The Highs and Lows of Research

When I started my PhD I expected that research would be mostly about finding a few key folders of documents in an archive collection, and then building up an argument around them. I guess you could call it a "smoking gun" view of history. My masters' dissertation worked in this way - tho I looked at quite a few different sources, by far the bulk of my argument came from two places.

Needless to say, the PhD hasn't worked out in quite the same way. Rather than finding a smoking gun, it feels more like I'm panning for gold. A couple of hours hunting through boxes of correspondence might turn up a handful of letters, none of which will become the centre-piece of an argument, but which rather will reinforce and nuance what I already have. It's frustrating, as it means that it feels like I'm not making real progress, even tho the pile of photocopying on my desk is increasing exponentially. Hopefully, tho, it'll all come together into something which makes sense.

On other news, I'm having serious computer problems as my laptop keeps crashing after being booted for 5-10 minutes. Fortunately one of my housemates is letting me use their computer for checking email etc, but it means that taking notes onto my laptop is going to be a no-no for a while. Looks like I'm going to be back to old-fashioned long-hand!