How I Do Research: Prof. Helen Bond (Gupta)

Last updated on: March 14, 2016 at 4:00 am by Nijay Gupta

How I Do Research: Prof. Helen Bond (Gupta) 2016-03-14T04:00:18-08:00 Nijay Gupta

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Helen Bond Reflects on Jesus We continue with our series: “How I Do Research.” I am very pleased to present to you the interview I conducted with Prof. Helen Bond of the Univ. of Edinburgh. Prof. Bond has numerous important books including Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation (SNTSMS, 1998), Caiaphas: Friend of Rome and Judge of Jesus? (2004), and she has written dozens of academic essays.

How do you approach research as a whole? Do you have a big-picture strategy? Do your research all at once, and then write? Do you do some sketching and reflecting on paper and then dig into research? Do you go back and forth?

I have a variety of approaches, depending on the project. If I’m asked to write a chapter on a specific topic (say for a collection of some kind), I’d probably do all my reading first, gradually outlining a plan in my head. Then, at some point (usually close to the deadline!), I’d write it all up within the given word length. I might still need to do some fine-tuning and checking of sources, but the writing would very much take priority.

If it’s a topic I’m working out for myself, I’ll handle things quite differently. One of the exciting things about research is that you don’t always know at the start what it is you want to find out, especially in a book-length project. I often start off with a hunch that there might be something worth investigating down a particular avenue, but I’m not always too clear on what it might be. Ideally, I’d spend my time in a combination of reading and writing. I always find that writing helps me to clarify my ideas, so even if a piece of prose doesn’t ever end up seeing the light of day, it’s still been a useful exercise. I like to do preliminary surveys of everything that might be relevant early on, just to see the lie of the land (I think of these as archaeological ‘trial trenches’). Then I start to put things together and hope that an overall argument starts to emerge. At some point I think it’s good to frame the topic as a question, or a series of inter-related questions; hopefully structuring a coherent answer to the questions will give the whole book a clear argument.

One of my present difficulties is that I get so little time for research. This means that I have to be much more diligent about writing things down and keeping notes – otherwise I forget all my best ideas. When I’m writing a chapter, I really do need a lengthy period of time without other distractions, so during term-time I just have to wait until we have a break from teaching. It can be frustrating sometimes, but I’ve found that if I try to write when all I can do is snatch an afternoon here and there, it’s really a waste of time.

What kind of notes do you take (ideas, quotes, etc.)? How do you organize them?

Well, I’m hoping I may get some good ideas from other people here. I think I take too many notes, especially at the start of a project. I’ll note down what the author is wanting to do, how s/he goes about it, and the conclusions. I’ll also commonly note down references to primary sources and secondary literature. I try not to take things down verbatim, though I do sometimes end up with lengthy quotations.

Nowadays I type up my notes and keep them on my laptop. As I noted above, my time is very limited, so I try to do some reading during semester and have everything ready so that I can read the typed-up notes as soon as I get some time to write. I find now that I type much faster than my handwriting, and having material electronically means I can search it easier. I still print everything out, though, and put the pages in a folder for the appropriate chapter.

What kind of tools do you use for researching and collecting information? (software? Do you store notes in Endnote? Dropbox? Evernote? Filing cabinet?)

None of the above! I still prefer to write with a pen and paper if possible. The advantage of the ‘pen method’ is that you only start to write once you have a fairly clear idea of what you want to say (who wants to write things out more than they have to?!). So it may seem archaic, but once I’ve got a bit of time, and my notes spread out in front of me, I like to make a plan and to see how it works as I start to write. At some point I’ll type it all up, print it out, and go through it again with a pen in my hand, swapping bits around, cutting out chunks, or noting where I need to add extra material. Then the process of reading, note-taking and eventually writing all starts again . . .

I like the writing stage. I’m an avid reader (especially of nineteenth century novels), and there’s nothing I like better than working my way through a paper, trying to beautify my prose. Style is as important to me as content – if you can’t communicate clearly, there’s not much point in setting things down in the first place.

What have you learned about doing research, collecting notes, and the process of writing throughout your career – put another way, if you could get into a time machine and go back twenty years (or ten years), what advice would you want to give to your younger self about the process of research and how you take notes and read scholarship?

I’m not sure that I really do anything all that differently now compared to when I was working on my PhD. If I could talk to the younger me, I’d make her realise that never again would she have so much time for research, and make sure that she didn’t fritter it away. One area where I have learnt a little (though not as much as I should) is in keeping bibliographic references. I’m always so keen to start reading a book and jotting down notes that I’m often very bad at recording the author, title, publisher etc. I try to discipline myself now, and to make sure that I get all those details in my bibliography before the book goes back to the library. But my old self was extremely bad at this. I would have pages of notes with only the author’s name on them, and little else to go on. My worst case was when I came back from spending a year in Tuebingen; I was working on a chapter on Roman coinage and had a page of notes entitled only ‘Blue Book’. I could remember the book well, even where it was in the library, but I had nothing else to go on. Luckily a friend managed to track it down for me! The wasted hours taught me to be at least a little better in the future.

Of course, if I really did have a time machine, I wouldn’t waste time visiting my old self – I’d be straight back to the first century to see what Jesus was really like . . .

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 12, 2016

Hays' "Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels" - coming soon! (Gupta)

Next Post

March 14, 2016 Interested in a Missional Reading of the Lord's Prayer? (Gupta)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category (Mis)Understanding Philippians 10 Things I Can't Live Without 2023 New Books 30 OT HB Scholars to Read and Follow 5 Books Series 50-2-Follow Academia Christian Theologians to Read and Follow Cruciform Scripture: Contributor Reflections Crux Sola TV Editors Behind Great Books in NT Studies Education Gendering the Holy Spirit Gupta FB Live Lectures In Faith and Doubt In Their Own Words Living the King Jesus Gospel My Top 6 OT Commentaries New Testament Resource Guide New Word Biblical Themes Nijay's A Very Library Christmas Shopping Guide Notes from an Editor Notes on New Books NTRG OT in the NT Paul Seminary Now The Bible in God's World The Word Felt Among Us SPENCER Translating Philippians Uncategorized Why I Use Accordance Women in Ministry

Select a Month March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 May 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz