Reflexive Essay: Applying Research Methodology and Reflexive Practice

This reflexive essay delves into the student's journey through a research methodology course, highlighting practical task reflections and ethical considerations. The student reflects on experiences such as conducting surveys, evaluating sources, and understanding participant behavior, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and unbiased data collection. The essay also addresses the need for flexibility and innovation in research, particularly when dealing with technology-related topics. The student acknowledges personal biases and mistakes made during the research process and discusses strategies for improvement in future projects. The essay concludes by emphasizing the importance of ethical research practices and the continuous need for self-reflection to ensure the quality and integrity of research outcomes. Desklib offers a wealth of similar student-contributed assignments and study resources for students.

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Reflexive Essay
Reflexive Essay for Research Methodology
Student Name:
Institute Name:

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Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
Practical Task Reflection.........................................................................................................3
Reflexivity.................................................................................................................................5
References.................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
As a researcher and as a student, it is exceptionally important for me to understand how my
practices, belief's and conduct in this field affect not only my research but also that of my
peers. As a researcher it is essential for us to be cognizant about our approaches and our
understanding of the issue we are working on, and how we have to ensure best and ethical
researching practices and how important it is to be free of bias and any pre-conceived notions
(Davies, 2006). To achieve a successful research practice, I have ensured that I will follow a
structured approach to the research which will help me in remaining effective and efficient
throughout this course, and critically evaluating all my responses for bias or factual
inaccuracy, before finalising them.
Practical Task Reflection
This practical task was one of the best this unit had to offer. Not only did it help me in
understanding people in general when I conducted the research, but it gave me the
opportunity to learn and discover a lot more things related to my topic than I otherwise would
have. The growth from this task has been enriching both personally and professionally. Also,
I understood how critical thinking plays an essential role in conducting these researches, and
how as a researcher I have to start thinking on a specific track to move ahead (Dahl, Peltier
and Schibrowsky, 2018)
Sitting for hours in the library not only helped me increase my level of patience, but also
helped me in understanding the difference between a good source, the better source and the
worst source for my research (Grewal, Kataria and Dhawan 2016). Right from differentiating
the author's credibility to the facts of the research material, everything was an experience
which helped me in critically evaluating everything; thus, building my base for critical
thinking and analysis of situations. Furthermore, while I was conducting my survey, I
understood how people react to situations, their curiosity to know more about the research
and how to filter response on the basis of merit. While I believe that I did a good job in
conducting the pilot test, the final survey in itself was not as good as I had expected it to be. I
realised that there was the time when I was directly interacting with the participants, and in
this process, I clouded their judgement regarding the survey; this was also mentioned in the

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survey handbook given by Levi (2018). This eventually reflected in their responses as well.
however, because of my awareness, I did not repeat this again. While understanding how
people perceive fitness and mental health, it struck me how as a researcher I needed to be
diverse in my approach and hence, I restructured the study in between to make it better,
diverse and inclusive of various other things, fitness technology being the most important of
them.
Furthermore, since this research was on a fitness app, it was essential that the way this
research is undertaken and presented is just as innovative as this app. Hence, I started finding
out information which could help me in reaching out to the scholars who view this paper. I
ensured that I incorporate enough images and detailed explanation of all the "relevant"
concepts wherever and whenever needed. Taking guidance from Yin (2014) and Gray (2018),
I commenced with the outcome I wanted to achieve and devised my research questions
accordingly; I then proceeded to consider each step set out in the table above. It was a
complex process, however, I believe once I understood the requirements well, it was easy for
me to find my own easy and simple ways to implements these practices. While most
researchers focus on answering the questions, I focussed on explaining them and branching
the questions to make this research a little ahead of its time. Any question that the reader
thought of, was already answered in the paper. This not only made it easily understandable
but also made it less redundant or vague. However, this approach can be my weakness as well
since the readers may not want so much explanation and can drop the paper because of this
(Derntl, 2014). Hence, I understood that for all the future tasks that I undertake, it is
important for me to remember that the structure of the paper has to be set keeping in mind
first the target audience and then its universal appeal. I also feel that it would have helped me
a lot if I could talk to the people of the Thanx app to get better insights for my research.
However, it was a lost cause since I did not put enough efforts in reaching out to the team,
and this idea too did not cement well during that time.
Reflexivity

