Unit 3 by Shiphrah Forsyth

Unit 3 built upon the concepts outlined in the previous unit by drawing attention to communication of the research process as this is a critical element of research. The first session examined the Research Proposal with focus on the elements that it is comprised of and its function. I learnt that organizations have a social responsibility to share research findings especially in cases where adverse effects upon the environment and it inhabitants have been discovered. For example, if a company that produces baby products conducts research on one its products (flotation devices) and discovers babies have drowned due to a flaw in the design of the product. Said company will be morally obligated to divulge these findings. This aspect was fascinating to me as several companies have come under scrutiny for suppressing research findings that would negatively impact the financial standings of the company.

I also learnt that preparation for writing the research proposal is essential to the successful completion of the proposal. At the end of the proposal the researcher should have answered some standard questions that would present a strong case as to the importance of the problem which they intend to research. Referencing was reiterated as plagiarism is a serious offence with severe consequences. The ten elements of the research report were outlined with attention being drawn to the fact that both the proposal and the report are similar with the main distinction being the tense in which each is written.

Some interesting TEDTalk videos were used to emphasize the importance of being prepared when making an oral presentation. I learn better when I watch videos so this was greatly appreciated. We were admonished to avoid some common pitfalls (winging it because one thinks he/she is charismatic). We were also given some tips on how to get an audience from the beginning to the end of an oral presentation while taking few to zero detours which can cause an audience to become bored or distracted and miss the information being disseminated. This aided to dispel my thinking that good presenters succeeded based on talent or simply vast knowledge in their field.

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