Research Methodology - Attitude Change

Summary

This video discusses the importance of attitude transformations for effective academic research methodology. It emphasizes the shift from reading to learn to critically evaluating sources, the need to communicate and argue through research, gaining a broad understanding of one's topic, narrowing down research topics for focus, developing a clear thesis, and the significance of outlining to structure academic writing.

Takeaways

• 📚 The primary goal of academic research is not just to learn from a book, but to critically evaluate the material and determine the best sources for learning.
• 🔍 A key attitude transformation for research methodology is the shift from reading to learn to reading to compare and evaluate different sources for better understanding.
• 🤔 Critical thinking is essential in academic research, which involves questioning the validity and reliability of the information read, rather than passively accepting it.
• 🗣️ Research is a tool for communication and argumentation, not just an end in itself; findings should be used to make a point or support an argument.
• 🧠 Developing a broad working knowledge of one's topic is crucial, including understanding the history, methodologies, and key scholars in the discipline.
• 📘 Recognizing the importance of narrowing down research topics to make them more focused and manageable for in-depth study and analysis.
• 📝 The necessity of having a clear thesis statement that encapsulates the main argument or point of the research, which should be developed before writing begins.
• 📋 The value of creating an outline to organize thoughts and ensure that each section of the research builds logically towards the thesis and overall argument.
• 🚀 The attitude change towards starting research early, with extensive reading and understanding before beginning to write, to improve the clarity and effectiveness of the writing.
• ✍️ The practice of writing with a clear direction, ensuring that each part of the research leads to the next in a coherent and logical manner, as opposed to writing aimlessly.
• 🔑 The importance of making one's own decisions in academic writing by engaging deeply with the material, rather than simply echoing the opinions of others.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video lecture?

The main focus of the video lecture is on 'attitude transformations' necessary for research methodology, particularly in the context of academic writing and critical thinking in a scientific or theological discipline.

Why is the concept of attitude transformation important in research methodology?

Attitude transformation is important because it helps students move from simply learning from a book to critically evaluating information, understanding the discipline's history and methodologies, and effectively communicating their findings or arguments.

According to the script, what is the first attitude transformation students need to make regarding their reading habits?

The first attitude transformation is shifting from reading to learn something from a single book to evaluating and comparing multiple sources to determine the best learning material.

What does the lecturer mean by 'critical thinking' in the context of academic research?

In the context of academic research, 'critical thinking' refers to the ability to question and evaluate the content read, rather than just accepting it as true, and to understand the relationship between different sources of information.

What is the second attitude transformation discussed in the script?

The second attitude transformation is viewing research not just as a means to learn, but as a tool to communicate, explain, or argue for something based on the learned information.

How does the lecturer suggest students approach their research to ensure effective communication of their findings?

The lecturer suggests that students should see their research as part of an argument or point they are trying to make, ensuring that all learned material directly or indirectly supports their communication.

What is the importance of having a broad working knowledge of one's topic in research?

Having a broad working knowledge of one's topic is important because it provides a comprehensive understanding of the discipline, its history, main ideas, methodologies, and key scholars, which is essential for informed and credible academic writing.

What is the third attitude transformation mentioned in the script?

The third attitude transformation is the need to narrow down research topics to make them more focused and researchable, as opposed to addressing overly broad issues.

Why is it necessary to narrow down research topics according to the lecturer?

Narrowing down research topics is necessary to make them more manageable and specific, allowing for a more in-depth investigation and a clearer argument or solution to be presented.

What does the lecturer suggest as the fourth attitude transformation for effective research?

The fourth attitude transformation is the development of a clear thesis statement that encapsulates the main point or argument of the research, which should guide the entire work.

How does the lecturer recommend students prepare for their writing to achieve clarity and effectiveness?

The lecturer recommends that students prepare by doing extensive reading, understanding, and developing an outline before they start writing, which helps in organizing thoughts and ensuring a clear progression of ideas.

What is the final attitude transformation discussed in the script?

