Personal Reflection on My Research and Writing Experience

 In my time in college, I have undertaken a number of writing classes which have significantly improved my research and writing skills. At first, coming up with a college paper on my own seemed a daunting task as I was struggling with compositions and other types of writings throughout my high school years. However, during my first writing class in college, I learnt the basic writing skills, such as using a wide vocabulary, constructing comprehensive sentences, and coming up with well-organized paragraphs with each constituting of a topic sentence and single controlling idea. By drawing from these writing basics, coming up with a college-level writing no longer intimidates me as I have with time found myself enjoying my own writing. Reflecting back on the various writing classes I have undertaken so far, I have learnt a wide array of advanced writing aspects, such as the need for a draft, the various factors to put into consideration in choosing a title for my paper, how to construct a comprehensive thesis statement, the use of transitions, and listening to myself while proofreading my papers.

Whether one is an academician, an artist, or a parent, it’s my reasoning that everyone performs research in his or her everyday life. When my parents, instructor, or supervisor at my workplace asks me a question that I do not know the answers to, I do some quick research on the internet or by enquiring from my friends, and analyze my findings before sharing my results to the interested individuals. Research constitutes this act of locating, analyzing, and presenting or sharing the findings to the interested individuals. When one is conducting a research, he or she is essentially trying to solve an existing mystery, to identify why something happened or how something works. In my career as a business administration profession, I expect to be regularly conducting research on various areas such as the trends in the market, consumers’ behaviors, possible technological integration, and the changing external environment.

Reflecting back on my past research projects, including the one I carried out last semester in HUM101 class, I have learnt that coming up with a research paper requires one to follow some steps. To begin with, one has to pick a topic based on the availed research prompt or question. To pick the most appropriate topic for my research projects, I engage in brainstorming and listing down some useful keywords which I later put together for a focused research topic and title. Once I have my research topic ready, I take my time to plan for the entire research and the writing process as part of ensuring that I do not get caught up with time and overwhelmed with all the work I have to carry out once the deadline for the research paper begins. In conducting the actual research, I use various sources, ranging from books, journals, and in-personal interviews to collect the needed information.

Once this research is completed, I organize my findings and the used sources in my paper. With the findings ready, my focus turns on preparing my research rough draft, incorporating the used research material, discussing these sources thoughtfully in relation to my research objective. In the final step of my research and the writing process, I revise and polish my paper, ensuring there is no grammatical errors, the paper is formatted in the best way, and that each element in the paper flows into the next logically and naturally. Reflecting back on the HUM101 research project that I undertook last semester, I received a good grade and positive comments from my teacher, noting that I was able to effectively transform a simple question into a well-written and roughly researched paper.

As far as research goes, my strengths and weaknesses are based on my ability to manage time effectively, determine the materials or sources to use for my research, and research methodology selection. No matter how carefully I plan my research schedule, I often fall behind my plans in terms of time as am prone to procrastination. Besides, being a “detail-oriented” person, I tend to spend a lot of time on the specifics of each research project, an aspect that has proven to be costly in terms of research resources and my ability to complete a research project within the stipulated timeframe. I also encounter difficulty in selecting the right research methodology given that in most cases my personal preference overshadows my research questions and objectives. However, I also have a couple of strengths when it comes to undertaking a research project, including the ability to determine the right scholarly sources to use, soliciting useful insight from the research participants, and data analysis. Besides, I have severally struggled in balancing my personal life and the demands of the research projects I have undertaken as they require a considerable amount of time and resources.

Drawing from these experiences, I have the opportunity to learn and improve a lot in my future research projects. I can capitalize on my strengths by working in a team. For instance, by working with my classmates on a particular research project, I can avoid procrastinating and focusing too much on the details of each research specific. To address the dilemma in choosing the right research methodology, in my future research projects, am determined to seek a second opinion from other people, including my supervisor on the ideal research methodology for the particular research. As an alternative, to address my struggle with identifying the ideal research methodology, I am considering undertaking a pilot study in some of my future research projects. Having enrolled for this class, it’s my objective to further improve my research skills, particularly on how to find study resources and participants, data collection and analysis, and research report writing.