{"id":56657,"date":"2021-05-05T14:32:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T19:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/?p=56657"},"modified":"2022-08-20T16:17:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-20T21:17:20","slug":"scholar-what-makes-a-good-researcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/blog\/scholar-what-makes-a-good-researcher\/","title":{"rendered":"The Makings of a Scholar: What Makes a Good Researcher?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Dr. Stephanie recently posed a question in the Facebook forum as to what makes good research. I would say to have good research, you must start with a good researcher. But what attributes make someone a good researcher? Good researchers work smart, are proficient writers, are part of a relevant conversation and seek input from others, are humble, and are critical thinkers. Let’s unpack this together.<\/p>\n

1. A researcher must work smarter<\/h2>\n

Working hard is important, but working smarter is even more critical. Working on research 12 hours a day (thus overworking and being inefficient) will just wear you out. Plan your work sessions and then work that plan. You will find that you accomplish much more and with less effort. Parkinson\u2019s Law tells us that work expands to fill the time we have allowed for it; this also means smart planning will allow you to get more done in less time.<\/p>\n

2. A researcher must become a proficient writer<\/h2>\n

Being a proficient writer means not only producing academic writing without spelling and grammar errors, but also the mechanics and requirements of your chosen style, whether it is the APA<\/a>, Harvard, MLS, Turabian, etc. The information you wish to present is only as good as your ability to communicate it.<\/p>\n

3. A researcher must be a part of relevant conversations<\/h2>\n

Updating your knowledge is critical and can be accomplished in several ways, such as following current literature, attending conferences, or exchanging ideas with others working in your field.<\/p>\n

4. A researcher must seek input from others<\/h2>\n

Relatedly, you should have a social network with your peers, attend conferences and seminars if possible, and meet with others in your field. These interactions could lead to exciting collaborations and new directions to take with your research.<\/p>\n

5. A researcher must be humble<\/h2>\n

Be humble and open to criticism and critique. Many of us are quite protective of our work. But no matter how perfect we may think our paper or study is, a review by others and a willingness to improve will only make our work better. This concept is central to the whole idea of advancing knowledge through the peer-review process.<\/p>\n

Try to leave your comfort zone, strive to delve into the areas of your field that are not as comfortable for you. In turn your research will become richer.<\/p>\n

6. A researcher must have critical thinking skills:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Listen to your senses:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>an excellent critical thinker is also a reasonable observer of the world around them.<\/li>\n
  • Be curious:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>a good critical thinker does not accept everything at face value but rather contemplates why something is the way it is.<\/li>\n
  • Be objective:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0a good critical thinker focuses on facts and scientific evaluation of the information they discover. Strive to keep your emotion and bias from affecting your judgment while analyzing the data.<\/li>\n
  • Be introspective:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0knowing how you think is the key to moving through what you learn. The critical thinker must understand their inner thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Introspection is very closely related to self-reflection. Many papers even include a reflexivity section to detail this process and its meaning for the reader. You must deeply understand the building blocks of your belief system and the biases that create those systems. The understanding can go far towards eliminating your preconceived notions and preventing your bias from skewing your analysis of the information obtained.<\/li>\n
  • Be analytical:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>break the information into the component parts and evaluate how well those parts function together and individually.<\/li>\n
  • Assessing relevance:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>You must develop the ability to determine which relevant information and facts are crucial to your analysis. These must be separated from those which are simply there as minor points. You will also want to demonstrate that you are making a relevant contribution to knowledge. If no one has addressed your topic in a decade or two, your committee might want to know if it is worth addressing and that your study will still be relevant.<\/li>\n
  • Inference:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>most information does not come with a concise summary. It is your job to assess that information and draw an informed conclusion from it. Inference is your ability to extrapolate the meaning from the data and discover those hidden outcomes when assessing scenarios.<\/li>\n
  • Empathy:<\/strong><\/span> this may seem to be the antithesis of critical thinking; however, without empathy, we are left with cold, heartless scientific facts and data. It is sometimes too easy to allow our cynicism to become toxic, making everything we see suspicious. We must always take the human element into account. Not everything we do is about data and information – it\u2019s also about people. It is still important to rely on the facts and data, but consider highlighting the significance of your research to quality of life. How can your results or findings be used to improve the world?<\/li>\n
  • Humility:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0this allows you to consider your shortcomings and be open to the thoughts and ideas of others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    This is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, but rather to give you some points for consideration. Are there things here that you, the researcher, can improve on? Only you can be the judge of that. If you want to grow in these areas, schedule a free strategy call below.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    Dr. Stephanie recently posed a question in the Facebook forum as to what makes good research. I would say to have good research, you must start with a good researcher. But what attributes make someone a good researcher? Good researchers work smart, are proficient writers, are part of a relevant conversation and seek input from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":56659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