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As a researcher, it is important for me to understand that all my actions have a direct impact
on the quality of the research and the results obtained henceforth (Babej 2019). While I was
conducting the research, it became quite apparent to me that my smallest of mistakes were
enough to sidetrack me from attaining decent results or the desired hypothesis being tested.
For example, the situation of the survey. I realised that there was a time when I was directly
interacting with the participants, and in this process, I clouded their judgement regarding the
survey. This was not expected out of me as a researcher since I am supposed to collect
unbiased or data free of bias. However, I myself influenced the participants dominantly
though, into altering their responses (Brudvig et. all 2013). I noticed this because while
interacting their responses were different, however, when I received the survey forms, the
responses were entirely polar. I immediately understood that it was because of the
conversations and explanations that I had with them. Hence, I decided that very moment to
drop any such activity to ensure that it does not have any effect on future research practices
whatsoever.
This effect is not just borne out of my own identity as outlined in the introductory section but
also how I negotiate ‘ethically important moments’ (Guillemin & Gillam 2014). A
researcher's response and handling of these moments are often not covered by a typical ethics
framework. Ethics are essential for any research whatsoever. Not following the ethical
approaches amount directly in ruining the research and the career of a researcher since these
practices come out in some way or other.
Also, during the course of this research, I understood how important flexibility is, obviously
in a controlled manner. Since I was working on a fitness app, it was essential for me to ensure
that I keep updating my research as per the trends of technological advancements and reader
expectation in this regard. Had I not done this, it would have been very difficult for me to
focus on completing this research in a manner which would make it appealing and relevant to
the readers (McKenna, 2018). A lot of creativity and critical thinking approaches had to be
used to ensure that the research comes out as good as possible. This allowed me otherwise as
well, as this soon became a pattern of my thinking. I approached this critical thinking by
simply understanding how the reader is going to perceive this research. I had to put myself in
the shoes of the reader and think from that point of view. Asking relevant questions and

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rechecking if my research had those questions answered if I was going outside the scope of
my research and so on. For example, when I was working towards explaining the working of
the Thenx app, as a consumer/reader I thought what is the most important thing? I came up
with the interface as my answer. Hence, in my final report, I focussed on explaining about the
app interface as well, and how it is important considering a client's view. This was quite a
simple example, however, this approach has now stuck to my head and will remain for every
work I do in the future. This not only makes the report readable but also ensures that the
interest of the person reading it does not vary. It is quite difficult to come up with an
academic report which is up to the academic standards and is easy enough to be understood
by a non-researcher or a non-academician (Bouyugues, 2018).

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References
Babej, M. (2019). Four Ways To Make Market Research Pay. [online] Forbes.com. Available
at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcbabej/2014/07/10/four-ways-to-make-market-research-
pay/#7ba9b7393160 [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Bouygues, H. (2018). To Develop Students' Critical Thinking Skills, Ask Them To Conduct
Scientific Research. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/helenleebouygues/2018/11/26/to-develop-students-critical-
thinking-skills-ask-them-to-conduct-scientific-research/# [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Brudvig, T., Dirkes, A., Dutta, P. and Rane, K. (2013). Critical Thinking Skills in Health Care
Professional Students: A Systematic Review. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 27(3),
pp.12-25. [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Dahl, A., Peltier, J. and Schibrowsky, J. (2018). Critical Thinking and Reflective Learning in
the Marketing Education Literature: A Historical Perspective and Future Research
Needs. Journal of Marketing Education, 40(2), pp.101-116. [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Derntl, M. (2014). Basics of research paper writing and publishing. International Journal of
Technology Enhanced Learning, 6(2), p.105. [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Grewal, A., Kataria, H. and Dhawan, I. (2016). A literature search for research planning and
identification of research problem. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 60(9), p.635. [Accessed 29
May 2019].
Guillemin, M. and Gillam, L. (2014). Ethics, Reflexivity, and “Ethically Important Moments”
in Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 10(2), pp.261-280. [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Humprey, J. (2011). Call for Papers: Special Issue of Research Ethics on Structures for
Research Ethics Committees and Research Ethics Review. Research Ethics, 7(1), pp.31-31.
[Accessed 29 May 2019].

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Levi, D. (2010). Vision Research reviews ‘vision research’. Vision Research, 49(22), p.2635.
[Accessed 29 May 2019].
McKenna, L. and Gray, R. (2018). The importance of ethics in research
publications. Collegian, 25(2), pp.147-148. [Accessed 29 May 2019].
Yin, R. (2011). Case Study Research: Design and Methods by YIN, ROBERT K. The
Modern Language Journal, 95(3), pp.474-475. [Accessed 29 May 2019].