Since the beginning of this semester, I never did a lot of academic research. Whenever I did it was on a much smaller scale and comparatively did not feel like I was doing research and work that I would feel especially proud of. I now feel much more confident in myself going into other research assignments knowing that I was able to accomplish this with the help of my instructor and my peers.
When evaluating and selecting sources for my research assignment, I took much longer than I typically would to pick out sources. When looking at the different sources, I wanted to find ones that had information that fit the different themes I wanted to focus on throughout the paper. A lot of sources that I found did not have to do with college trust, government trust, or college experiences. Because of this, I had to get rid of a good handful of sources that I found. I read through each abstract first and then would go to the end to read the results to make sure that the information was relevant. Once going through all of the sources I was able to categorize them to fit each of the themes that I wanted to use for my paper. After I had all of my sources in order, I did not need to change them afterwards.
The biggest challenge that I faced throughout this entire research assignment had to do with my self-confidence. I have not written a paper as extensive as this one in my past. While I went to an IB style high school and have had to write long papers, it has never consisted of information and data that I was gathering myself. After the first part of our assignment was due, I slowly started to trust myself more than I did in the past. While I was still nervous whenever each section was done, I became better at trusting that what I was writing was eligible, correct, and insightful. There was nothing specific that I personally did to make this confidence occur other than trusting in myself that I am knowledgeable enough to write a paper such as this one.
I think my biggest attitude change, besides my confidence level was my perception of carrying out research. I have never enjoyed collecting data and I certainly have never analyzed it before. I now appreciate the process and have a better understanding of how people carry out research. As well, I do not think of it as a process that I dread. In having a new sense of confidence when it comes to research, while I may not be entirely excited to perform, I know I have the ability to get it done and to do it well.
When I think of what it means to “Think Like a Researcher” is to think sociologically. It’s important to question everything you are reading and researching to make sure you further that research and knowledge to make sure it is accurate information. Likewise, it is incredibly important to find sources that look at all sides of a situation so you are not getting information or data that is only one sided. In finding one sided data you are not learning anything new except for one person’s opinion which is not data. To think like a researcher you must be open and willing to continue to learn and not just stopping when you have one answer.