All graduate school applications require some kind of research statement. This might come in the form of a Statement of Purpose (SOP) (with a section devoted to research), or it might come in the form of a Research Statement (which will be separate from a broader SOP or a series of other short essays). The research statement is about one thing: your amazing ideas and the hopes and plans you have in graduate school to pursue them. Many applicants find this part of the application daunting, for a number of reasons:

1. ideas are still evolving, and some worry that they’ll later be held to the ideas they stated in their applications.
2. Research ideas are still nascent, and they really have no idea what they’d like to research.
3. Research ideas are all in the applicant’s head, but when it comes time to put it on paper, they cannot seem to formulate them! 

If you’re trying to write a research statement, I will help walk you through the steps to prepare a successful statement while taking some of the anxiety out of the process.

Here are the three things that a great research statement does:

1. It illustrates to the admissions committee that you possess a depth of interest and knowledge in your field suitable for graduate study. You know the main scholars in the field and their work, and you are asking questions about your area of focus that reflect someone who is already a nascent expert. 
2. It demonstrates that you understand what goes into research. You understand the primary source material and the secondary scholarship. You have already encountered certain key methods for answering scholarly questions. You are able to situate your own questions and ideas for research within a larger web of current scholarship. 
3. It explains your relevant background in the field and proves you have a clear track record of experience and success in this area.

Four Questions to Help Identify Your Statement Focus

To narrow your interests into something that is concrete enough for you to be able to write about convincingly without being overly general, ask yourself these questions:

1. What are the broad research questions/issues that interest you? Create a summary of your interests that you can work with, and describe your interests in a sentence – or a paragraph, at most.  Example: Sociology, childhood, the way childhood is constructed in the US.
2. Within those broad areas of interest, what are some  more specific questions you have? If you’re not sure what the current questions/problems are in your field, now is the time to start catching up. Read recent journal publications, and go to conferences if you can. Reading the literature in your field will also give you a sense of how to frame your ideas in the language of your field. When reading, think about how the people working in your field (your future colleagues!) describe their research questions and how they approach solving or answering them. Example: Current trends in childhood studies analyze law and the way American jurisprudence plays a role in determining the scope and character of childhood. Special focus today is on the carceral system and way in which law adjudicates children’s crimes and children’s childhood itself. Leading scholars in the field include X, Y, and Z, and their writings, eg. XXX. They approach these questions in ABC way… (etc)
3. Have you done any research in the field already? If so, do you intend to build on your previous work in graduate school or go in a new direction? Explaining how your research experiences so far have shaped your plans for graduate school shows the admissions committee that you have thought carefully about what kind of research you want to do going forward and gives you a compelling reason to return to (or continue) your education. 
4. How will your research contribute to the field? Where are there lacunae in the field and how might you fill them? Example: Studies of childhood have focused on X but not sufficiently on Y. Using Z methodology, I want to apply the ideas of ABC to study this aspect of childhood sociology,

Understanding How to Present Your Goals

Once you have demonstrated your skills (and past experiences) in your field, you will be better equipped to define your next steps. 

Focusing your interests will also involve doing more detailed research about the programs to which you plan to apply. For example, consider the following questions:

• Who might be your research supervisor? 
• How do your interests relate to the work this scholar or these scholars are doing now?  
• How would you contribute to the department and to the discipline?

Your SOP needs to be direct, informative, and purposeful! Even with all the advice here, it can be so useful to talk out your ideas and get guidance on how best to communicate them with an admissions expert. When you choose Accepted, we match you with a dedicated advisor who will help you create a research statement that best reflects your experiences, goals, and intense desire to attend your target graduate school program. And did you know that Accepted’s clients have received millions of dollars in scholarship offers? Don’t delay – get started with a free consultation.