Reflection on Social Research

Reflection on Social Research

Preparation

Most people consult the internet for research purposes. Therefore, my training for the foundation of social research tutorial was over the internet. I searched and read multiple journals and research books just to get a gist of exactly what social research was.  I learned the definition of social research as a systematic study of human beings and their interactions by scientists, academic professors, and even students. In his book, Keith Punch suggested that social research is an art of human study (2013, p.28). Therefore I was mentally prepared to learn the art of studying humankind in the natural habitat. Thus, it was exciting to wait for the first class.

Furthermore, I have to read the origins and history of research. According to Gary McCullough, social research and social research originated from the ancient Greek. They rationally asked about human nature and their morality (2004, p.14). Furthermore, I came across the ideology that researchers research in a particular way and using particular methods. Because just like any other discipline, research requires ethics and respect. For example, it was unethical that some researchers in the 19^th century infected some black Americans with syphilis to conduct social research. The researcher wanted to understand the nature and behavior of the syphilis disease in black people (Munro, 2008, p.426). As I came to understand, the researcher had to conduct the research. Still, it was inhumane and very unethical for him to inflict another human being with the deadly disease just in the name of research. Therefore, I was very intrigued by what I found out on the internet, and I was ready to research the various methods of analysis that I was going to learn.

Participation.

Although the tutorial, I learned the essential subtopics in research. First, I learned the methods of conduction social research. Researchers conduct social research by observing people, administering questionnaires, looking through the internet to read websites and blogs, reading books and journals, and just asking questions orally (Payne and Payne,2013,p.28). Personally, the methods of research are broad enough and comprehensive in that for someone shy like me, and I do not talk to people, I can still research by questionnaires or merely observing. Secondly, I learned that research has its hardships. For example, quality research on people requires one to travel around the world. That brings about the expensive costs attached to the study.

Furthermore, even one has access to the funds. One could face challenges in the area they are going to conduct research (Munro, 2008, p.427).  For instance, if a researcher is going to research a deserted country, the roads around the place are not accessible. Therefore, transport is compromised. Most people to whom the research is about might give wrong results by not acting naturally when the researcher is around. Some of these are just a few of the challenges I have to learn.

Moreover, I learned more about the ethics attached to research. The point of reference to ethical research was the Nazi human experimentation in Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Physicians forced Jews, disabled Germans, and even their children into medical testing without their consent (Strous, 2006, p.35). It was after this horrific medical torture that scientists come together to establish the ethics of conducting research. The rules I learned included that the people under a study should consent and should be willing to research without any coercion.  I learned all these by actively participating in the tutorials. By actively learning, I attended every class and subsequently held group discussions with my peers.

Reflection

I appreciate the teachings of the professors, and I owe them a lot because I have learned a lot from them. However, some concepts are difficult to grasp. One of them is a citation. When one completes his/her research on a particular subject, they have to put their ideas on paper cand that requires a clear format of citation and writing. I think the many writing formats are so many, and to effectively master all of them is quite challenging; therefore, I would like to learn more about that part. In addition to that, I also think that social research is a vast area. It is almost impossible to learn everything about research. Therefore, I would like our professors to make learning methods that would be very interesting yet would cover almost everything. For example, exciting videos and animated videos could illustrate most notes. That would be a fun way to learn social research. This tutorial has proven to me that I am a fast learner, and even though I struggled with some things, I surely caught up. I also realized that I work well with others considering that I was part of many group discussions that ended with all of us benefitting from the contribution of group members.

I think that well-conducted research can change and solve most of the world’s problems.