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A research plan?
Why not
just start
twiddling
on my phone?

Research planning? "Who needs a plan?" some might say. Why not just barge in, fire up the computer or phone, and start fiddling? Something interesting on the subject is bound to turn up, right? Well, for the curious mind, stumbling across random tidbits of history is fun and often sparks deeper interest. But once a casual curiosity becomes a focused historical or genealogical inquiry, the project will benefit from a research plan.

In case anyone needs to be convinced about the value of having a plan, consider this timeless wisdom from Yogi Berra: "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else."

Research Methodology
& Evidence Analysis

No Ph.D.? No problem!
As long-buried sources become available via the internet, more folks without a Ph.D. are jumping into the research bouncy-house of under-explored history --- yet often with no foundation of method.

To the rescue comes Variety Arts Press with The Micro Historian's Guide to Research, Evidence, & Conclusions: Step-by-Step Research Planning & Execution by historian and museum professional R.W. Bacon. Published in 2018, this book cogently explains how to make and carry out a research plan, evaluate evidence, formulate conclusions, and craft a summary narrative. Re-published in 2020 for global and e-book distribution by Rowman & Littlefield, the book is now in use at more than 50 colleges worldwide. (Above is one of more than a dozen charts and forms in the book that bring clarity to the research process.)

Below are publications in this category currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.

Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.


The Micro-Historian's Guide
to Research, Evidence,
& Conclusions:
Step-by-Step
Research Planning & Execution
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 112 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-4-7
LOC: 2018905458

$16.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


Chauncey Richmond
& "The Old Buckbee":
The Story of a Banjo,
its Maker, and Its Player
(Three studies in
musical micro-history)
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-3-0
LOC: 2018905457

$22.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.