Once you have narrowed down your reading list and are confident that you are looking at useful sources, you can read your remaining selected texts more analytically. Active reading – or interrogating the text – will help you stay engaged with what you are reading, and help you remember what you’ve read.

Below, are some questions adapted from Burns and Sinfield (2008), which will help you interrogate any social science text. They are divided into four main parts: ‘overview’, ‘arguments’, ‘evidence’ and ‘summary thoughts’, but you might want to focus on, for instance, ‘case studies’ or ‘philosophical underpinnings’. The main point is to use active processes to get the most out of each text.

Interrogating the Text: Burns-Sinfield Grid – download and complete the grid.