My process for doing academic research has changed drastically since the beginning of the semester. I was used to doing most of my previous research on just other research articles. I have conducted an experiment/research study on Ghost Shrimp and the effects of different habitats in a science course my first year. This research was turned into a poster to present on research day and included similar things like the research question, abstract, methods, and results. I have also conducted interviews and wrote transcripts. This study has allowed me to try new methods and learn new terms and techniques. The process of dividing and working on the research in smaller sections really helped break the research a part. I was able to focus on one section at a time, fully analyzing and understanding each section versus getting lost in the paper and constantly moving between sections. I have never conducted a survey, and I have never seen the process of coding questions in a codebook and using RStudio Cloud until now. I understand how to properly format and write each component in a research paper. I know the different types of questions and the terms used; for example, I used questions with responses measuring on a scale of 0-10 in my research, which are interval ratio questions. I learned how to create a table with congregated means by using commands in RStudio. I not only learned about the process of research and writing a research article, but I also learned the ethics that must be applied when conducting research like participation is voluntary, commit no harm, try not to be deceptive or alarm the participants in any way with research, etc.
I found most of my sources through the Longwood University Greenwood Library. My sources were peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles. I searched keywords related to my research and research question. I tried to look for similar studies that focused on the same research or factors that helped develop my research. I also looked for articles that helped build a base to support my hypothesis. I did remove a source before I turned in my final draft; this source was not a scholarly article and had minimal information that could be used for this research.
My first challenge was picking just one survey question for the independent variable and one question for the dependent variable. I finally decided to change my hypothesis to focus on my main research question. This helped me pick two questions that would help gain results for my research question and hypothesis. In my Literature Review I struggled with citing my sources properly on the reference page. I went back to each article and found the journals that needed to be listed with each citation, and I deleted the source that was not a scholarly, peer-reviewed article. I also struggled with formatting and subheadings in my literature review. I took the introduction I had in my literature review and put it at the beginning of my paper for an actual introduction. I created a background portion on COVID-19 and created subheadings with each theme.
My confidence level has definitely increased in my ability to conduct research and in writing a research paper. The new techniques and terms that I have learned have allowed me to expand my knowledge on performing research. I now know the details on how to write an abstract, make tables, write findings, etc. I am now confident in my ability to work with RStudio Cloud and the commands needed to find the congregated means between the two variables, and I can create tables with RStudio Cloud. Since the research was separated into sections, it allowed me to really focus on and understand each section individually. It helped to have templates and directions that went into depth of each process of each section. Then in the end I was able to combine all components to create the final product. I will now take my knowledge of new terms and techniques and apply it to future research. It also helped receiving feedback from the professor and knowing that I performed well on my final paper.
I think “Think like a Researcher” means think about what you need as a researcher and what participants need to understand and feel comfortable with the research they are participating in. When we had to create and edit our survey questions, we had to think if the questions we originally put were necessary for our research. We also had to edit questions to make them make sense to the participants responding to the survey. When creating the survey form, we had to think strategically where each type of question should be placed in order to have an organized form and to ensure responses to all of the questions. Thinking like a researcher helps an individual focus on what the sources they needed to help build a foundation on their research and show what other research has not studied. Thinking like a research has the individual focusing on how to capture an audience and ensuring that all information is clear and communicated entirely. This allows for there to be no missed information and clear implications for the study. This research has helped me look at the “bigger picture.” Research has an impact on other research and the future. For example, my research on college students’ feelings towards their university’s COVID-19 policies and how that affects their feelings towards risk exposure has an impact on how colleges plan in the future during the pandemic and other nationwide emergencies. It also compares to other research, and it can be used for other researchers to improve on.