Things to consider when researching:

• Explore the history of the problem before seeking to explain or solve it
• Book: Natalie Zeamon Davis. A passion for history: conversations with Denis Crouzet. Early Modern Studies (Kurksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2010)
• Do the sources provide evidence?
• Cherry pick examples
• Try to frame the question so that it truly puzzles you, so that way you’re ready to accept all appropriate evidence
• Types of Questions: Factual & Interpretive
  • Factual: providing factual information: dates, when treaties where signed, where things were stored, etc.
  • Interpretive: who, what, where and when. Why and how are also very important - they drive historical research!
• Research emphasizing contradictions should remember to determine whether people were aware of their own inconsistencies, or whether they lived in denial
• Research emphasizing competition: should acknowledge the question being argued against and its significance. Might use a phrase in the paper such as “may seem jarring to us”
• If an event has multiple causes, remember to point out the significant ones
• Subtle-type thesis: compares what people said to what they might have meant
  • Some works may seek to document many things rather than prioritize one.
  • This is kind of a tough approach, but it’s possible to find many good things that will allow for a carefully crafted thesis
• Central historical dialectic in theses: the comparison between the beginning and the end of an event
  • Dialectics (interpretive) create questions, not answers.
  • They allow you to shape your research early rather than commit too early to a thesis