The final attitude transformation is the importance of working with outlines, which ensures that every section of the research builds towards and follows logically from the others, leading to a coherent and well-structured argument.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Attitude Transformations in Academic Research

The speaker introduces the concept of attitude transformations necessary for effective academic research methodology, emphasizing the shift from passive reading to active evaluation of sources. The goal is to move from learning from books to critically assessing the quality and relevance of information. This involves developing critical thinking skills to determine the best learning material and understanding the relationship between different books and articles.

05:00

🗣️ Research as Communication and Argumentation

The second paragraph discusses the need to view research not merely as a means to learn, but as a tool for communication and argumentation. The speaker stresses the importance of using research to make a point or argue for a particular perspective. This requires an understanding that academic writing is about more than just personal learning; it's about contributing to a broader discourse and effectively communicating one's findings and arguments to others.

10:02

🌐 Developing a Broad Understanding of One's Topic

In this paragraph, the speaker highlights the importance of having a comprehensive knowledge of one's research topic. This includes understanding the history, key scholars, methodologies, and evolution of the discipline. The speaker emphasizes the necessity of reading widely to gain a deep understanding of the field, which is essential for making informed decisions about the relevance and quality of different sources.

15:02

🔍 Narrowing Down Research Topics for Focused Inquiry

The speaker discusses the importance of narrowing down broad topics to make them researchable. This involves selecting a specific aspect of a larger issue, such as focusing on a particular area, demographic, or response to a problem. The goal is to create a clear and focused research question that can be effectively addressed through a targeted investigation.

20:03

📝 The Importance of Having a Thesis and Outline

The final paragraph emphasizes the need for a clear thesis statement and a well-structured outline in academic writing. The speaker explains that a thesis is the central argument or point of the research, and an outline helps to organize ideas and ensure that each section of the work logically leads to the next. This approach is contrasted with the common practice of writing without a clear plan, which can result in unclear and ineffective arguments.

Keywords

💡Attitude Transformations

Attitude Transformations refer to the necessary changes in mindset that individuals must undergo to effectively engage in academic research. In the context of the video, this concept is crucial as it highlights the shift from passive learning to critical thinking and active evaluation of information. The speaker emphasizes that academic research is not merely about learning facts but discerning the quality and relevance of the information being studied.

💡Academic Writing

Academic writing is a formal style of expression used in scholarly work, characterized by its precision, objectivity, and evidence-based arguments. The video discusses the importance of academic writing in the context of research methodology, emphasizing that students must learn to write not just to convey information, but to argue a point, substantiate a claim, or communicate a solution effectively.

💡Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the process of analyzing and evaluating information to form a judgment. The video script underscores the importance of critical thinking in research methodology, suggesting that students should not merely accept information at face value but should critically assess the validity and usefulness of what they read, particularly in the context of academic research.

💡Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to the systematic procedures and strategies used in scientific research to ensure the validity and reliability of the findings. In the video, the speaker discusses the need for students to understand and apply appropriate research methodologies, as this is essential for conducting effective academic research and writing.

💡Theological Studies

Theological studies involve the examination of religious beliefs, practices, and texts from an academic perspective. The video script mentions theological studies as an example of a discipline where students must learn to critically engage with multiple sources and perspectives to develop a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

💡New Testament Studies

New Testament Studies is a field of religious studies that focuses on the analysis of the New Testament texts within their historical, cultural, and literary contexts. The video uses New Testament Studies as an example to illustrate the need for a broad understanding of a discipline, including its history, key scholars, and methodologies.

💡Historical Critical Method

The historical critical method is an approach to biblical studies that emphasizes historical context and critical analysis of the text. The video mentions this method as an example of a traditional approach in New Testament Studies, contrasting it with more contemporary methods like literary criticism.

💡Interdisciplinary Approach

An interdisciplinary approach involves integrating concepts and methods from multiple disciplines to address a research question or problem. The video suggests that researchers, particularly in fields like theology and biblical studies, should consider an interdisciplinary approach to gain a more holistic understanding of their topics.

💡Narrowing Down Topics

Narrowing down topics refers to the process of refining a broad research question into a more focused and manageable one. The video emphasizes the importance of this process in making a research project more researchable and specific, using the example of focusing on a particular aspect of drug addiction or alcoholism in a specific region.

