Mrs. E

Here's a story for you; it comes from a book by Hildgard and Hilgard called, Hypnosis in the relief of pain (1975):
Mrs. E suffered from terminal breast cancer that had metastasized into the bone of her right arm and hand. She described the pain in her arm as “terrible,” and reported that on most days the pain forced her to take codeine every three to four hours, and it was then only effective in taking off the edge. Her constant pain was a perpetual reminder of her terminal illness. Left in this state, Mrs. E was unable to truly live during what she knew to be her last months of life. She was depressed and unable to enjoy even the simple things that had previously filled her life, like her family and friends, reading, or relaxing at the beach.
Mrs. E was referred to Ernest Hilgard for therapy involving hypnosis. Once induced into a state of hypnosis using imagery related to her positive experiences at the ocean, she was able to use the suggested analgesic technique to completely remove the pain in her arm. Before being instructed to wake from hypnosis, Mrs. E was told that she would retain a mild discomfort in her right arm—just enough to serve as a warning not to overdo any activity. In addition, she was instructed that she would retain the freeing and pleasant feelings associated with her idyllic time at the beach.
For the remainder of that day, she reported not needing any more codeine; in fact, after this point, an overall reduction in usage of pain medication continued. As treatment continued, Mrs. E was also taught a suggestion technique that helped her sleep through the night. Although Mrs. E eventually passed away, her therapy not only helped to reduce the pain in her arm, it greatly improved her overall quality of life.

(a) Research Questions

I suppose the whole point of writing a research paper is to write what has already been written. The other day, someone wisely instructed me to tell my reader that my honors project was already written and was in the library--he just has to find it. So much for contributing something original to the greater cause. Before I talk myself any lower, I will remind myself that research papers of the sort I am crafting are also written in hopes of adding new insight or making connections (valid ones, i hope) that were not thought of before.
That off my chest, here's what I am really and truly after:

With our (the human race) current knowledge, what is the best neuropsychological model of hypnosis as used in the treatment of patients with chronic pain?
And every scientist's favorite: What next? or: what more do we need to know? or: where does this knowledge put us in the grand scheme of pain management?

Questions

After reading my 3 page 'manuscript', my first reader, Dr. Skidmore, writes:
I am also a bit concerned that the focus of your paper keeps changing. While this may have an educational benefit in the sense that you are looking at your topic – hypnosis – from many different angles; it does have the limitation of putting you back at square one again.
And:
It seems you have jumped from overly broad to overly narrow.
And:
Now, before you revise your paper (or write a new draft), the next steps I suggest would be for you to (a) Write your primary research question, and any related secondary questions, (b) obtain scholarly articles that address these questions, and then (c) outline the structure of your paper.

That seems straightforward enough, but not very heartening. Since recieving this feedback yesterday at 5:37 PM I have searched the psych databases for work by the scholars that he has recommended (Herta Flor, John Gruzelier, and Helen Crawford). I found some stuff, but mostly I think I need to go to the library and scour some specific journals. I can't find my student ID card, so I'm going to have a hard time checking stuff out of the library-good thing journals can't be checked out in the first place!

It begins

Welcome to the latest attempt to ignite the learning fire mandated by these people. I have to write my honors thesis before they will let me graduate with my bachelors. I have under 2 months to complete my first draft, and i'm still working on the details of my topic. Yarg. For now, I'm looking at the underlying neurological mechanisms of hypnosis in the treatment of chronic pain. My hope is to come up with a title for my project that is as pretentious and cumbersome as possible. The finished product should have at least one ":". I would welcome all and any of your comments--even if they are of a ridiculing and/or jovial nature (in fact, especially so).