Based on your understanding of the readings this week and from your own experience, what do you think is the hardest part of the research process? Why might this be? What do you think could help overcome this difficulty?
Text responses are probably easier and more efficient. Video can work, but note that it is both harder to create a good, succinct, video response - and to grade it!
I think the hardest part of the research process is the initial step of finding and defining one’s research topic.
When one first begins the exploration of a new domain of knowledge or practice, one typically lacks the depth and breadth of knowledge to be able to formulate problem topics that would be both useful to expanding the stock and scope of knowledge in the domain as well as not duplicating the existing literature. As familiarity with the domain of knowledge increases through reading the existing literature and/or gaining firsthand knowledge through working in the field, the challenge becomes more technical as one must learn and apply unfamiliar methodologies and data gathering methods in constructing the research design. Fortunately, skills and familiarity with research design translate across domains enabling one to carry those skills forward. Hence, one’s skill and efficiency in research design should increase with practice. Why might this be?
Familiarity with the existing store of knowledge takes time to acquire. It takes time to develop a sense of what methodology is applicable to a given problem set. Applying unfamiliar methodologies and mastering methods that one hasn’t previously used is a challenge—especially, given the pressure to publish to the most appropriate research journal, to meet its standards, and to be subject to peer review and defense of your research claims and conclusions.
What do you think could help overcome this difficulty?
As with most human activities, the best way to overcome a difficulty is to practice the new skill. Use the existing literature as a “scaffolding” from which to learn best practices and to imitate form and style. If one’s difficulty is primarily formulating a good research question/problem, consult one of the methodologies on problem formulation from the domain of creativity research (e.g. synectics, TRIZ, brainstorming) to help guide one’s thoughts toward possible problem sets. If one lacks knowledge or comfort in applying a particular method, then study examples of journal articles that apply this method. Also, read a handbook on the method and study its examples. It’s also a good practice to summarize the method in one’s own words to learn the skill and gain confidence in applying it yourself.
As Beck and Manuel (2008) make clear, “ finding a research topic is not only about what topic you want to research, but also relies upon a good fit between you, the research topic, and the method” (p.17).
Starting point for learning more about Synectics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synectics (Links to an external site.)
Starting point for learning more about TRIZ: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRIZ (Links to an external site.)