ABSTRACT
Academic inquiry (research) asks questions, explores, examines a topic (research question), and challenges assumptions. To do so, critical thinking, the ability to logically question, analyse, and synthesise information into a judgement or next step, is essential. Switching from deadline, service-orientated, fix-it-ASAP environments of part-time candidates to curiosity can be a stretch. This chapter uses the Scalable part-time Doctoral Framework to help candidates organise their thoughts and identify a suitable approach to complete the research phase of the doctorate. The chapter lays the groundwork for the section on thesis structure and Literature Review.