💡Thesis

A thesis is a statement or proposition that forms the basis of an argument or research paper. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of having a clear thesis, which should be a concise and focused point that the research aims to prove or explore, guiding the overall structure and direction of the academic work.

💡Outline

An outline is a structured plan or summary of the main points and subpoints of a piece of writing. The video script highlights the importance of creating an outline before writing, as it helps in organizing thoughts, ensuring logical flow, and maintaining focus on the thesis, ultimately leading to clearer and more effective academic writing.

Highlights

Research methodology class aims to transform student attitudes towards academic research and writing.

Students often come from colleges that do not emphasize academic writing, requiring significant adjustment at the science institution.

Academic research is about evaluating multiple sources to determine which is most valuable, not just learning from one source.

Critical thinking involves assessing the quality and relevance of different materials to enhance understanding and learning.

Research methodology involves learning to communicate findings, not just acquiring knowledge.

Broad knowledge of a topic and its historical context is essential for effective research and writing.

Knowing key scholars and their contributions in a field helps in understanding the discipline's development and current state.

Research topics should be narrowed down to make them more manageable and focused.

A thesis statement is crucial as it clearly defines the researcher's argument or main point.

Creating an outline before writing helps in organizing thoughts and ensuring the research is coherent and logically structured.

Effective academic writing requires planning, understanding, and clarity about the research's direction and goals.

Students must learn to evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources to construct well-informed arguments.

Developing a broad understanding of a topic includes familiarizing oneself with its history, methodologies, and key contributors.

Research should aim to address specific issues or problems, making the findings applicable and relevant.

Academic research is a tool for communication and argumentation, not just for personal learning or teacher evaluation.

