In my academic career thus far, my research projects and assignments have primarily consisted of studying literature reviews, previously conducted studies, research reports, and scholarly journals. We learned different techniques and practices to develop our academic research throughout the class and the semester. These practices included creating surveys, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, and mixed-methods research. My original process for doing academic research consisted primarily of using websites tagged as government or educational sites. Now, I use more databases and scholarly journals while being sure to double-check how many citations the source has.
When evaluating my sources for research and academic assignments, I used keywords to select the proper sources, validating that they were peer-reviewed, their location, the amount they had been cited, and if they were on-topic with my research. The first part, using keywords, allowed the databases to pull the relevant sources I required; however, some sources unrelated to my topic needed to be sorted but could easily be distinguished from what I needed. The following two steps I used were the most essential part of gathering my sources. When validating that my sources were peer-reviewed and academic, I used the Greenwood Library, which offers peer-reviewed sources that are easy to identify by filtering them in and using sources from a government website or educational institution. The final step of my process was always to check the titles of the sources or journals, as databases can often pull something with a keyword in the title, but the source may need to be more relevant to the topic being researched. By the end of the final assignment, all of my sources remained, with the addition of a few extras to help further my arguments and data.
As mentioned previously, the process I used for academic research prior was less thorough than it has become today. The changes that I have made to my process involve a longer process of validating sources and data acquired through research, as often current data can vary based on location and topic. The best strategy I used to overcome these challenges with data was to continue validating the data through different journals and government websites, which often had the updated data required for the research project.
During the research, my confidence level was challenged primarily during the stage where we were compiling our data together through Microsoft Excel and Rstudio. The project challenged me to use unfamiliar applications and resources, forcing me to quickly adapt and overcome the unfamiliarity to compile our data efficiently. When we, as researchers, went out to different Head Start locations in person to ask parents and guardians to fill out our needs assessment survey, I felt more comfortable as using my time in Emergency Medical Services helped me interact with parents and the staff at Head Start locations, being able to gauge reactions and responses accurately.
Looking back on the research conducted throughout the semester, I think “Thinking Like a Researcher” means challenging your biases, comfort, and previous information you have gathered. To challenge your biases, you must be able to think about data without your opinion or outside opinions affecting the data and research you are conducting, whether it is in person or studying articles and research studies. You must also step outside your “comfort zone” to progress your research; in this case, I used Microsoft Excel and Rstudio. By overcoming discomfort, you can slowly become more comfortable with something that is not your area of expertise. Lastly, confronting the previously gathered data allows you to be sure that the data compiled is accurate and recently published. Statistics and opinions change over time, and extra steps must be taken to ensure the data used is correct to have valid research data.