How has your process for doing academic research changed since the beginning of the semester? Be specific. Give examples.

            My process for conducting academic research has changed greatly since the start of the semester. I realized it is acceptable to not have a question in place before doing background research on your assignment. At the beginning of this semester, I thought I had to have a question in place with my independent/dependent variable and hypothesis figured out before I could even look into any background information. I also have learned to use survey questions to operationalize my independent and dependent variable. For example, in this research assignment my independent variable is the parent’s highest level of education and the dependent variable is the amount of parent/family involvement spent with their child.

Describe your process for evaluating and selecting sources for your research assignments. How did you decide which sources to use and which not to use? Did you add or change sources for your final assignment after turning in your annotated bibliography? If so, please explain why.

            When selecting sources for my research assignments I would go to the Greenwood Library’s page from the Longwood University’s website. I would then go to their “database & resource” section and select the Google scholar link. When deciding which sources to use or not to use I would first read over several sources and find a connection between two or more. Once I found a connection between two or more reliable sources I would decide if those sources fit the information needed for my research assignment. I did add one source to my final annotate bibliography because I wanted to add background information on parental involvement in the introduction of my paper.

What challenges did you encounter when doing research for your assignments in this class? What strategies did you use to overcome them? Be specific. Give examples. Have your attitudes and perceptions (confidence level) about doing research changed over the course of the semester? Be specific. Give examples.

            While completing research for this assignment I faced the challenge of not having a great deal of experience doing my own research before. To overcome this challenge I used my knowledge from other classes that also relate to research to help me build more confidence. I also faced the challenge of working with another facility to conduct this research assignment. To overcome this challenge I was patient and flexible. I also understood that the timelines that I had set for certain parts of this research could be moved around. My confidence level about conducting research has increased over the semester significantly. For example, I am more confident in my ability to find reliable sources that are relevant to the information I am researching. Before this class I did not use Google scholar often to find sources, but now I use it more because of its wide range of reliable articles.

Think about the research you’ve done this semester, and describe what you think it means to “Think Like a Researcher?”

            To “Think Like a Researcher” means to look at the facts and evidence that is presented and not to be subjective. I think researchers should go into their research assignments with an open mind and unbiased opinion. When thinking like a researcher you should also be curious because it helps you ask clarifying questions in an attempt to gain the answers to the research questions you have.