Reflective Writing: Business Research Skills and Applications

This reflective writing assignment documents a student's learning experience in conducting business research, encompassing the formulation of a research proposal, data collection, and report writing. It evaluates the effectiveness of the learning process, emphasizing the development of crucial skills such as planning, organization, IT proficiency, and critical analysis. The reflection highlights the application of these skills in future academic endeavors, career advancements, and everyday life, emphasizing the importance of research writing in postgraduate studies and professional report writing. The student discusses the steps taken during the research process, including topic selection, hypothesis formulation, data collection, and analysis, ultimately concluding that business research fosters essential skills applicable across various domains.

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REFLECTION ON WRITING OF BUSINESS RESEARCH
Academic Institution
Course
Tutor
City/State
Date

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Reflection on Writing of Business Research
Introduction
For my class assignment 1 and 2, students in my class undertook business research writing. This
involved writing a research proposal, conducting the research itself and writing a research report.
It was a quite a learning experience. This paper documents a personal reflection of the
effectiveness of the business research, the skills learnt (learning outcomes) and how these may
be applied in the course, program and life in the whole context.
Effectiveness and Usefulness of the learning Experience
The learning process began with the formulation of a suitable research topic. The standard
requirement for developing a research is that the topic should be one that is researchable//////.
This aspect of the learning experience was vital to me because it’s comparable to goal setting in
life. In setting life goals too, one must ensure that they are achievable. This is one of the skills
that I learned from the formulation of the research topic.
The effectiveness of the research writing is manifest in the strict and predetermined ordering of
the writing. In a research proposal for instance, there are subsections with indicated sub headings
that come with specifications on the kind of information that should be written in the said
subsection. One cannot write information about the methods of data application in the section
that is designated for the background information. The research proposal apart from having a
properly formulated topic must have the introduction, literature review and methodology and

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conclusion chapters (Huang 2017, p. 22). The chronological order must be followed. This step by
step development of a research proposal teaches one how to organizes ideas and plan their work
before commencing writing.
It is nearly impossible to complete a research report without having some Internet Technology
(IT) proficiency (Huang 2017, p. 22). This became very evident to me during the business
research project writing. Data analysis methods using software such as SPSS (Statistical
Packages for Social Sciences) require some knowledge of IT. Since I was not tech savvy at the
moment, I had to consult with colleagues and see how to use the software. At the end of it, I had
gained some IT skills too.
How the Learning process will be useful to;
Course and Program
The learning process produced some skills in me that will be very necessary as the course
proceeds. After conducting the business research writing, I am effectively equipped to handle
any other assignment in the course. Successful completion of any assignment requires that the
researcher interrogates relevant sources (Jeyaraj 2018, p. 26). This is a skill that many students
fumble about, but after the successful conduct of research writing, identifying relevant sources to
be used for assignments has been made easy. By extension, these same skill set yielded by the
learning process can be applied in other areas of my program including other courses. The
learning process has enabled me to become more critical in handling further research papers and
assignments in the future.
Future Career and General Life

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In the future career advancements will require of me to undertake further studies. In pursuing
further studies such as Masters and PhD programs research writing is inevitable. I will build on
the skills earned in this learning process in my future career endeavors. Research writing skills
learned during undergraduate program apply in postgraduate writing although the scope is deeper
(Griffith, Rodriguez & Juarez 2016, p. 58). I will apply the same skills in writing business
reports at the workplace. Other vital skills learnt in research writing such as planning,
organizing, analyzing and reporting are vital in everyday life. The execution of a research project
requires proper planning and organization (Stichler 2014, p. 17). These can transform one’s life
when implemented in everyday living. Carrying out research work successfully also instills the
character of being committed to timelines and plans which is an essential skill in life too.
Research writing involves a lot of reading. One has to consult a wide variety of the existing
literature in the topic selected especially in building up the literature review section. Conducting
business research writing demands of one to be critical of things; ask questions as to why certain
variables in business occur the way they do and asking oneself what would happen if change was
effected on those variables. An in-depth analysis of the existing scholarly work on the chosen
topic of study is crucial for a research (Lee at al. 2011, p. 74). This aspect is effective in teaching
one how to develop an academic culture; a culture characterized by the desire to gather more
information on the observed phenomena in life.
What happened in the Learning Process?
In handling the assignments 1 and 2 of the business research, students were required to come up
with a business research proposal topic. So I searched from available sources in the library how
to formulate a research proposal that is researchable. That was a fundamental step in the

