How can researchers avoid inserting their own beliefs about emotion in their research?
Postgraduate Tips
As an educationalist you’ll know a lot about credentialism: the theory that social status and professional/career advancement are nowadays directly related to one’s possession of academic qualifications. Well, sorry to have to tell you, it’s about to get worse. In the UK alone, postgraduate applications are up by 20% as thousands of students, faced with a shrinking job market due to Covid, apply to study ‘panic masters” degrees.
We at EDDi cannot stop you panicking but we can offer you great advice as you embark on that long-awaited (and increasingly essential) MA, MBA, MEd, MSc or doctorate.
Any researcher, quantitative or qualitative, who tells you they are operating entirely objectively in their research activities is kidding not only you but also themselves.
There is no such thing as pure objectivity in human discourse.
We each come with views, attitudes, beliefs and values already functioning in our character and behaviour. And there is no way to keep these removed from research procedures. Sure, we can act to minimise them, but we should not imagine they can be completely erased.
I am a qualitative researcher and much prefer it when the researcher declares their personal relationship to the study from the outset rather than pretend that somehow their emotional selves are not irrevocably tied up with the research.
If you are not emotionally involved in the research then you shouldn’t be doing it. At the same time, don’t allow that subjective association to overwhelm you nor stop you seeing and accepting realities which you’d prefer were not there.
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Since 2017, Dr Stephen Whitehead has answered over 10,500 Quora questions, mostly on education, relationships, sociology, life and living, and philosophy. To date, his answers have received over 3.5 million views increasing at the rate of 75,000 a month. He has over 1000 followers. For more info, head here.
PGCEi: WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The Warwick name opens doors.
Warwick’s PGCEi has been designed to be robust and rigorous - and, with a fully assessed teaching component plus 90 Masters credits, it has quickly gained respect amongst international schools.
Warwick offer more contact, more support, more advice and more credibility. A teaching placement and link tutor visit are compulsory elements of the course.
More than just a certificate, Warwick's PGCEi is a passport to employment at high-quality schools worldwide.