Management - Class Reflection Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management - Class Reflection - Research Paper Example The last and the most important area is the way to write a flawless dissertation in a cohesive way. The Course Content and Outcome This course has provided me in depth knowledge into the various aspects of research process, and also various forms of research. Evidently, the course gives adequate knowledge about the various aspects of research according to American Psychological Association. It also teaches how to do literature review, various aspects of grammar, and also how to develop a good dissertation. The very first thing I learnt is the use of action research. Contrary to my view that research is something different from doing things practically, the course made me learn how it is possible to ‘learn while doing’ through action research. Also, for the first time, I realized that action research is different from other forms of research in the fact that it turns the people involved into active researchers too. Te researchers do things, observe changes, make modificat ions, and try again until a solution is reached. As Greenwood (1999, pp. 85-87) points out, the research takes place in real life situations and the solutions too come out in real life situations; not in just theory as it often happens with other forms of research. Also, I gained the idea how important it is to have the principles of reflexive critique. As Mike (2007) states, the term ‘reflexive critique’ means to reflect on issues and processes and to make explicit the interpretations, biases, assumptions, and concerns upon which judgments are reached. This is important to do because truth is relative to the teller. This helps developing theoretical considerations from practical accounts. In addition are the factors like dialectical critique and collaborative resources. Thus, I learnt the fact that action research is very useful in such real life situations like a workplace to solve real life problems. As Rehm and Cebula (1996, pp. 1-3) point out, another vital point i s the use of the Search Conference tool which can be effectively utilized in various organizations. Two other research areas explained are qualitative research and quantitative research. Sukamolson (n.d) opines that while qualitative research is about counting and measuring things, producing averages and differences in numbers. Qualitative research stems from social science and hence, is more concerned about people’s knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and fears. In addition, the course made me understand how qualitative research is more useful in identifying a large number of hidden attitudes and values that will be missed in qualitative research. For example, while quantitative research will help in identifying a trend, qualitative research will be required to find the reason behind that trend (QSR International, 2011). In addition, the study gave an insight into various forms of data collection in qualitative research. They are focus groups, direct observation, and i n depth interviews. Some other methods used in qualitative research are diary methods, role play, simulations, and case studies. Also the course helped me understand how difficult it is to conduct an extensive qualitative research as it is more labor intensive than other forms of research. Some other problems as connected to qualitative research are lack of generalizability, possibility of research bias influencing the observation, and poor reproducibility of the