Transcripts

foreign

this is another video about resource

methodology again just telling that this

is something that I am doing for my

class my research methodology class at

science

this this lecture this short lecture

that I'm hoping to do is about something

called attitude Transformations that are

needed for research methodology

and one of the things that the reason

why I'm doing this is because I was

thinking about the science context the

students many of us who come to sayax

come from colleges that do not emphasize

academic writing or academic research

and then suddenly a size we are supposed

to figure it out how to write articles

research papers

TC's uh how how are we supposed to do it

and somehow research methodology

is of course that is geared to help you

in that but it's one of those things

that it actually takes time to learn

so what I what I was looking at was I I

saw that there was some kind of

transformation needed in terms of what

we think about research and again like I

say we'll be doing this in class in

terms of workshops but this is just uh

these videos are just for Theory some

theoretical foundation for what I'm

talking about you can ignore these

videos or you can use them to help okay

so I've taken some notes here that's

what I'll keep looking over here but the

goal is to just understand the activity

Transformations that are needed which I

think are needed there may be many more

but I'm just going to highlight a few I

wanted to most important goal I mean the

attribute that needs to change is that

when we're reading a book

uh I think some people think that when

they are reading a book they read it so

that they learn something from the book

so when you read a book about Mission

you're learning something about Mission

when you read something about theology

then you're learning something about

theology uh so uh it's it's one of those

things that you have to be uh it's it's

a common thing we tell our children read

a book to find out

but research now at least the way

academic research is defined today is uh

is not to Simply read to learn something

but to determine uh what of what you

read is better or best for learning and

here like the uh the difference where

suddenly we are no longer reading a book

to learn something you're reading a book

to see how this book relates to another

book and perhaps another article to see

which is a better learning for you to

learn

and that sort of uh brings a step of

learning uh it almost looks like as if

you're waiting to learn you're waiting

to uh waiting to actually learn

something and you're not looking at one

book to learn something you're looking

at several now why I call this an

attitude transformation is because this

is what we sometimes call critical

thinking and it can be seen as something

negative critical and being critical

about something but the goal is to say

that what I read may not be right

it may not be the best option and rather

than simply just takes read something

and accept it as true the the question

is is this the best I can understand and

if you're thinking about writing is this

the best learning I can give my church

are there are there better options are

there ways of understanding that I have

not thought about and that expansion of

reading and that evaluation of uh one

material versus another uh changes the

goal of how we read we're not reading to

learn something just as if I'm reading a

book about Mission and then saying oh

and now I know Mission but I'm reading a

book about Mission and seeing how this

relates to another book about Mission

and determining which one is better and

that we feel is a very important

attitude change that needs to come in a

reading and naturally in writing I'm not

sure whether all of you

can do this automatically I think many

of us have to learn this and have to

practice it but it's an important change

that needs to occur it may not occur

today it may not occur in the next few

weeks but it's something that if you

understand this that you need to learn

to read several books on one topic to

understand which is the better way then

I think if you can understand that

you're you're on the way to good

academic thinking and writing uh the

other attitude change so what we talked

about the attitude change about uh you

must learn to read uh and evaluate

multiple options not simply read one

book and learn but it's the idea of

learning best which one is the better

option the second attitude change that

needs to happen is that research the

data that you get let's say for instance

I learned something

it is not simply for uh as a deaf goal

it's not simply as if now that I figure

out something that's it that's the end

of it

I've learned it so that that's the idea

that research the goal is to learn

something

it's rather the goal is to communicate

something the goal is to uh explain

something the goal is to argue for

something and that's an attitude change

that needs to occur as well many of us

are satisfied to learn something so

let's say we've looked at and learned

multiple options about what mission is

or what possible theology is and what

we've learned a new understanding about

who God is uh however the the the the

the point of academic reading and

writing is to think of that learning of

what we have learned not as the goal

that's it I finish it but as a tool to

communicate as something as

uh of what we get to make a point it's

part of an argument and I know this

expands it I I think it's great to just

learn something and just be satisfied

with that learning but we must expand

this to how we can communicate through

the church to our peers uh to uh

not I'm not saying for our teachers

because we sometimes think we're doing

research papers for our teachers but

it's mainly for the world outside and

for the church outside how do we

communicate and most of us when we are

communicating we we know this very well

we'll say something and we'll justify it

with some either experience or some

prior learning that we have that's what

we need to see academic writing as uh it

it's just that all that we learn must be

seen as part of an argument of what we

are trying to communicate it must make a

point and this is more so in writing

perhaps in conversations we can get by

with using experience

but if we are trying to make a point in

writing then we must think of whatever

we are learning in our book reading must

help us directly uh or indirectly for

making our point and that's something

that is an attitude change that I'm not

sure uh we it we can do it automatically

