I have learnt basic research method when I was in my undergraduate. A few years later I was kind of exempted from taking another similar course when I did my MDIV. In my MTh, when everyone expected that I was a mature and experienced researcher, or at least not a novice one, nobody asked me to do it. It was a shame that I then never really had a good grasp of how to do research. Beginning my research in PhD, the first year was too occupied with how to find a good topic. It was in fact a good time to really look into these books which showed one the “hows”, but being too anxious of what topic what focus I should gear myself into and of the first year review board, I skipped this crucial part. I went back to a couple of these books in my second year. Now I have finished my third and is starting to do revision, I found that my writing style, my line of argument, my English sentence structure all look awful, which I always knew about, but thought that I would do it as soon as my draft had been ready.
Surely, there are so many areas that I need to work on. Nevertheless, I am quite happy that I can now make some efforts “to plough the field”.
One reason also lies in our cultural linguistic background, the influence of which should be underestimated. Chinese language reflects our cultural heritage, which has a tendency for correlation, association, and synchronic way of thinking and perception. It is normal to see many things cramped into one sentence,which looks quite natural and sometime even beautiful and rich to a reader. For example, one says, “寒風孤城，抬首望去，卻是婉如春日小橋上採青回來的閏秀。” This kind of sentence(s), if transferred into English, causes problems of clarity and dangling clauses. It is very common to spot not only in essays written by Chinese educated students but also those who are primarily English educated by somehow still inherit Chinese mentality.
Anyway, to improve research writing which is not so dominated by Western education system, there are some books that could help, for examples:
Dunleavy, Patrick, Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation. (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
Greetham, Bryan, How to Write Better Essays. Palgrave study guides, 2nd ed edn (Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2008).
Mabbett, I.W., Writing History Essays: A Student’s Guide. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).
Turabian, K. L., A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. n.e of 7r.e edn (Chicago University Press, 2007).
Turley, Richard Marggraf, Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities. (New York: Routledge, 2000).
