reliability and validity. Students were
consistently engaging with the material and applying it to their own
experiences by interacting with peers through group work. The tips
gleaned from Kim, Linda and Tom were especially relevant as they took
the general principles of PhD research and applied them specifically
to researching religion. Gems included the way in which all stages
of research are interconnected, and to alter one element will change
things elsewhere, as well as being careful when mixing methods to
ensure epistemological compatibility.
Thomas
Tweed offered the keynote lecture, entitled 'Crossing and Dwelling:
A Diasporic Theory of Religion and its Uses in Studying Western European
Modernity'. This focused on transnational migrants, utilising
the example of Cuban migrants in Miami in order to demonstrate how
religion, nationalism and migration are interrelated, and how migrants
can often be seen as a challenge to secularisation theses. The material
presented proved to be extremely thought-provoking, evidenced by the
engaging questions raised by attendees, with discussion ensuing late
into the evening.
The event
offered a wonderful opportunity for postgraduate researchers of religion
to interact and to appreciate the breadth and depth of research currently
being engaged with in the field. The event thus proved to be a useful
networking opportunity, especially for those newly embarking upon
PhD research.
Many
thanks go to the organisers, Linda Woodhead and Kim Knott (not forgetting
Peta Ainsworth's excellent administrative support), for hosting this
exciting event.
Sarah-Jane Page
Postgraduate Liaison Officer