it's something that I think we need to

learn what we are learning in our books

all the research that we're doing is for

a purpose

to communicate clearly to create to

substantiate my argument so on and so

forth

the the other the other attitude

transformation I'm thinking whether this

is actually an attitude transformation

or not uh or whether this is a subset or

something else the idea is that we need

to have a broad working knowledge of our

topic uh now I think this has to do with

Point number one where we said that we

need to look at multiple sources but the

goal of learning and the goal of reading

is also to understand the entire

discipline so you must learn to read

about if you're learning let's say about

uh

to take a look at the studies example

let's say you're studying

The Book of John and looking at the I am

sayings in the Book of John or whether

Jesus says I am the way I am the truth

and you want to look at that you must

also have a clear understanding of New

Testament as a discipline what are the

tools in New Testament what are the ways

New Testament researchers talk who are

the key spokespersons in New Testament

writing and I actually wrote a few

things here a broad knowledge about your

topic means something like understanding

its history

how did the New Testament discipline

develop what are the main ideas and mean

content or myth theology is coming out

of New Testament studies where did the

discipline come up and what kind of

ideas did it promote what are its main

methodologies how does New Testament

studies progress that I I know something

about so I can say like in about 200

years ago or 100 years ago there was a

dominant methodology in New Testament

studies called historical critical

method and today we are moving more into

literary critical methods or like for

instance narrative or rhetorical and

perhaps Evangelical critics Evangelical

Scholars

trying to mix and match they take a bit

of history and they pick up a bit of

literary work and they combined it so

that you could call it um holistic or a

multiple or interdisciplinary method now

you can you can actually chart out the

history of the methodology of the New

Testament discipline how it used to use

methodologies and how it currently uses

it and a researcher must know that broad

knowledge not just in biblical studies

but in missions gastrocology and

Theology and religions we all need to

have a sense of how our discipline has

grown

and within that just who are the means

Scholars who are the key performance of

this view who are the big shots so for a

theology for instance if I was to say

the word kalbot and most of our

theologians will say yes that's that's

the key theorism if I was to say

somebody like

I don't know who would be the

not significant one but let's say for

instance I would say somebody like

foreign

that you dialogue with

um and so it's uh you have to know who

the main Scholars are the main people in

the field rather than just taking

everybody as if they're equal you need

to be able to see who has uh who is

worth listening to of course that

doesn't mean that somebody like Ian

Payne is not important because if you

read this book and perhaps then you are

able to see hey this is something equal

to uh

but uh but but that is something you

must prove there because most of us

would not know about it so you must

argue for The Importance of Being

paint's work and his thinking and uh and

and then argue that this is a very

substantial piece of writing now uh so

that that being said we need to know who

the key theologians are we need to know

that and the faster we know that the

better it will be in our writing in our

thinking in understanding what the

language is

the sad part of what I'm saying over

here why is an attitude change is

because there are no shortcuts to this

you cannot just read one book to

understand who the key theologians are

because what I'm asking for is not

simply knowing the names of the key

theologians but to know the history of

the discipline to know its main ideas to

know its main methodologies and for that

you need to read a lot uh you need to

read a historical works you need to read

contemporary works you need to read

multiple theologians who's saying what

you need to recognize which Theologian

is better which Theologian is uh is off

on his own tangent which writers are

worth

aligning yourself to and we cannot do

that without actually reading it and if

you don't read it and just hear somebody

say like for instance I just said kalbot

and you said okay is important then I'll

read I'll read him then you may find

yourself just repeating what I am saying

there is a true academic writing would

be hey I want to assess kalbad versus uh

Emil Brunner there's another

contemporary and many people actually

prefer Bruno as a theologian to Karbach

so perhaps you can make that decision

for yourself who are the main people

rather than building nicer you can

actually read for yourself be pruner

meet Bart and see who's better and if

you don't read them you will find

yourself just repeating what other

people who have let them have said and

that's dangerous in academic writing you

need to be able to make your own

decisions

now I just talked about uh have a broad

knowledge so that was my third

assumption the third thing that we need

to change attitude change the broad

reading the other activities change and

that's the opposite is we need to narrow

down our topics uh that's something

really hard it's like if I use this

example earlier uh where I said let's

say I want to investigate uh drug

addiction or alcoholism in nagaland it's

a very clear problem that's facing that

area uh the reason I know it is because

many people have done their thesis on

that topic and and many people are

working in that region uh in that area

but uh

how is if if I just say drug addiction

or alcoholism in another land that is

too broad so narrowing down topic would

mean something like

um

making something researchable

so if I was to say drug addiction and

alcoholism in Nathan perhaps I should

focus on one rather than say drug

addiction and alcoholism I either focus

on alcoholism and I focus on or I focus

on drug addiction there are two similar

but separate issues they relate to each

other but they're not the same issue

drug addiction is more expensive

actually I don't know but uh

but there are some some issues in drug

habits that are different from

alcoholism

and uh and for instance then you can add

smoking and if to group it all together

it's very tough uh to address it so if

you narrow down you take one issue this

