Doctoral Research: Issues and Pathways

Continuing Research amid Pandemic

During the course of the Lockdown, subsequent social distancing and health norms, like all research students throughout the world, I too faced uncertainty regarding my research plan, design and a general sense of apathy and demotivation. I will be honest, at the height of my dismay, I contemplated deregistering from my institution and course to take an online job with the hope that I may come back to it again when things perhaps come back to some sort of "normal". However deep down, I was also scared that in doing so, I might never actually finish my PhD and become part of the scores of dropout doctoral students. 

What changed my mind?

• Vlog post by Dr. Tara Brabazon, Dean of Graduate Research School at Flinders University, Australia.

Dr. Brabazon mentions that throughout our research journey as research students & academicians we may face challenges throughout our lifetime e.g. huge economic transformations, natural disasters. In the current scenario for example, the pandemic will have repercussions on the future movement of people, way we organize research conferences and share our findings with the community. So what are we going to do in the face of such upheavals and changes? Do we give up? work ourselves to death? "Take off our bras/pants and hope for the best?" or find a reflexive space to recharge, regroup and think about our motivations for research? "Change happens to us, if we our robust and can reflect on that change". She details 10 maxims that will help us create such a space for ourselves. On of them is "embrace the change". She elaborates further to say that we are often wedded to our projects or particular methodologies or theoretical designs, which borders onto evangelical commitments. Students are often not told the truth about research i.e. all research projects are slammed, contracted, impacted and distorted because of external events over which we have no control. Adapting to change is part of doing research. A great research emerges when things are not going as planned but the researcher has the intellectual dexterity to recognize the wrongness and do something remarkable with it. So let's not treat change as a full stop for research but make it an opportunity (watch the video for more details).

• In order to find some clarity and research guidance in these troubling time, some of us organised a virtual discussion with professors at institutions from around the world which further added to the understanding. 

The discussion highlights possible ethical and methodological concerns for researchers making a shift to conduct online research. However, it also points at assessing the purpose and impact of one's research question and weighing the feasibility of such a shift. Some examples of online research projects are discussed in detail to better highlight the concerns. In addition, role of the university and its infrastructure are discussed that may aid students (watch the video for more details).  

Motivating as the above videos are, it is fairly difficult to sustain this intellectual endeavor all alone. During the lockdown I often found myself on some days completely isolated and drained, lost and craving research companionship. It is in the midst of these gloomy thoughts that I started the following. 

Communities of Researchers

The term is derived from anthropologists Jean Lave and Etienne Wanger's (1991) work titled Situated Learning. In the very beginning chapter they explain, 

Learning viewed as situated activity has as its central defining characteristic a process that we call legitimate peripheral participation. By this we mean to draw attention to the point that learners inevitably participate in communities of practitioners and that the mastery of knowledge and skill requires newcomers to move toward full participation in the sociocultural practices of a community. "Legitimate peripheral participation" provides a way to speak about the relations between newcomers and old-timers, and about activities, identities, artifacts, and communities of knowledge and practice. It concerns the process by which newcomers become part of a community of practice (p, 29).

Research is very much a community led activity. The popular image of a researcher e.g. Dexter in his laboratory, is a myth. Even for natural sciences, progress and new ideas are difficult to come about without a healthy and sometimes explosive exchange between the community of scientists. For our purposes i.e. social sciences, the engagement with other peers and academicians is a necessary pre-condition to conduct our research. However, in the absence of such a community in person meant creating a virtual one.   

1. A small Telegram/WhatsApp group with few fellow researchers (M.Phil/PhD) where we often shared our concerns and helped each other out with issues or participated in mutual whining, a very cathartic experience. We supplemented this engagement with a weekly Zoom call (free account) where we made an effort to interact with are videos switched on. These calls were very unplanned where topics of conversations could be about anything under the sun e.g. talking to a friend after a year, a new recipe, movie, etc.  However, it also provided a feeling of community and sociability most necessary during a phase of isolation. Some of us also discussed our research related questions, supervisor conflicts and others in this call. 
2. Shut up and Write sessions. Writing is painful and difficult for many students of research. We began virtual community writing sessions online where we scheduled a time to write together on our individual tasks while being online. This has helped inculcate a sense of disciple for writing as well as finish a lot of work. (Note: In case you want to be part of any of the sessions, just reply to this post with your email address).  
3. Writing a research paper together. I had personally, before this, never written a academic research paper. The whole process was intimidating and unfamiliar. However, when I became part of a group who decided to write a research paper together I learnt so much in the process. Writing with some experienced researchers also helped break barriers about organising and writing a research paper.  In addition, it help build another community to interact and work with.  
4. Participating in online conferences. The pandemic brought with it many problems however, one thing I am really grateful about this phase is the accessibility of many international conferences and events online that were previously impossible to attend because of the travel cost. In addition, many of these conferences lowered their rates of registration making it ideal for students to participate. These have also been spaces where I met fellow researchers and made new connections. 
5. Organising events together. Many of the groups that I mentioned above were also spaces where we discussed student issues and possibilities of change. It is in these discussions that many of the students at my current institution organized events like the Student Meet, research presentations, discussions of research amid pandemic, among others. This has often been a very fruitful endeavor giving rise to more social initiatives and communities of researchers.  

Conclusion

We are all going through some history shaping times that are unpleasant and difficult in so many ways. The physical and mental toll of this pandemic, without questions is affecting our mental health and general well-being. Nonetheless as I have tried to explain and show though various examples, it is only by working together, developing a reflexive space and maintaining a sense of community that we will be able to continue our research in these uncertain times.