REFLECTIVE DIARY

Reflective Diary



Reflective Diary

Introduction

This essay presents a reflective statement on the experiences gained during the semester. This reflective diary focuses on the learning, experiences, and views on the module Research Methods for Business and Management. The essay discusses my personal strengths and weakness, which I discovered during the semester. It highlights the learning ways and approaches, which I adopted for the purpose of developing a clear insight. I also reflect upon what I have learnt in this module and how do I plan to develop my strengths and improve my weaknesses.

Discussion

During a semester, a student gets to learn and gain knowledge from a variety of sources other than classroom lectures. Classroom lectures may serve as the primary source of knowledge; however, there are group discussions, lab works, and informal collaborations with colleagues, which also add to the learning experiences of an individual. These experiences are of particular importance when it comes to researches. In my perspective, research is one way of learning things which not only provides systematic results but also improves the capability of a person as a learner. It allows a person to know the right way of obtaining knowledge by following a systematic procedure. In this module, I learnt about the research methods, approaches, planning, and skills, which a person requires in order to deliver a better job as a business student researcher.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Upon analysing my strengths as a researcher, I have found myself to be capable of comprehending multiple dimensions in a single problem. I tend to explore varying opinions, from different authors over a single topic. This allows me to manipulate ideas and evaluate contradicting opinions. The second strength, which I believe will help me as a business student researcher, is that I am good with selecting appropriate search keywords for searching through various online search engines. It helps in collecting a large amount of literature, which must be gathered in order to support a research. Scholarly or academic literature search has a significant value in conducting researches. By knowing the right search operators (AND/OR), a researcher can refine the search on online search engines.

Upon analysing my weaknesses, I have identified that a student researcher should be able to identify between credible and non-credible sources. I have learnt that blogs and online encyclopaedias do not count into the credible sources; however, I feel that I need to develop an understanding for searching peer-reviewed sources. Also, I feel that I need to develop my capabilities for creating a research framework.

Overcoming Weaknesses & Improving Strengths

I can improve my search skills by learning about search operators of Meta search engines. Also, searching skills can be improved by learning the specific search features of electronic libraries. For instance, electronic libraries have specific search filters, which can refine the literature search. In order to overcome my weaknesses, I have planned to take the help through mentoring. It is about supporting people so that they manage their own learning, maximise skills, and improve their performances as professional ...