- Published: September 18, 2022
- Updated: September 18, 2022
- University / College: University of Cambridge
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Downloads: 33
Personal reflection In this present paper will the personal experience that I had while preparing and conducting my research project, and even writing up my complete dissertation. The reflection of my experience will only focus on five key areas that I will discuss in this present paper.
Personal strengths and weaknesses
As I reflect back on the entire process of conducting the research and even writing up the dissertation, I am also able to evaluate myself and take note of my personal strengths and weakness, which I exhibited during the process.
My main weakness that came out clearly, while I was doing my dissertation is poor time management skills. I discovered I have poor time management skills because of the fact that I was unable to fully adhere to the time schedule that I had set for myself and in most cases I was forced to carry forward certain tasks beyond the deadline that I had previously set.
I should great strengths in regards to records keeping and management since I was able to refer back easily to all the records that I had collected before starting to write the dissertation. Secondly, I showed great strengths in handling people since none of the respondents was harsh to me or refused to cooperate. This showed that I knew how to convince people and engage them in conversation up to the point they willingly agree to participate in my research project.
The problem encountered
The main problem that I encountered was limited secondary resources that directly touched on my research topic or objectives. This is to say that the number of scholarly books and articles that touched of personal selling and in stores, sales of Blackberry in stores that are located in China were not easily available.
How I solved the problem
The lack of scholarly books and articles that directly covered my dissertation topic or objectives did not discourage me, but rather it confirmed that my research project was unique and it was bound to help in building the body of knowledge in marketing studies. That said, I solved the problem by relying on scholarly books and articles that indirectly touched on the subject, for example sources that touched on direct marketing and personal selling were completely relevant and useful.
Secondly, I applied the use of internet sources from credible sites that touched on my research topic directly or indirectly, these sources helped to bridge the gap caused by limited scholarly books and articles.
Effectiveness of the chosen methodology
The methodology that I chose incorporated the application of both primary and secondary research, which validated the research findings in the sense that secondary data were used to validate primary data.
Secondly, the use of questionnaires as data collection tools was very effective since they do not consume a lot of time and the data collected through questionnaires are usually easy to analyze and interpret.
Thirdly, the formula I used in selecting the research participants was effective since I was able to obtain unbiased findings or results that were not inclined to favor a particular party.
How my individual research competencies have developed
From the experience I obtained while doing this dissertation, I believe my individual research competencies have developed in the sense that I can now select an appropriate area of study that I am sure of getting both secondary and primary data. Secondly, I am able to select appropriate data collections tools and devise them in a manner that I will be able to collect relevant data that I can easily analyze and interpret.
In conclusion, I can state that doing my dissertation was a learning processes where I was able to discover my weaknesses and certain problems that can emerge while doing a research project, and with this in mind I believe in the future I will be able to conduct research that are error free and accurate.