Some of the insights I have gained about research from this
course are the different types of research, quantitative vs. qualitative and
the characteristics involved with each.
I have learned about different ethical concerns that may arise and how
to address them. Not only did I learn
about research but I learned how to decipher research articles. At the
beginning of this course, I was very intimidated by research and the articles I
have had to read throughout my program. However, now I have a better
understanding about what I am reading. I can read it once or twice vs. ten
times! J
Conducting research doesn’t seem as intimidating to me after
this course. I have learned the pieces involved in conducting ethical research
and methods I would like to eventually incorporate into my own career. While I may never conduct an actual research
study, I will take pieces from research including data collection and use it to
help me understand patterns and trends. I have new ideas and strategies to
incorporate this into my job.
The whole process of conducting research was relatively
foreign to me. As I said, I have read research articles but honestly I tried to
avoid them because I didn’t understand the process and had a difficult time
understanding what they were saying. I
have learned the process starts with a topic, focuses on a question and forming
a hypothesis. It is important to decide what kind of research design best suits
the topic and to consider the ethical concerns that are involved in the
study. One of the biggest pieces is to
ensure the results are valid. I have
learned that the whole process works together to formulate a study that will contribute
to the field.
One of the biggest challenges for me came early in this
class. I struggled with deciding on a topic and then narrowing down my
subtopics and finally formulating a question that was specific. I have a
tendency to think broadly about topics and want to incorporate to much.
