From: reis@stanford.edu Subject: TP Msg. #341 MAKING KEY RESEARCH DECISIONS Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 08:48:48 PDT To: tomorrows-professor@lists.Stanford.EDU "Doing research is about progressively focused decision-making. Don't expect to get everything sorted out once and for all and then get on with it. You will find yourself constantly facing decisions about what to do next, how to interpret this set of data, what is significant and so on." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TOMORROW'S PROFESSOR(SM) LISTSERV "desk-top faculty development, one hundred times a year" STANFORD UNIVERSITY LEARNING LABORATORY (SLL) http://sll.stanford.edu/ Note: Previous Listserv postings can be found at: http://sll.stanford.edu/projects/tomprof/newtomprof/postings.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Folks: The excerpt below gives some simple, excellent advice on key decisions you need to make as you get started with your research. It is from: 500 TIPS FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS, by Sally Brown, Liz McDowell and Phil Race. Kogan Page Limited, 120 Pentonville Road, London, N1 9JN. © Sally Brown, Liz McDowell and Phil Race. Reprinted with permission. Regards, Rick Reis reis@stanford.edu UP NEXT: Teaching for Engagement Tomorrow's Research ---------------- 537 words ---------------- MAKING KEY RESEARCH DECISIONS Chapter 2 page 10-11 When you begin a research project there are a lot of decisions to be made. You need to decide on the exact topic for your research and how to approach it, then come the details of experimental or survey design. Since many of these decisions loom large at the beginning of a project when you may feel you know very little, it can be daunting. 1. Nothing is final. Decisions you are asked to make at the beginning may seem to be irrevocable but often research changes in minor ways, and sometimes in major ways, as it goes along. This is an accepted part of the process. 2. Have an escape route. Consider alternatives, if the idea you first thought of doesn't work. Try to think through the consequences of your decisions. It is always worth having Plan B. Or you could try doing more than one thing in parallel for a while and see how they work out. 3. Don't rush your decisions. You may begin to panic if the days and weeks are slipping by and you don't feel you are actually doing anything. Don't let this feeling push you into action for the sake of action. Thinking and planning does take time. Play with ideas for a day or two and see how they feel. 4. Don't start from scratch. Somebody else has almost certainly undertaken a similar project, needed a similar piece of measuring equipment or done a similar kind of survey. Do your best to find out. Research is all about building on the work of others. 5. Write it down. Writing down and trying to express clearly what you want to do and how you intend to achieve it is probably the most useful way of clarifying and pinning down your thoughts. 6. Get a second opinion. And a third and a forth! Write down your ideas, plans, rationale and first thoughts and get others to look at them. They may well notice some things that you have overlooked. Your research supervisors should be particularly helpful here. 7. Doing research is about progressively focused decision-making. Don't expect to get everything sorted out once and for all and then get on with it. You will find yourself constantly facing decisions about what to do next, how to interpret this set of data, what is significant and so on. 8. Don't wait till you know what you're going to do is the best possible course of action. Do something anyway. Sometimes deciding to do something is better than waiting to be sure that you are doing the right thing (but see 'escape route' above). 9. Keep a sense of proportion. Research isn't your whole life and in the overall scheme of things, will it destroy the planet if you make a wrong choice? Time spent doing research is an opportunity to get an overview of the field you're interested in before making important choices. 10. Take responsibility. It's your project. No one else can or should make the important decision for you. However, listen to people who have fallen into the pits that can trap the unwary, as they know where the pits are, and how to avoid them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOMORROW'S PROFESSOR LISTSERV is a shared mission partnership with the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) http://www.aahe.org/ The National Teaching and Learning Forum (NT&LF) http://www.ntlf.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Anyone can SUBSCRIBE to Tomorrows-Professor Listserv by sending the following e-mail message to: subscribe tomorrows-professor To UNSUBSCRIBE to the Tomorrows-Professor send the following e-mail message to: unsubscribe tomorrows-professor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**==--++**== This message was posted through the Stanford campus mailing list server. 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