    Dr. Tessa recently posed a question in the Facebook forum as to what makes good research. I would say to have good research, you must start with a good researcher. But what attributes make someone a good researcher? Good researchers work smart, are proficient writers, are part of a relevant conversation and seek input from others, are humble, and are critical thinkers.<\/p>

    • Working hard is important but working smarter is even more critical. Working on research 12-hours a day inefficiently will just wear you out. Plan your work sessions and then work that plan. You will find that you accomplish much more and with less effort. Parkinson\u2019s Law tells us that work expands to fill the time we have allowed for it; this also means smart planning will allow you to get more done in less time.<\/li>
    • Being a proficient writer means not only producing academic writing without spelling and grammar errors, but also the mechanics and requirements of your chosen style, be it the APA, Harvard, MLS, Turabian, etc. The information you wish to present is only as good as your ability to communicate it.<\/li>
    • Updating your knowledge is critical and can be accomplished in several ways, such as following the current literature, attending conferences, or exchanging ideas with others working in your field.<\/li>
    • Relatedly, you should have a social network of your peers, attend conferences and seminars if possible, and meet the others in your field. These interactions could lead to exciting collaborations and new directions to take your research.<\/li>
    • Be humble and open to criticism and critique. Many of us are quite protective of our work. But no matter how perfect we may think our paper or study is, a review by others and a willingness to improve will only make our work better. This concept is central to the whole idea of advancing knowledge through the peer-review process.<\/li>
    • Try to leave your comfort zone, strive to delve into the areas of your field that are not as comfortable for you, your research will become richer for the effort.<\/li>
    • A researcher must have critical thinking skills:<\/li>
    • Listen to your senses; an excellent critical thinker is also a reasonable observer of the world around them.<\/li>
    • Be curious; a good critical thinker does not accept everything at face value but rather contemplates why something is the way it is.<\/li>
    • Be objective; a good critical thinker focuses on facts and a scientific evaluation of the information they discover. Strive to keep your emotion and bias from affecting your judgment while analyzing the data.<\/li>
    • Be introspective; knowing how you think is the key to moving through what you learn. The critical thinker must understand their inner thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Introspection is very closely related to self-reflection. Many papers even include a reflexivity section to detail this process and its meaning for the reader. You must deeply understand the building blocks of your belief system and the biases that create those systems. The understanding can go far towards eliminating your preconceived notions and preventing your bias from skewing your analysis of the information obtained.<\/li>
    • Be analytical; break the information into the component parts and evaluate how well those parts function together and individually.<\/li>
    • Relevance as a good critical thinker you must develop the ability to determine which relevant information and facts are crucial to your analysis. These must be separated from those which are simply there as minor points. You will also want to demonstrate that you are making a relevant contribution to knowledge. If no one has addressed your topic in a decade or two, your committee might want to know if it is worth addressing and that your study will still be relevant.<\/li>
    • Inference: most information does not come with a concise summary. It is your job to assess that information and draw an informed conclusion from it. Inference is your ability to extrapolate the meaning from the data and discover those hidden outcomes when assessing scenarios.<\/li>
    • Empathy: this may seem to be the antithesis of critical thinking; however, without empathy, we are left with cold, heartless scientific facts and data. It is sometimes too easy to allow our cynicism to become toxic, making everything we see suspicious. We must always take the human element into account; not everything we do is about data and information. It\u2019s also about people. It is still important to rely and the facts and data, but consider highlighting the significance of your research to quality of life. How can your results or findings be used to improve the world?<\/li>
    • Humility: this allows you to consider your shortcomings and be open to the thoughts and ideas of others.<\/li><\/ul>

      This list is not meant to be all-inclusive, but rather to give you some points for consideration. Are there things here that you, the researcher, can improve on? Only you can be the judge of that.<\/p>

      \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56657"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64967,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56657\/revisions\/64967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dissertationsuccess.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}