Academic Research Booklet

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Methodology Your methodology appears as a paragraph in the introductions and should highlight specific sources – in particular those which were most useful and why. It should mention further sources utilised and why i.e., to explore an avenue further or answer a particular question that arose. You should also be able to articulate why the research question you chose is ‘worthy of investigation’ – what was the point of your research and why did the question need exploring? Example methodology Essay question: To what extent did Empress Cixi contribute to the modernisation of China in the period 1861 to 1908? “The methodology used to answer this question was to begin by comparing the seminal biography by Jung Chang with various personal accounts by people who knew her such as Princess Der Ling whose diary was investigated in order to understand the extent of her efforts to modernise China and the possible political pressure placed on her. However, due to difficulty in finding these sources, modern secondary sources that utilised primary material helped provide perspectives of historians on Cixi’s role in China. This question is worthy of investigation as Mao Zedong has often been given the credit as the figurehead that led China’s modernisation due to the common historical misogyny. Empress Cixi’s achievements have often gone unrecognised but this investigation reveals it was Cixi who laid the foundation and embarked on China’s modernisation.”