Series of Scientific Writing (Part 2) March 2, 2022
The Series of Scientific Writing with Prof. Jan continued on 2nd March 2022. Formulating research question were discussed along with the grantees. There are several ways to find ideas for writing. Research that stands alone will have a small impact. Meanwhile, research that is a part of a large research project will have a bigger impact. So, try to find a large research project that you can join. Take a look at the environment or people around you and think about what can be better from the current situations or conditions. Also, doing a literature review may help you to know the gap in your field of interest, and get ideas for a specific research question. Once you find the idea for your research, formulate your research question. Research questions are highly important. It is important to write the research interest into Research Question, Hypothesis, and Aim to guide the research.
Research question should be new and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound). A SMART research study has a clear and focused purpose. It also has a specific guiding research question. A SMART research question is answerable. You will know when it is answered and be able to identify the steps. A SMART research purpose is achievable given available resources and can do so within a reasonable time frame. A SMART research study is design within specific and measurable deadline.
Alvina Rossa (grantee Airlangga University) shared about her thesis whichand her problem to collect the research data. She thought that she can collect data by share posters in community, give a reward for each participant or sending a personal text to cheating followers, but then it was very difficult, it is about the privacy. It is like annoying and disturbing participants. And now she thinks that her research question doesn’t match the SMART question. Prof. Jan emphasized the importance of collecting data. If we can’t get enough participants, we should change our research question. Unfortunately, the best way is to start it all over again, but it is also depending on our literature review that we already done. When you can use, use it. The key is your relationship between your research question that is new and the literature review that you already did. At the end of the session, the students were given the assignment to write a SMART’s research questions inspired by Pak Jan’s vlog.
