Rethinking Research

In Bruce Ballenger's "The Curious Researcher" he speaks to those of us whom have no interest in writing a research paper, or have no interest in changing the way we write. I have to admit that this is something I've struggled with for a while. I hate writing papers, and it's always been something that I've struggled with. Mostly because my high school really didn't make us write a lot. In Ballenger's book, he encourages us to look past the things that we're used to when writing, and take new steps. He challenges us to take time and effort to write our papers instead of just trying to write them and get them finished with as soon as possible.  He challenges us with the five week plan, and states that you have an easier time writing papers when you take time to brainstorm your ideas, develop them, and analyze them. The first thing you need to do is make an interest inventory. These are the first things I think about when provided with these words...


Places- Australia, Italy, Romania, Germany, Spain

People- Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Idina Menzel, Kirsten Chenoweth

Trends- Fashion, Technology, Healthy Foods, Working Out

Things- Computers, Clothing, Water-bottle, Dance shoes, Books, Skateboards, Televisions

Controversies- Same-Sex Marriage, Gun Control, Death Penalty, Feminism

History- Vietnam, Slavery, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Constitution

Jobs- Musician, Doctor, Pastor, Social Worker, Teacher, Counselor, Actors

Technology- Ipad, Ipad Mini, Iphone, Macbook, Ipod, Dell, Windows, Android Phones


After you're done making a list, you need to pick a topic for your essay. I'm going to choose Musical Theatre. After you chose your topic you want to develop questions and Ideas.

How do you properly pursue a job in musical theatre?

There are so many people going into some sort of music field, how do I know that I will actually make it in that field?

What qualifications do you need to be in a musical theatre job?

Do you need a degree in theatre? If not.. which is better? Degree? Or no degree?

What is Equity? How can it benefit an actor/actress in musical theatre?


These are great questions to ask! Once you know what questions to ask you can begin developing your research using sources that are educational and will give you the most information on your topic. As you start researching your topic you will learn more and more information about it. You also might start developing more questions as you research, which is good because then you will find even more information on your topic, and will be able to continue to develop your ideas.

So like Bruce Ballenger says: "Think through writing rather than before, letting the words on the page lead you to what you want to say." You need to think and develop your ideas first before anything else, and your research, and final paper at the end will most likely be better than the papers you have always dreaded writing.