Contributors:
Aissatou “Aysha” Gueye, DNP, MSN, RN, APN-BC,
PhD Student, Connell School of Nursing,
Boston College
Katie Kidwell,
Nursing & Health Sciences Liaison Librarian,
Boston College

Introduction: A Conversation About Seeds and Soil

This reflection emerged from a conversation between Aysha Gueye, an early PhD student, and Katie Kidwell, Nursing & Health Sciences Liaison Librarian at the O’Neill Library at Boston College.
During one of their regular research meetings, the discussion moved beyond databases and search strategies to something deeper: the early stages of developing a research question.

Voice of Aysha Gueye: The Seed

Early in doctoral education, the most pressing questions we encounter are: What is your topic? What is your research question?

At first, I believed my research direction was already clear. My prior DNP work had sparked an interest I thought would naturally extend into my PhD research. Yet as I began engaging with deeper intellectual inquiry, scholarly conversations, and advanced reading, something unexpected happened: the path widened.

New ideas appeared.
New questions surfaced.
And with them came uncertainty.

However, in the midst of that uncertainty, a small idea eventually began to emerge. It was not a fully developed research topic. It was not yet a fully formed research question.

It was more like a seed.
A seed of a research question.

Like many early research ideas, it was fragile and incomplete. But it carried the potential for something meaningful. The challenge was learning how to nurture it rather than rushing it into premature conclusions.

That is when an important insight emerged: planting the seed of a research question requires more than inspiration.

It requires soil.

Voice of Katie Kidwell: The Soil

While every research question has latent potential, whether that seed germinates depends on the soil of nursing context and theory.

Not every seed thrives in every soil (a lesson I learned the hard way after putting a succulent in potting soil). Your theoretical framework must be compatible with your question. Theory points to what is possible, while context determines what can reasonably take root. In the right balance, they provide nutrients and stability.

Once the seed is carefully planted, it’s tempting to expect immediate results. But research development, like plant growth, isn’t instantaneous nor linear. You have to sit in the uncertainty for a while, allowing time to observe, adjust, and nurture the delicate sprout.

Voice of Aysha Gueye: Learning to Sit with Uncertainty

One of the most difficult lessons in early doctoral education is learning that uncertainty is not a problem to eliminate quickly.

In fact, uncertainty is often the space where ideas grow.

Many early PhD students feel pressure to quickly identify a research question, as if clarity should appear immediately. Yet meaningful research questions rarely emerge fully formed. They evolve gradually through reading, reflection, dialogue, and intellectual exploration.

This process can feel uncomfortable. It may involve visiting many different intellectual “landscapes”—different theories, methodological approaches, and areas of scholarship.

But this exploration is not wasted effort.
It is preparation.

Voice of Katie Kidwell: Fertilizer for Ideas

While the soil determines what can grow, the fertilizer shapes how well it grows by improving access to nutrients. Librarians play that role, helping students work more effectively in the soil. Different research questions require different databases and search strategies, much like different plants need specific nutrients. Librarians also help students avoid information overload or irrelevant sources.

This is especially important in today’s information landscape. Students often turn to Google or AI, mixing whatever nutrients they can find and applying them liberally. While it’s well-intentioned and focused on helping the seed grow, it leads to uneven results – effort without precision.

Seeds don’t just need fertilizer, they need it applied strategically at the right stages and in the right amounts. Balancing careful reading and critical thinking with targeted support can strengthen the soil, helping the seed take root and grow towards the light.

Shared Reflection: Intellectual Incubation

In many ways, the early phase of doctoral research resembles what scholars sometimes call intellectual incubation (Ritter & Dijksterhuis, 2014). During incubation, ideas are developing beneath the surface.

The question may not yet be fully visible, but important processes are unfolding:
connections are forming,
assumptions are being examined,
theoretical grounding is developing,
scholarly confidence is growing.

To outside observers, it may appear that little progress is being made. But beneath the surface, roots are forming.

This stage is not a delay in research development.
It is an essential part of it.

A Message to Early PhD Students:

If you are at the beginning of your doctoral journey and your research question feels uncertain, incomplete, or still forming, you are not alone and this is normal!

Many of the most meaningful research questions begin as small seeds. Rather than rushing to produce immediate answers, consider focusing first on preparing the soil.

Read widely.
Engage deeply with theory.
Explore the literature.
Ask questions that stretch your thinking.
Seek guidance from mentors and librarians.

Over time, the seed of your research question will begin to grow.
And when it does, it will be rooted in the rich soil of knowledge that allows scholarship to flourish.

Closing Reflection

A strong research question rarely appears fully formed.

Guided by nursing theory, meaningful questions develop slowly and intentionally within the soil of scholarship.

The Nursology “Research Exemplars” section offers valuable examples of theory-guided scholarship across diverse areas of nursing research and practice.

And like any living thing, meaningful scholarship begins with a seed.

Reference

Ritter, S. M., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2014). Creativity—The unconscious foundations of the incubation period. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 215. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00215

About the Contributors

Katie Kidwell (she/her), is the new-ish Nursing & Health Sciences Liaison Librarian at Boston College’s O’Neill Library. Prior to BC, she completed a one-year fellowship at the National Library of Medicine and worked at the Somerville Public Library and Hirsh Health Sciences Library at Tufts. Prior to librarianship, she worked at multiple universities across Boston in housing & residence life. Beyond her day-to-day work, she enjoys pop culture consumption and critical analysis, board games, trying new recipes, & cuddling with her old beagle, Lincoln.

Aissatou Gueye (Aysha) is an Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Immigrant/Refugee Health NP, Preceptor, and PhD student at the Boston College Connell School of Nursing. Her clinical and research interests focus on effective healthcare communication for NPs, reawakening nursing theory in NP Practice, and immigrant diabetes health. Aysha served as Director of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the Massachusetts Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (MCNP) and is an RCC facilitator through the Academy of Communication in Healthcare. She believes nursing theory is not an academic exercise—but the living language of care.