Report R1.5 Guidelines for Research Students: Do's, Dont's, and Other Tips Seminar Leader: Tripti Singh, FPM Scholar, XLRI, Jamshedpur xltripti[at]yahoo.co.in The seminar focused mainly on practical guidelines for research students. One of the areas addressed was the relationship between a research student and the supervisor concerned. As a supervisor and research student work together closely for a number of years, it is necessary to develop mutual respect and trust. Various practical tips on supervisor-researcher relationship were given from the experience of the seminar leader, like asking for prior appointments, regular interactions on research areas, etc. The research student should respond to feedback and criticism from, and also learn how to handle unprofessional behaviour from supervisors and others. Some issues regarding the recording of data were discussed next. It was stated that the purpose of recording data is to process later. A handout was circulated containing some tips on how to collect data using questionnaires. After going through the tips of data keeping, participants discussed the ways they employ to record data. The points which came out of the discussion gave practical insights into how this process can be better managed. The next point was how to manage time effectively and efficiently. Various aspects of research, such as development of new theory, models, tools, techniques and procedures, further studies on existing theories, originality in exploring the unknown and unanticipated, originality in use of data, etc., were discussed. Flagging (weakening of research interest in course of time) is a problem for most research students. Often, researchers lack a sense of direction, get discouraged while aiming for perfection, and lose interest. They are often in a dilemma whether to continue the research work or not. The seminar leader said that a person should be self-motivated to carry the research work forward as research mainly involves self-study. The student should decide the topic (area) of the research within a year of joining, start the literature review and try to develop a framework for research work for next 2/3 years. Students should keep their supervisors regularly updated about the work they do as well as keep a track of research in their area of interest. The seminar leader also elaborated on the policies followed at XLRI, Jamshedpur, for the FPM curriculum, core courses required for an FPM student, and some interesting experiences while pursuing her FPM course. Reported by Srikant Panigrahy, with inputs from D. P. Dash and Jacob D. Vakkayil. Copyleft Xavier Institute of Management, Xavier Square, Bhubaneswar 751013, India Research World (ISSN 0974-2379) http://www1.ximb.ac.in/RW.nsf/pages/Home |
