My process for conducting research has changed since the beginning of this semester. I have learned the proper way to construct academic research questionnaires and follow through in conducting research. One skill I will take with me is the ability to construct surveys that are correctly formatted and allow participants to answer to the best of their ability. An example of this is when to add “maybe” or “unsure” as an answer option. Another example of constructing surveys skills I have gained is using contingency questions, or questions that only apply depending on your answer to the previous question.
In evaluating and selecting sources for this research assignment, I chose documents that were current and relevant to my topic. I used mostly academic research papers. Given that COVID-19 effects on college students has limited published research, I chose sources that added information to what I already knew.
Some challenges I encountered when doing research for this project was how new the topic was. Some of the research I found were predictions of the effects of the pandemic based on previous literature. While this was helpful in gaining insight, finding experiences of students from other campuses helped to guide my research question.
This research project greatly increased my confidence in being able to conduct research again. Given the background knowledge I gained on how to construct and analyze surveys and data, I will be able to apply this to other areas of work. One specific example of a skill that has increased my confidence is the importance of pre-testing the survey. This will enable me to make constructive changes to improve the questionnaire before the full launch.
The research we’ve done this semester has helped me to think like a researcher. This means I am better able to analyze when there needs to be a line drawn between a cause and an effect. I am also aware that many causes can lead to the same effect, and vice versa, which is why it is so important to conduct research and understand why things work and function the way they do.