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assignment. In formulating a research proposal the researcher ought to ensure the topic is
researchable (Bastalich, Behrend & Bloomfield 2014, p. 378). Beyond this point, I wrote down
the research proposal. The next step was doing the study itself. Finally, I wrote the research
report.
Objective discussion of the learning Process
The learning process involved the selection of a research topic. This was quite easy because I
already had a number of topical issues that had evoked interest in me so I only did a little reading
of a few academic sources before I could be sure the topic was researchable. After this, I took to
writing the research proposal. Since I had never done research projects before, I spent time
studying on how to write a research proposal. After the selection of the topic I had to develop the
research questions and hypothesis. The formulation of research questions is central to the
research success because they identify the issues to be addressed by the research (Townes 2017,
p.91). I read different journal, books and peer reviewed articles which helped me to develop the
required sections of the research proposal. After which I went out to the field to collect data by
use of questionnaires. Data analysis then followed. Lastly, I penned down my research report.
Learning Process Explained
In the learning process I got new insights that I did not have before; I learned how to synthesize
information and putting together related information in developing a strong argument. Writing
research papers helps students develop proper argumentative skills in the critique of literature
review (Jeyaraj 2018, p. 32). Also, I was able to attain research writing skills that are necessary
to the progression of academic endeavors.
Application

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The skills leant in the course of conducting the business research writing such as planning
organizing, collecting data, analyzing and reporting are essential in other courses as well. They
are skills that I can apply in other areas of study in my academic program. They will come in
handy in the planning and execution of my assignments, term papers and research papers in the
other courses in my academic program. Business research has taught me to strictly work within
timelines to ensure I avoid the pressures of last-minute rushes. I intend to implement this in other
spheres of life in order to minimize time wastage in my future career.
Conclusion
This reflective writing has recapped the process of writing research papers. It has also detailed
the necessary skills that are requisite in the successful conduct of business research. In the
process of carrying out a business research, a number of skills such as planning, organizing,
reporting and analyzing are necessary for one to have and apply in their careers and general life
in order to realize better results.

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References
Bastalich, W, Behrend, M, & Bloomfield, R 2014, 'Is non-subject based research training a
‘waste of time’, good only for the development of professional skills? An academic literacies
perspective', Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 373-384. Available from:
10.1080/13562517.2013.860106. [30 May 2018].
Griffith, B, Rodriguez, Rc, & Juarez, Lm 2016, 'Engaging Graduate Students throughout the
Research Writing Process', JCT: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 55-66.
Huang, JC 2017, 'What do subject experts teach about writing research articles? An exploratory
study', Journal of English for Academic Purposes, vol. 25, pp. 18-29.
Jeyaraj, JJ 2018, 'It's A Jungle Out There: Challenges In Postgraduate Research Writing', GEMA
Online Journal of Language Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 22-37.
Lee, AN, Matthews, TD, Cucina, IM, & Tritschler, KA 2011, 'Promoting Research Writing in an
Undergraduate Measurement Course', Measurement in Physical Education & Exercise Science,
vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 67-84.
Stichler, JF 2014, 'The Ethics of Research, Writing, and Publication', Health Environments
Research & Design Journal (HERD) (Vendome Group LLC), vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 15-19.
Townes, JA 2017, 'Reading, Research, and Writing: Teaching Information Literacy with
Process-Based Research Assignments', Library Journal, vol. 142, no. 16, p. 91.