Business Research Methods : Online Learning

Have you evaluated and reflected on your process?

Go back to your project proposal, and reflect on whether you were able to carry out your project in the way you intended.  This evaluation will be much easier if your original project proposal included a detailed schedule.

Think about 'lessons learned' - these can be positive as well as negative:

• What worked really well?
• What went wrong?

Ask yourself lots of questions, for example:

• What took longer than you expected?

• Did the project deviate in any way from the proposal? If so, why?

• Were there any gaps or limitations in your research? How have these affected the results?

• What might you do differently in future research?

This is your opportunity to:

• Critically discuss the limitations of your project and how these limitations affect your results

• Critically discuss the research process and learning experience.

Writing your reflection will be much easier if you keep a project log.

Record what you do as you do it - in whatever format is easiest for you, whether in a paper notepad or on your PC or your phone.  The notes don't need to be long.  Each time you do any work on your project, write down:

1. What have I done today?

2. Why did I do it like that? (ideally this should link with research you've previously read)

3. How did it go?

4. Where do I need to go next?

If you do this as you go along, it will give you a rich source of data for your reflection section, reminding you of things that you'd previously tried and might have forgotten about by the end of the project. 

• a detailed project proposal, including clear aims and objectives that you can assess yourself against

• a learning log or blog

• records of your meetings with your supervisor

• different drafts of your project plan, showing how it altered over time