If you’re planning to do a PhD—or already neck-deep in one—you’ve probably been told that reading is everything. Fair. But nobody really tells you how to read, what to read, or how not to lose your will to live midway through your third paper on “Identifying Adolescent Depression and Anxiety through Real-World Data and Social Determinants of Health”
Start by finding out what research is trending in your state or country. Then see which of them touches your heart. Remember, you need to pick a topic that will sustain your interest even when the going gets tough. If the current trend is research on the well-being of street dogs, and you hate street animals, then it is possible that midway through your research, you might just want to shoot every one of those dogs!!
Once you finalise the area of work, you can read more about it to get more clarity.
So here’s a better breakdown of how to read with purpose before you even lock down your PhD topic. This will save you from the heartbreak of realising—six months in—that your chosen topic has already been researched to death, by someone in your own department.
Gaining Clarity on Your Concepts
Before you get swept up in your “passion project,” you need to know what exactly you’re studying. And no, “something to do with sustainability” isn’t good enough.
Is your variable attitude? Behavior? Awareness? Mental health or well-being? Have the definitions of school adjustment changed over the years? Development education? Definition of socio-economic status? I had a student Aditya once used a survey tool that declared anyone with a television set was ‘high income.’ I had to gently remind him it wasn’t 1987.
You’re not just collecting nice-sounding words—you’re investigating real differences between similar terms. “Is ‘disposition’ just a fancy way to say attitude?” No, it is not.
Read widely. Read deeply. Read definitions. Then read debates on those definitions. If you cannot explain the concepts to your 68-year-old aunty then you don’t know it much yourself and you’re going to spend the next three years writing in circles. And nobody wants to supervise that.
Understanding Relationships Between Variables
No, not that type of relationship. Although, even those might need some re-thinking during your PhD. But here, we mean the logical, researchy kind—like how one variable affects another, and whether your brain has the energy to care.
Let’s say you want to study sustainable behaviour among student-teachers (a popular area). Great. But what influences that behaviour? Is it awareness? Peer discussions? Exposure to climate horror documentaries? Parental guilt? A traumatic encounter with a turtle choking on plastic? Giving up materialist needs and becoming a monk?
Reading widely will help you understand the relationships between your variables and their relationship with other factors. Doing this will help you in clarifying what exactly your research problem is.
Appreciating Different Perspectives
This is where you zoom out a bit.
Say your research is on inclusiveness in schools. Lovely. Noble. But how do teachers define inclusion? What do students think? How about the parents of children who are differently-abled? And parents of normal – as if such a thing exists – children? Or administrators trying to balance budgets and classroom sizes?
Reading across perspectives is how you avoid writing a 300-page thesis titled Inclusion in Schools that somehow forgets to include… other people’s views.
Researching a topic is like joining a conversation. Don’t be that person who shows up halfway through and starts lecturing without listening first.
Knowing the Larger Picture
The final piece is figuring out where your research fits in the grand scheme of things. If you’re studying something like inclusive education, sustainable behaviour, or mental health, you need to understand where your study fits in the larger scheme of things. You need to know what the lawmakers, policymakers, funders, and international agencies are saying about it. You’re not writing in a vacuum.
What are your government’s education policies on this topic? Are there national programs related to it? Are you swimming with the tide or paddling against policy currents?
Knowing where your research fits in the big picture helps your thesis matter. It helps you build a case, not just chase a curiosity.
Final Thoughts
PhD-level reading isn’t just about absorbing facts. It’s about building arguments, spotting gaps, connecting dots, and understanding the messy, layered world your research lives in.
So yes, read broadly. You don’t need to read everything ever written on your topic—unless your topic is something like ‘how not to sleep for 3 years straight.’ But read wisely.
Because once your research begins, your brain will be very full, your coffee will be very strong, and your patience will be very gone. And the only thing standing strong with you and guiding you will be this early clarity you built… by reading smart.
Now breathe. And read something worthwhile.
Want help figuring out what to read, why you’re reading it, and when to stop doom-scrolling research papers?
This post gave you a glimpse of what purposeful reading looks like. But if you want personal guidance on selecting your topic, refining your variables, and knowing when to stop researching and start writing, I’d love to support you. I work 1-on-1 with committed PhD students ready to move forward with clarity and confidence. Let’s talk and find out.
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