I had often wondered what prompted researchers to pursue research as a career, and while that question was not specifically addressed in George Veletsianos’ podcast, I did appreciate the exploration of the process of getting started, something I will have to at some point become familiar with.
I found it interesting, in that it reaffirmed much of what I thought I already knew about the process of researching. In particular, the discussion related to formulating the question and then determining who has already asked the question and what answers they arrived at and then looking at ways in which the questions can be improved upon. I appreciated also, that there was not a singular way to begin a research project, or that at least that Mr. Veletsianos acknowledged a variety of methods for starting depending on the project. I found this to be comforting as my mind is always scattered and has many things going on at any given moment. To realise that there is not a definitive “way” to begin, and then conduct a research project is heartening. But, then at the same time, my type-A personality craves structure and direction at times and may find the open nature of research a challenge.
The fact that the journey becomes the research I also found interesting. I had always assumed that academics entered into all research with a pre-formulated concept of what they were going to do, and how they were going to do it, and that research projects don’t get started in a vacuum, but rather are ideas that are tossed around the research will change as new knowledge and understanding is achieved (Veletsianos, 2017). From this I will take away a new understanding of how I will approach my future research projects for this course, as I have already started to narrow my focus of interest. To prepare for this, I will endeavour to do as much reading as possible on the topics I am interested in, s that when the time comes, I will have a good foundation of knowledge to start from.
Veletsianos, G. (Author). (2017, August 10). George Veletsianos on Research [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=245247
