23rd May: Kerry's last lecture - Reiteration of main concepts and some concluding thoughts

Kerry held his last lecture today and reinforced several main concepts which he wants us to keep in mind for the rest of our research journey.

(1) Elements of a good proposal and good write-up

Research Problem (Motivation)
- Debate/Confusion in “specific” literature

Theory (Theorisation)
- Proposed explanation/solution to research problem

Method (How?)
- Approach to “get evidence” to support theory

Data/evidence/argument (Argumentation)
- Evidence “mobilised” to argue for (against) theory (theorisation)
- What do the quotes bring to your solution? You need many quotes to make a good argument.
- With quotes (as opposed to stories), you would have to introduce the interviewee first before using the quotes. 

Conclude (Come up with best solution)
- Resolve problem
- Look forward

The above points were being mentioned in most of Kerry's lectures, so by this time of the year, I'm more or less familiar with what they are and their importance. Nevertheless, this is a good reminder, since I'm starting on my write-up soon. 

(2) Difference between academic contribution and practical contribution

Kerry also mentioned that researchers (experienced/PhD students/Honours students/etc.) tend to confuse academic contribution and practical contribution. To have a clearer idea of the key difference between both, he explained that more often than not, academics seek to resolve an on-going debate in their area of research, while practical implications are on a much larger scale that are applicable to the real world. This is a trap that I often fall into - I often write theoretical contribution from a practical point of view, neglecting the academic approach. Kerry also mentioned that in most cases, an academic contribution is made first, and it'll usually be extended and made applicable to the real world. Given that I have always been quite casual about theoretical contribution (in fact, I never quite saw its importance!), I will certainly be more careful with the way I pen my theoretical contribution from now on.