This past week I came across some deterrents that researchers can come up against in their studies in a reading (Creswell, 2011). While we may not like hearing about the possible negatives of research, especially when tasked with research, I think that it can be  helpful to have advance knowledge of possible  pitfalls and know a few strategies for overcoming them.

PART 1

1. Limited access to research sites and participants/people groups.

If you may not have access to a large number of research sites or participants, begin to seek out some possible network connections for accessing your needed research site and/or participants. Some possible connectors could be your PhD supervisor, a local school board, your alma mater as well as your fellow PhD students.

2. Limited Time and Poor Time Management

We only get 24 hours in a day and it’s a non-negotiable. If it is know that there are limited time resources for research, mapping out a strategic plan for getting everything completed is a good way to start. Another helpful strategy is to create deadlines – and stick to them. Keeping accountable to to someone about meeting deadlines is also another help.

3. Limited Resources

Limited resources can mean not only limited funding, as well as access to resources (i.e. libraries, equipment, databases etc.) Early planning can help keep you on pace with what you may need for completing your research.

…more tomorrow! 🙂

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While doing some reading this past week, I came up with a helpful visual to keep in mind while narrowing my research topic.

I think that it visualizes the development process of both how the find appropriate research questions to ask, as well as a good reminder of how to write the statement of the problem in my study.

As I continue to develop this site, I am finding that organization of data will be key (i.e. relating topics for ease of navigation). To this end, I hope that if you have any suggestions on the organization, that you would kindly submit a comment.