A Self-Learning Session (45 minutes)
STEP 1: What’s Wrong with Gaps? (10 minutes)
READ these common gap formulations:
- “Little research exists on…”
- “This area remains unexplored…”
- “No studies have examined…”
TASK 1A: Write down your immediate reaction as a reader to these phrases. Do they make you want to read more? Why/why not?
TASK 1B: Look at this full gap introduction: “While scholars have extensively studied Turkish immigration to Germany, there is a gap in research about food culture’s role in integration. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how döner kebab shops have shaped urban spaces.”
Answer:
- What’s missing from this formulation?
- Why should readers care about this gap?
- What happens if this gap remains unfilled?
STEP 2: Understanding the Power of Errors (10 minutes)
READ these error formulations:
- “Current frameworks fail to explain…”
- “Traditional approaches overlook crucial factors…”
- “Existing theories cannot account for…”
TASK 2A: Compare your reaction as a reader to these phrases versus the gap phrases. What’s different?
TASK 2B: Look at this error introduction: “The widely accepted framework that equates visibility with integration has obscured a more troubling phenomenon: how seemingly positive acknowledgments of Turkish food culture actually reinforce patterns of exclusion. This oversight has significant consequences for how we understand immigrant integration in urban spaces.”
Identify:
- What’s wrong with current understanding?
- Why does it matter?
- Who needs this problem solved?
STEP 3: From Gaps to Errors (15 minutes)
TASK 3A: Transform these gap statements into error statements:
Example: GAP: “No research has examined how smaller diaspora communities navigate memorial politics in Berlin.” ERROR: “Current theories of memorial culture, focused on major ethnic groups, fail to explain how smaller diaspora communities successfully achieve recognition, limiting our understanding of memorial politics.”
Now try these:
- “There is a gap in research about museum curation of Middle Eastern artifacts.”
- “Little attention has been paid to how Turkish immigrants shape urban spaces.”
- “The role of food in cultural integration remains unexplored.”
TASK 3B: For each transformation, ask:
- What assumptions in current knowledge are you challenging?
- What consequences follow from this error?
- Why do readers need this resolved?
STEP 4: Applying to Your Work (10 minutes)
TASK 4A: Write your current research problem as a gap statement.
TASK 4B: Transform it into an error statement by asking:
- What does current understanding get wrong?
- What can’t current approaches explain?
- What assumptions need challenging?
- What costs come from this error?
TASK 4C: Compare both versions:
- Which creates more urgency?
- Which shows clearer value?
- Which makes stronger claims?
Final Check
Your error formulation should:
- Challenge existing understanding
- Show clear consequences
- Matter to specific readers
- Demand resolution
Homework
Revise your paper’s introduction to:
- Identify a specific error in current understanding
- Show why this error matters to your readers
- Preview how your work addresses this error
OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Victoria Mummelthei (9. Dezember 2024). Writing, The Perils of Gaps and the Power of Errors. Keine Disziplin – No Discipline. Abgerufen am 27. März 2025 von https://doi.org/10.58079/13jsf