Final Reflection

 Question: What have you learned about the processes of designing a sound research study in class? 

I learned about the importance of having clear research questions and logical, achievable methods for answering them. Your questions are the foundation of your research, so they should be specific and aim to fill a research gap. You should also know the purpose of your research and what it could add to general scholarship. Knowing these things early makes designing the rest of your proposal much smoother. After all, it's hard to travel somewhere when you don't know your destination. Additionally, I learned the importance of choosing methods that suit your research questions. I originally thought about doing a survey—mostly for the fun of it—but soon realized that it didn't make any sense for my research questions. I settled on only doing a content/rhetorical analysis for both accessibility and efficacy.  

Comments

  1. Rusty English 3450November 4, 2025 at 2:31 PM

    I think your analogy about research questions being the destination of your travel is very helpful for understanding research. We might not think researchers in fields go through journeys to uncover knowledge and further our understanding, but I think the way our questions guide where our research goes also applies to finding a trajectory in life. If we ask ourselves the defining questions, how and what answers we get will lead us to where we need to go. Efficacy and reason, in both research and life, are important in making that road map achievable and reasonable as well.

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