Doing a research in a personal but reasonable way

吳素丹

Introduction

Have you ever wondered whether there is a way of doing a research easily and happily？ Or could you be inspired by some particular works？ After reading some research works， I can find some ways personal and reasonable.

I.Doing a research based on a question

1.1The ways of thinking over a question

We are always told that before doing a research， you should have found some problems. Those problems will help you to make up a question， then you can start to do a research with a question. But where are the problems from？ These two questions confuse me a lot even though I knew thats the beginning of a research. A research question can be from something noticeable in the society， also can be from former research. Also sometimes the question can be generalized from different cultures.

1.2Where is the gap？

After making up the mind of the research question， the gap should be found. This gap can be search from different dimensions， for example， from the research background or the policy context， the reality， the relationship with the reality， and the unknown aspect of the study. The gap is an orientation or a guiding point. With it， we can go deep efficiently.

1.3Connection building

Once coming up with a question and a gap， then a connection should be built between them. Sometimes the connection can be found among the key words---for example， with the research topic ： Has International Learning Enhanced Academic Career Development？ The key words are： international learning and the career development， from the policy---Talent Program， self-enterprising， from the research method---quantity and quality， the ways of data analysis. This connection helps to define the research question. It also shows the way of going on as well as making the research practical.

1.4Measures

In the process of doing a research， measures are ways of solving problems or answering questions. So defining the question is very important. It decides the choice of methods. The quantity and quality ways are different， but they can help to deal with different problems. Quantitative research methods use a deductive approach to reasoning when attempting to find answers. This is a narrowing down way. On the other hand， qualitative research methods utilize an inductive approach to reasoning. It begins with specific data to generalize. It provides a broad idea. The way of collecting， analyzing data shows the way of solving problems.

1.5Key findings

What comes next is about the findings. Not all the results will be concluded. Firstly， it is a deductive way. We can decode the data and get a result. On the contrary， we can also use the inductive way. This is similar with making dumplings. You should take all the figures as a whole or make them as a whole. Besides， some of the findings are provided in a paralleled level. It suggests something not so related. Whereas， some results are followed as a pyramid. And they have a hierarchy level or a progressive relation. They come out step by step till the top.

Conclusion

While doing a research， we know that a research question is the life. To have a better answer or solution of the question， we should find the gap dimensionally and build up a connection. Of course， the topic often provides a hint that there is still much to consider. Once you pick up， you come up with it.

References：

[1]Mok， K. H， Jiang. J， Shen W. Q（2018） Has International Learning Enhanced Academic Career Development？ Evidence from Chinese Ph.D Returnees. Lingnan University-Peking University Education Forum.

[2]Pei. Tina， （1995） Educational Research Methods [M]Anhui， Anhui Education Publication