similarly then you talk about nagaland

which is very big uh perhaps you can

talk about uh bhimapur which is the

hotbed of these problems the city the

big city the plains where there are

multiple cultures and there are many

issues happening and there's this very

significant uh drug addiction and

alcoholism is actually there in The

Villages and small towns up in the hills

perhaps that's something I'm personally

not sure of but you can either take the

small heavy areas which would have

different issues or you can take like

big city area the dimapur area which

will have different issues the access in

dimapuru is very different from the axis

and let's say

so uh that's something about narrowing

your topic similarly are you looking at

the church's response or are you looking

at the social workers response who are

you talking to uh are you talking to the

Church of how they can help drug addict

drug addicts or are you looking at

Society at large and again I would say

narrow down your topic so with Society I

talk about ngos uh so on and so forth so

this that that attitude change you must

have is how do I narrow down my topic to

make it researchable

um I have two more so I've finished four

so let me see if I can finish the five

and six so number five is you must have

a thesis now I know most of us think of

thesis as uh the NTS thesis that we will

write the 100 120 page the work that we

have but a thesis is your point what are

you trying to say if in one sentence you

could see what I you want to say that's

your thesis so for instance let's

take talk about uh

Addiction in Netherlands but perhaps

let's talk about alcoholism

but you know which one is easy I don't

know but okay let's say alcoholism in

nagaland so my thesis could be that

alcoholism in nagaland or okay let's say

dimapur is an issue that affects not

simply I do lessons but also the elderly

now most people have focused on

adolescence as as the key focus of

alcoholism but what if for instance I

start focusing on alcoholism as a

cultural problem that affects not just

the young but also the old our parents

our

grandparents where they are addicted to

alcohol and and there are different

issues and so I promote that that it's a

problem facing that but that too is it's

it's still a problem I guess what would

my thesis be my thesis would be what

would be my solution so the church or my

solution could be my thesis could be The

Church Must engage with uh alcoholism

actor uh Universal level not simply

focus on the Young and focus on

educating the young people about

alcoholism but educate the church the

children the elderly the the adults the

the regular the leaders they all must be

is talk to about alcoholism and about

its dangers and how to come out of it

so that would be a thesis where you you

propose something for the church what

should the church do uh or as a new way

as opposed to how things have been done

now this is not a great thesis and I'm

sure it can be better but the idea is

that it's something that you yourself

are promoting you will have to make an

argument you'll have to do your research

and you'll have to State it so that's

your thesis and any work whether it's a

long work or it's something like a short

research paper needs to eventually

have a thesis

and the last point is you should try to

work with outlines and an outline means

you need to not only have a thesis

which is a broad understanding of of

your entire work but every small section

must build towards something else and

must follow from something else so your

introduction should lead to the next

paragraph your next paragraph should

lead to the next paragraph which could

be your next point but the way you

achieve that Clarity is if you write

down the thesis or write on the main

points

um before even you start writing your

entire work now the reason why I'll call

this an attitude change is because most

of us uh and I and I put myself into

this bracket most of us have written

like this when we have a topic we start

writing it's right from the beginning

introduction and we're writing it on our

computers or or even handwritten but

definitely computers and the issues and

the ideas are emerging as we write so we

are not actually planning towards a

certain point we're writing it we look

at one book we look at another book we

write it uh then we look out for other

books and we then we like that point and

that actually is poor writing

um I myself have done it and so that's

why I I'm saying it needs an attitude to

change where we need to know what we're

saying before we write it so I should

have done my reading I should have done

my understanding I should have done my

grappling and I got my point and then I

sit down and write uh this point will

lead to this point will lead to my third

point will lead to my conclusion that

kind of clarity if you can get in an

outline you will find your writing to be

much clearer and more uh more

effectively argued and the problem means

that means you need to start early you

need to read

much you need to read earlier not start

last minute and you need to have a clear

sense of where you are going by the time

you start writing I found that when I

changed this attitude when I focused on

reading and understanding and be

developing an outlines I could write

much faster than otherwise I was

spending a lot of time

writing I would spend many days writing

but it would be unclear but if I spend

many days reading and understanding and

developing my outline then my writing

can take a day or two or three I mean it

can actually done depending on your

dieting speed much faster

and because you're clear now what you're

trying to say so those are the six uh

attitude changes I'm sure there are more

but these are the six I felt important

to share that the goal of research is

not simply to learn from a book but to

determine what of what we read is best

more worthy to learn from to evaluate

which one is the best thing to learn

from then the other goal of the attitude

change that we need to have is that

research should be seen as a tool to

address issues or problems rather than

simply just for learning

and then we need to read to get a broad

understanding of our topic and then

relatedly we need to develop our

research paper then narrowly deal with

one specific issue and then finally the

last two we need to have a thesis and we

need to have an outline and uh and uh

hopefully these attitude changes if you

can even focus on these six over the

next few months or you will definitely I

feel improve in your academic writing

thanks