In a few months, I have my Ph.D. interviews coming up and I need to pick up a research topic for my thesis. I've been scratching my head for the past few weeks and tried to narrow down the scope of research, but still feel like choosing the topic is a monumental task.
While I've been suggested to choose a topic of my interest, the basics of coming up with a good topic is something which none of the seniors I've gone for guidance really talks about. Issues like identifying gaps in existing scholarship and also identifying historical problems for research have never been mentioned by any of them.
Given that my area of specialization is early modern India, the number of sources I've been acquainted with are also limited, which further aggravates the problem, as I first need to read the resources before identifying what kind of history can be written from them.
Can the historians of reddit give me some tips on how to narrow down the scope of research ?
P.s.: English is my second language, so sorry for bad grammar.
I first need to read the resources before identifying what kind of history can be written from them.
Not necessarily.
I assume you're speaking about primary sources here? If so, there are two major points to be made. First, reading secondary sources (scholarship) should give you an idea as to available primary sources, including what types they are. (Legal records, travel narratives, reports from European missionaries, royal court ledgers, &c).
Second, coming up with new ways to interpret well-known sources is an excellent way to come up with an original argument. I'm a medievalist--finding new ways to use the same old sources is pretty fundamental to our field. ;)
As to the topic itself:
The people you've sought guidance from are right when they stress picking a topic you're interested in. You are also right in realizing that finding something original by identifying a hole in the scholarship is essential. The remaining point is to identify how that happens/the order in which it happens.
To come across avenues for research in general, and places where there is a specific opening, you are going to need to read secondary scholarship. There's no way you can acquire all the knowledge of everything written about early modern India. So you need to start by at least narrowing down your general interests.
Cultural? Economic? Within culture, are you interested in religion? What about interaction with non-Indian cultures? Women's history? Sexuality?
Once you've got something a little narrowed down ("economic" or "political" is probably not narrow enough), look for the most recent scholarship that you can. Read a few of these. Some books and articles will have a section at the beginning--a literature review or historiography, that will go over the major points of scholarship in the field and its current status.
This will give you an idea of specific areas for your own research. You don't want to copy completely anyone's list of potential sources, but, it might point you in the general direction. Once you've got a general topic, read a few books/articles on it while taking careful notice of what sources--or at least, what types of sources--they use.
You don't have to have your exact argument figured out when you apply. Chances are it would change while you did research, anyway. Right now, you're just narrowing stuff down, not outlining your thesis.
I hope this helps at least a little!