Research Methodology: The Start of Research

On October 11, 2021, VDMI provided final year grantees with Research Methodology Session to help them preparing their final research project as the mandatory requirement for graduation. This time, the speakers are from the Netherlands, which are Dr. Bartjan Pennink (Global Economics & Management Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Groningen) and Drs. Tim Zwaagstra (VDMS Board Member). During the session, Dr. Bartjan provided grantees with different perspective on research. Though research seems tough, it actually can be started from a picture of a thing that concerned us.

From the picture of problems they captured, students can start asking questions such as what kind of best practice are there in the literature? Then, they can formulate the academic problem and research questions. The participants were not discouraged by the English presentation of the materials. Samuel Sianturi, a grantee from Sumatera Utara University who study chemical engineering, asked whether he should withdraw his research when the result of his experiment different from what stated in the literature. Dr. Bartjan suggested that different findings may become new finding. So, Samuel should make sure that everything was done correctly. So, there is are no other additional aspects that influence his experiment results other than the materials suggested by the literature. Also, he can ask for guidance to his professor regarding the findings.