Reflective Report on Selecting a Topic, Identifying Relevant Literature, Writing a Research Question, and Methodological Orientation

This reflective report summarizes an individual's critical reflection on selecting a topic, identifying relevant literature, writing a research question, and methodological orientation. It discusses strategies for selecting a topic, stages for identifying relevant literature, the importance of research questions, and the difference between methodology and methods.

Reflective Report

Table of Contents
INTRDOUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
The reflection report refers to a content that helps in summarising an individuals critical
reflection on a particular subject. Although the traditional academic writing discourages first-
person accounts, reflection reports rely on them. The following reflection report will consist of
my refection based on my various weekly lectures.
MAIN BODY
Selecting a topic.
Through this lecture I was able to understand the importance of selecting an appropriate
topic in an effective manner. During the lecture I was able to gain the understanding that is the is
initially and potentially the most important step in order to develop an appropriate research that
is highly credible (Willemsen., 2021). I was able to understand that selecting a correct and
suitable topic will help in determining the rest of the steps in an efficient as well as optimal
manner. In addition to this, it will help in evaluating the statement of the work along with what
sources will be required in order to make the work structured as well as systematic which marks
it important to choose a strong and engaging topic. During the lecture various strategies were
discussed that help in selecting a topic which will be advantageous to my work. Given below are
some of the strategies that were discussed during the lecture:
 It is crucial for evaluating the index as well as the articles titles in a subject-specific
encyclopedia that focuses on covering subjects areas or discipline.
 I was able to understand the strategy that I need to sped more time looking at major
journals in order to took for attractive topics that will be interesting and suit my particular
field of interest.
 I also learned about the strategy that was based on the utilisation of digital reference
sources which help in determining a particular topic in an efficient manner as well as
saves time.
 During the lecture it was also shared that in order to select a topic that is suitable
guidance can be taken from instructors as well as librarian in order to ensure that the
work is optimal.
 To focuses on selecting a topic that is interesting as well as creative and to keep the topic
that is not too broad or too narrow.
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Identifying relevant literature.
Through this lecture I was able to understand the importance of identifying relevant
literature and why its is importance to review an appropriate literature, through contextualising
as well as justifying intended study. This helped me gain the understanding the before I begin
conducting as well as writing a literature review I need to ensure that I have systematically
identify as well as sourced a broad range of relevant literature in order to make my work
structured and informative. In addition to this, during the lecture I was able to evaluate that by
doing so I will be able to maintain a sufficiently tight control over the set boundaries of my
research (Zare et. al., 2021). Moreover, I also need to ensure that I develop an efficient system
for managing retrieving and referencing the literature that I use. Furthermore, during the lecture I
was able to understand the various stages that are requires to identify relevant literature which
will improve the overall quality of my work in an optimal manner. Given below are the stages
that were discussed during the lecture:
Identifying search paths:
Though this step of the overall process I was able to understand the various ways through
which I can identify a search path which will allow me to evaluate appropriate literature in an
structured as well as systematic manner. The step consists of various options that include
databases along with citation searching which is a combination of bibliographies of relevant
articles. In addition to this, it also involves hand searching that is reviewing tables of contents in
key relevant journals along with expert pooling which focuses on asking tutors as well as
colleagues for suggestions.
Limiting search parameters:
This step that was discussed during the lecture involves setting limitations to the search
parameter in order to gain high level of efficient as well as productivity in identifying relevant
literature. This consisted of paying emphasis on previous research papers along with essays and
opinion papers in order to be clear on the rationale for the overall selection. In addition to this, it
focuses on setting the selection of data of publication in order to included more recent as well as
relevant work (Deggs and Hernandez., 2018). Furthermore, I can focuses on peer reviewed
journals along with grey literature which is unpublished material such as conference papers and
dissertations. These steps will also be to be effective in identifying relevant literature in a timely
manner as well as ensure that my work is appropriate.
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Writing a research question.
During this lecture I was able to understand the overall utilization of research questions
along with their importance in a research. Through the lecture I was able to gain the knowledge
that the research questions allow the research to have a purpose as it defines the research in a
clear as well as concise manner. In addition to this, I was able to understand that through
research questions I will be able to state the specific issues as well as problems that I need to
focus on relative to my given assignment. Moreover, it will also allow me to break down my
research project into more manageable tasks that will improve my overall performance as well
as productivity (Chard and Jones., 2020). Through this I will be able to define the research topics
of my work and develop a positive approach in order to investigate it. During the lecture it was
also discusses that is is necessary to focus on individual investigation within a question that I am
interested in answering as it will give me a goals to strive towards as well as help me in to keep
myself in check in order to evaluate if I am on track. Furthermore, I was able to learn that
through research question if done correctly will help me to set out what is to be answered. In
addition to this, it will help me make a plan for my research as well as help me foresee any form
of potential challenges or problems which will help m,e in saving my time, energy along with
efforts (Darcy., 2019). The lecture also allowed me to understand that in order for the research
questions to be optimal they need to be interesting and focusing on a specific topic. In addition to
this, I need to define what sorts of smaller question I need to ask.
Identifying a Philosophical position and methodological orientation.
During this lecture I was able to gain the understanding that there is a difference between
methodology and methods as a methods is a way of doing a research and involves survey
research, ethnography, documentary research along with quantitative interviews. In addition to
this I was able to learn for the lecture that methods are the techniques or procedures that are
utilized in order to gather as well as analyse data that is based on a research question of
hypothesis (Lee., 2018). On the other hand a methodology is the philosophical position which
underpins the overall understanding of what is getting done relive to generating knowledge about
the world. Furthermore, I was able to understand that a methodology is a strategy as well as a
design that is based on choice and utilizes particular methods in order to link the choices and the
methods that are desired by the research outcomes (Hay and Ross., 2021). Moreover, the
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methodology is related to epistemology and ontology along with all these concepts that are
refereed together as the philosophy of research of the philosophy of methods.
CONCLUSION
From the above reflection it can be concluded that, through the various lectures I was
able to gain valuable understanding on how to select a topic that will be interesting and consist of
credible sources. In addition to this, I was able to understand that it is vital for me to identify
relevant literature in order to make my work more reliable as well as structured. Furthermore,
through the lectures I was able to learn that the importance as well as the need for research
question and how it impacts the overall research. At last I was bale to expand my knowledge
through the lecture where I learned about philosophical positioning as well as methodological
approach which helped me evaluate how i can improve my research art a greater level.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Chard, R. and Jones, A., 2020. Reflective Journaling in an Online Qualitative Research Course:
Perspectives of Teacher and Student.
Darcy, S., 2019. Leisure with impact: Research, human rights, and advocacy in a reflective
review of a research career. Annals of Leisure Research, 22(3), pp.273-285.
Deggs, D. M. and Hernandez, F., 2018. Enhancing the value of qualitative field notes through
purposeful reflection. Qualitative Report, 23(10).
Hay, K. and Ross, B., 2021. Writing a reflective text. In Writing Skills for Social Work Students.
Red Globe Press.
Lee, S. C., 2018. Pre-service teachers' progressive reflective practices using weekly journals in
an action research project. Journal of Asia TEFL, 15(1), p.242.
Willemsen, M. C., 2021. Towards Reflective AI: Needs, Challenges and Directions for Future
Research.
Zare et. al., 2021. A formative and self-reflective approach to monitoring and evaluation of
interdisciplinary team research: An integrated water resource modelling application in
Australia. Journal of Hydrology, 596, p.126070.
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