How finding your question and following your curiosity can naturally craft your research identity

Abstract

This talk will emphasize how developing a research identity can begin with a single question. The speaker will share the backstory to a current research project, they didn’t set out to do, that started this way. It involves reconstructing a historic bibliography, and then conducting an analysis of the works. While it was not a direct answer to the original question, it’s forming a basis for other papers, and a better knowledge base for the researcher. Over the course of this research, other scholarly projects have been conducted, as opportunities arose. Research is a journey that need not be mapped out, or go the direction you anticipate. The talk will discuss how the methodology can unify scholarly works and build skills in doing certain types of research, both of which play a role in crafting a researcher identity. For example, a bibliographic analysis and collection use analysis, are both data analysis projects. Therefore, reframing how you see different research projects can help bring cohesion to a researcher's identity.

Learning Outcomes: Participants will learn that little ideas or questions that are interesting to them, can grow in unexpected, but still satisfying ways. Participants will understand that even different projects can be unified by the research method, this can give opportunity for growth over time, in order to formulate a research identity.