Research Competency Synthesis 

There is a stigma linked to original research that makes most young scholars believe a researcher strictly belongs in a prestigious lab. Naturally influenced by this stigma, the proposed idea of creating original research for the Honors Program was incredibly daunting. After an initial investigation into the basics of research and its necessary skills, I quickly learned that I have already practiced numerous research skills and could actively complete original research through less sophisticated assignments and settings. I describe these qualities and research skills in my reflection essay for my Intro to Honors course. Throughout my education as an Honors Student, I learned that research does not have qualifying levels of sophistication, more narrow research questions are typically easiest to work with, and that sharing the information learned is just as important as the research itself.

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After I learned there are many basic steps to the development of research, I started to notice more areas where I utilized these skills. Simple tasks such as reading a composition of literature and comparing different thoughts on the same topic qualify as types of research activity. As I completed a Research Paper for one of my Communication Science and Disorder courses, I learned about the importance of a literature review when researching a question. A literature review allows for exposure to different perspectives and enhances background knowledge. Relying on multiple sources requires looking at similarities and differences while synthesizing an evaluation. My work becomes original when I explain my perspectives on the topic I am arguing or researching. This is a more basic step of research but is still research, nonetheless. All research questions begin with a foundation of educational literature before moving into a phase of experimental design.

 

Although they all seemed incredibly sophisticated with highly detailed methods of data collection, I became very familiar with academic articles throughout my undergraduate career. I was always more caught up in the process of data collection in these articles that it never occurred to me to think more about the importance of selecting a research question. When I was tasked with writing my own Academic Paper I was immediately halted by the wide range of possible questions I could research. I quickly learned the importance of having a narrow research question in order to accomplish this assignment. I did not have access to a lot of materials, so my data collection relied on a survey which provided me with sufficient data to develop an entire article with the addition of my literature review. I had to reflect on the information I collected and use my new knowledge to draw conclusions about the significance of my experiment. This was great initial exposure to composing original research. I gained insight about the entire process of research, from the question to the dissemination. I learned how to develop a suitable research question and chose an appropriate form of data collection for the project.

 

Up to the end of my undergraduate career, all my dissemination locations were decided for me; all were either a classroom or a fairly simple research project. My project associated with my completion of the original work competency requirement was not limited in any manner and completely up to us to decide what place we wanted to present our work. Ultimately, with numerous options, we decided to present our Memory Book Project at three different research conventions. We presented two posters in person, and the other was a prerecorded video presentation. The process of compiling the results of our research into a presentation that the average crowd would be able to comprehend proved to be just as challenging as the research itself. I learned the same lesson while completing a Teach a Topic assignment for one of my CIS courses. This project was heavily based in researching and learning new information, however, just as importantly we had to present the information to our class sufficiently enough that they felt educated on the topic. The dissemination of this small project required me to practice and prepare a thoughtful presentation, which is something I learned to reserve time for with future research projects.

 

The Honors Program pushed me to go outside my comfort zone to expand on questions I developed through my education. I was challenged with practicing the fundamental skills of research and reflecting on their importance, as well as moving forward in my maturity as a scholar through original research and meaningful dissemination. Research is a very important tool for the advancement of knowledge and being able to share content I have learned will be crucial to the development of my field. I will be able to take the lessons I learned from this program with me into my professional career to help advance the field of medicine for the betterment of my patients.