Report: Research Capacity Building for Early Career Researchers

A Two-Day workshop on “Research Capacity Building for Early Career Researchers” was organized by Centre for Women’s Studies in collaboration with Department of Women Studies, Savitri Bai Phule University, Pune and Brunel University, UK. The workshop was attended by 50 participants from the discipline of Arts & Social Sciences and Commerce & Management. The objectives of the workshop were:

• To familiarize the participants with the basic concepts of research methodology
• To enable the participants to develop a good research plan proposal
• To impart skills for integration of Qualitative and Quantitative Research
• To develop skills for engaging in critical thinking and analysis through review of literature
• To develop skills in communicating research outcomes

The workshop commenced with a welcome note by Dr. Ashok Gupta, Hon. Chancellor, IIS (Deemed to be University), Jaipur. He shared his thoughts on the importance of research and the importance of these academic events in paving their path for future research endeavors. He blessed the participants and extended his wishes for the success of the workshop. He also expressed his belief that the choice of sessions and selection of resource persons would make the workshop beneficial for all participants.  The inaugural session was followed by 8 technical sessions.

The first technical session was on the topic “Research Methodology: Conceptual Framework and Data Collection Techniques”. The resource person was Professor Nisha Yadav, Department of Sociology, IIS(deemed to be University), Jaipur. She elaborated on the basic concepts of research and explained the steps involved in the process of research, and also elaborated upon the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative research. She dealt in detail with data collection techniques like Observation, interview and Questionnaire and imparted hands-on-training to participants by assigning them a task to frame close and open ended questions. It helped the participants to acquire a better understanding regarding language and sequencing of questions. She concluded with the significance of choosing appropriate data collection tools for strong basis of research and better results while working on the hypothesis.

The second technical session was on “Research Design”. The resource person for the session was Prof. Rajiv Gupta, Former head, Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He began his discussion by stating that every imagination should be addressed within the context of the specializing discipline to make it relevant to the idea of research. While touching upon several global issues like gender empowerment   and political scenario, he introduced how a researcher can draw from a wide range of topics to frame a research design. He discussed in detail about inductive and deductive logic and also elaborated on various aspects of framing hypothesis. He also shared his knowledge on various models of research designs to emphasize that efforts should be made to move from particularity to generality.

Followed by a tea-break, the third technical session was on “Quantitative Research Techniques”. The resource person for the session was Prof. B.L. Gupta, Department of ABST, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He opened the session with a strong opinion on research as an attempt to find something new to have a clear statement of purpose.  He discussed the problems encountered during the process of research, talked about the determination of representative character and emphasized the significance of larger sample size for accurate results; however, he also clarified that even small sample size is sufficient for a homogenous group. He dealt at length with the Quantitative Data Analysis. Focusing upon the significance of data spread, he explained the importance of the selection of the right variation for study and took Association analysis, trend analysis, hypothesis testing and sample choice significance in hypothesis testing, Z test, T test, Chi- square, ANOVA, to name a few as part of his discussion.

The fourth technical session was the Practice Session. The participants were given a quiz and were assigned the task of framing objectives and hypothesis. They were required to submit the response mandatorily as part of the necessary requirements to receive a certificate.

On the second day of the workshop, the first technical session on “Review of Literature” was taken by Dr. Roopam Kothari. She began the session with an introduction to systematic literature review, emphasizing upon its significance in the research journey. The participants were introduced to the basic concept of systematic review- secondary research as part of it- and then familiarized with the scope and phases of systematic review. She also defined topics like purpose of research and research questions along with other components like models of research methods PICO, SPICE, ECLIPSE, SPIDER, to list a few. Under a very structured and clear flow of presentation on the topic, she moved from Review of Literature to Developing Protocol, Conducting Research, Selection of Studies and Assessment of Quality. The presentation was followed by a Data Extraction Exercise for imparting practical training to the participants. All participants were introduced to every step of this task through various online platforms.

 Dr. Priyanka Tripathi, Head, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences was invited as the resource person for the second session of day 2 on the topic “Writing Effective Project Proposals”. She acquainted the students with dos and don’ts to be followed while writing effective project proposals. The session was attended both by the participants and faculty members from other departments to make it more inclusive and of interest to the younger colleagues. She listed down few agencies to be contacted and talked about NEP 2020’s focus on bringing interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research within its purview. She shared why, a chosen topic, must have some social implication. She also stressed on the importance of social benefit of research that should be clearly slated in the research proposal, irrespective of the discipline of the investigator/s. After a brief introduction to the four areas of research, Dr Tripathi focused upon how to formulate a very justifiable budget, an appropriate title, a clear and succinct introduction, relevant Literature Review, and fill in the details under the other mandatory headings while submitting research proposal/s to various funding agencies.

Followed by a lunch break, the third session by Dr Priyanka Tripathi was a practice session on writing effective project proposals. She took the students through ICSSR, UGC, ICHR, NCW, and IKS portals to familiarize them with various modalities involved in the process of submitting an application. 

The fourth session was taken by Prof Maria Tsourofouli, Dept. of Education from Brunel University, UK. The topic of her presentation was “Publishing in International Journals and Disseminating Research”. She acquainted the participants and young researchers with the whole technical process of publishing papers in journals of repute. Her session familiarized the participants with various platforms and online portals that can be explored by researchers for the purpose of publishing and disseminating research, that has always been challenging for the scholarly community. She explained the nuances involved in publishing with international journals, beginning right from selecting the right journal for an article to checking the impact factor and ensuring the authenticity of the indexing of a journal. She also educated the participants on the ethics behind the publication process, including how to deal with and respond to reviews professionally and academically.

After the fourth session, it was the Valedictory session wherein Dr Sucharita Sharma, Workshop Coordinator & Additional Head, Department of English, IIS (Deemed to be University), Jaipur, presented the Workshop Report. Then, the participants were invited to share their feedback on the Workshop. The participants appreciated the organization of the workshop. They found the sessions informative and enriching, and the choice of speakers very pertinent to the topics. Almost all participants were of the opinion that more workshops of similar nature should be organized for a longer duration in near future on SPSS, and alike software. The participants enjoyed the sessions because of their interactive nature and the practical approach of the resource persons, along with the hand-on-training given to them during and after the sessions. Overall, the feedback was very positive and the workshop proved beneficial for all the participants.

The workshop concluded with a formal vote of thanks by Dr Arti Sharma, Workshop Coordinator & Head, Department of Sociology, IIS (Deemed to be University), Jaipur.