Arranged Marriage? My Research Journey

June 2018 marked my 30 (dog) years wedding anniversary with Research. As I look back and reminisce at the times we have shared thus far, I am tempted to assert that marriages do work, of course if you are getting married to research. Just like any marriage, it takes a lot of work. Undoubtedly, it was an arranged marriage. We both did not know much about each other at the start. However, we can hardly spend a day without each other. The million-dollar question is, “how did it all turn out to be happily ever after? Arranged marriage?” Well, when it comes to research it is not that complicated. Trust me, your efforts will be rewarded. It just takes a lot of practice, practice and practice.

My research journey has not been all roses and sunshine. At the start, I could hardly comprehend “correlation analysis” let alone pronounce “heteroskedasticity”. I still cannot pronounce it, to be honest. There was no word in the English language that could describe my lack of research knowledge. Nevertheless, the potential for career progression that research offered was a beacon of hope for our marriage life. Indeed, the relationship was symbiotic though there were ground rules that had to be adhered to. Back to my correlation dilemma, one of the valuable lessons I learnt from the onset is to never confuse correlation with causation. There is a nexus between ‘compatibility’ among partners and success in marriage, though compatibility among partners is not a cause of successful marriage. I hope my relentless use of marriage won’t be confused for chivalric romance. Nonetheless, my relationship with research is nothing short of a marriage.

It all started with a data coding task with SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) at secondary level of education. At the time, it had not dawned on me, that I was being introduced to someone (research) that would later on be a long-term ‘partner’. The experience was not eventful as I had no idea why I was coding in the first place. Surprisingly enough, I realized the utility of what I was doing two years later. As opposed to learning how to develop a proposal, identifying the research problem, coming up with the objectives, deciding on the methodology and so on, I started with data interpretation. Despite being good at writing right from the elementary level, that was not enough to be a good researcher. I had to read numerous books, watch video tutorials and practice on a daily basis.

The ground rules that I mentioned earlier were the smoking gun of my successful marriage. One of the ‘deadly sins’ in Research is plagiarism. Plagiarism can be equated to cheating in marriage. This sin is severely punished hence it is utmost necessary to avoid it by all means. To be candid, it is important to paraphrase, cite and quote to avoid plagiarism. Other than plagiarism, being an expert in all is to do with research takes time. Learning is continuous and it is good to acknowledge that you are never there. As simply put by Albert Einstein, “If we knew what it was, we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”

Finally, research ethics is also of essence. There are a number of partners that are involved in research hence it is crucial to have rules of engagement. The ethics are meant to ensure that there is truthfulness, integrity, openness and accountability. The research ethics pertaining aspects such as co-authorship and plagiarism ensure that intellectual rights of a researcher are protected and nobody else takes credit for their work. Furthermore, issues such as citation practice and scientific integrity ensure that there is uniformity, coherence and clarity in the way research publications are made. The implication is that, conformance to research ethics will ensure that authentic and well researched work are properly disseminated thereby enhancing collaborations and partnerships in research. This is not all that takes to be a good researcher or do good research, however it will help a great deal towards being an expert in research.