Research as a form of procrastination

There is definitely such a thing as working on a research project for too long without producing a dissertation or a publication. I argue that "doing research" beyond a certain point is a form of procrastination. Although we all strive to be rigorous with our scholarship, and to be exhaustive in our handling of primary and secondary sources, at one point we have to write this up as an academic article. Not just begin writing but actually finish something, so that it can be read, used, and assessed by others. So that it begins a dialogue with the field you work in, so that others can react to your results and then you can react to them. This video discusses when research is used as a form of procrastination, trying to postpone the uncomfortable experience of writing. Instead, researchers read more papers, wait for books to arrive, and go to conferences. They do anything that creates the illusion of research without doing what would be for them at that stage the most important task. I have had a similar experience and sometimes I still do this on a smaller scale. But I also talk to graduate students who are struggling with writing and many of them can relate to this issue.

[@f.h.s.999]

This is a helpful way to think about research and writing, thanks!

[@TheChineseAlphabet]

Thanks for watching!