The ability to conduct good and comprehensive is crucial to the success of any students’ studies. Having discovered this at an early stage in the semester I directed my efforts towards improving my academic research skills. In this reflective letter, I will enumerate the steps I have taken in my research paper throughout the semester and some of the challenges I have faced during this process.
As an anterior step, I learnt how to come up with specific and relevant research questions that were supposed to guide me throughout the entire research process. Once the research topic has been identified, it is essential to formulate questions that are aimed at singling out the issues for determination (Russell, 23). From these questions I was able to come up with a thesis which formed the basis of the research study.
The use of research questions as a preliminary step in the research process has improved my analytical skills by enabling me to avert fishing expeditions when conducting research and narrowing down my focus to specific areas of concern. In formulating research questions, I realized that the research question should have a nexus to the hypothesis and should also be clear and simple (Claire and Lee, 12). I discovered that one should also consider the dimensions of the question in line with one’s own abilities to tackle the issues posed by the question.
Throughout the research assignments, as I discovered, the task of l active research was not straightforward but required me to employ reasoning and critical thinking in order to avoid frustration that would at times emerge from the confusion I faced when midway through the research. I learnt to overcome such confusion by using interconnected premises to guide my reasoning throught the research process.
Subsequently, I developed a customized research system in which I built a matrix that I used to organize my academic resources build on my pool of academic sources and prioritize which sources formed the crux of my research assignment on a case by case basis. This approach also enabled me to form a research trail that enable me to track the research process and avoid deviating to other sources that were less relevant to the research study.
Throughout the semester, there were a number of areas that posed a great challenge, alternatively in others I did exceptionally well. In my view, the area that I had great success during the entire research process was in the formulation of sub claims that enabled me to build up my supporting arguments in the research in support of my thesis statements. The use of this sub claims helped improve my persuasive argument skills as I learnt that the sub claims are meant to reinforce the main points.
However, the area in which I had the lowest performance in terms of operationalizing was the use of peer reviewing as a closing step in the research process. The main hurdle experienced while conducting peer review through the semester was the time implication and having to work within timelines that are not in my control. The main reason being it is quite undesirable to rush the review of research projects if at all you wish to do a conclusive review of your work. I would put more effort into it during succeeding research assignments in order to reduce errors that would have been corrected on carrying out peer reviews.
In conclusion, throughout the semester I have engaged myself in continuous research improvement practices and have consequently seen the benefits of gaining these skills spread out in my academic studies. I would therefore capitalize on my strong points while concurrently working to improve on the areas which in my view proved to be my areas of weakness.
Works Cited
Claire Aitchson and Alison lee. "Research writing: Problems and Peddagogies. Teaching in Higher Education." (2006): 265-278.
Russel, David. Writing in the Academic Disciplines: A Curricular History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1991.
