Blog Post #5
I've learned several things about designing a sound research study. Specifically, the process of designing a literature review: finding the research I need to make the literature review cohesive and helpful in the process of creating a research study. Additionally, having a strong base of understanding regarding the various methods of research helped me understand what the best method would be in order to make a sound research study. From there, it helped to understand specific formatting -- the questions defining the specific sections of a sound research study -- in creation of a research proposal because I had to be very, very specific in what steps needed to be taken as part of the research study, making it clearer from my own standpoint, what processes would need to happen in order to make a sound research study. In terms of how these processes have taught me about my future roles as a technical and professional communicator: I would like to go into grant writing, or at least would like to see if that's an are of professional writing I want to go into, therefore the processes have helped a lot insofar as I've been able to see different ways that technical and professional communicator's write and how they conduct research processes in order to make their proposals effective.
This is a great perspective that you have here about the literature review. When I look back at my own experience trying to write the research proposal, I did not enjoy the literature review because it was the most work. You enjoyed it for the right reason because it was the part that would help you in the long run the most. Coming to a better understanding of how pas research has been done will definitely help you with future research. Thanks for all of your help throughout this semester.
ReplyDeleteIf you do go into grant writing, I wish you the best of luck. It's a majorly competitive field, and depending on what industry you are working in, it can be a highly stressful job.
ReplyDeleteNot having taken the grant writing course yet, I can't speak to how stressful your experience was with the smaller local grants you might have pursued. However, independent grant writing might be something you want to look into; my wife has a friend who pretty much disappears into her office for three months, then takes the rest of the year off with a huge chunk of change in her pocket.
The other side is kind of what I ran into, though; depending on where you work, you only stay employed if you continue to win grants (and maybe not even then). A lot of administrative employees have little idea how much goes into the grant writing process, and many don't grasp how cutthroat the competition can be. The only advice I can give, really, is this: if you're feeling like you're value and longevity as an employee somewhere is tied directly to how many grants you win in a year, find a different employer.
Good luck, and I wish you all the success in the world because grant writing is actually fun and interesting if you go after the right ones.