Aim of this section of dissertation is to provide an account of the experiences of the author during the development of this proposal and also to provide an analysis of the learnings gained by the author by undertaking this project proposal. As this segment is based on author’s own experiences, it is written in ‘first person’ (‘I’).
There are various definitions and theories on reflection in the academic literature found the definition by Schon to bIn academic literature there are
Schon (1983) (cited in Anne Sen 2010) has said that there are two types of reflections; ‘reflection in action’ which occurs when an experience is taking place and ‘reflection on action; which occurs when a person looks back at an event which has already taken place (Schon (1983) cited in Anne Sen 2010). As this reflection piece is about exploring and analysing my experiences and learnings while I was working on this project ‘reflection on action’ is what fits into my situation. Although, there are various models or frameworks available in the academic literature for reflective writing I decided to use Terry Borton’s 1990 framework for providing structure to my reflection, as I found it most simple and very close to my situation. Borton’s framework consists of a set of 3 questions ‘What?’ ‘So What?’ and ‘Now What?’
What? – Description of the journey of writing dissertation from inception to completion
As writing this dissertation is my first ever experience of conducting research and developing a proposal, it has been the most challenging and exciting part of my entire MBA programme journey. Even though it was challenging and also frustrating at times, I have enjoyed each and every part of the last three months of this journey.
First challenge which I faced was choosing the topic for my proposal. I eventually decided to develop a proposal in the area of hospice industry in the UK as I was working as an intern in a hospice in the West Midlands. After few meetings with my supervisor and doing some reading about the hospice industry, I was finally able to identify my topic for research dissertation in October 2015 and started working on it. Through further meetings with my supervisor and discussions with my peers, I was able to develop ideas about what areas/topics I wanted to cover in my proposal. Finally, I was able to develop a working title for my proposal which inturn helped me to develop a bank of keywords to be used while searching for literature in the electronic databases.
Next step of conducting systematic review of literature was the most challenging and time consuming part of this journey. As this was my first ever experience of writing a dissertation and conducting research, I referred few books such as Parahoo 2014, Aveyard 2011 and others in order to gain knowledge and understanding of how a search strategy is developed in order to do a systematic review of the literature for writing a research proposal. After reading these books I realised that this is a very time consuming process and is not as simple and straightforward as I had assumed it to be. In spite of having some basic secondary research skills which I had learnt in the \research \methods module, my search was not yielding good results. Therefore, I sought the help of the University appointed subject librarian which helped in refreshing and sharpening my research skills.
One my research of academic and grey literature got over, next challenge which I faced was when I had to analyse and interpret the information which I got by reading the shortlisted articles. I found it extremely difficult and challenging to maintain a critical and analytical mind while reading such huge number of articles. The sheer amount of information was very overwhelming, something which I had not experienced before ever while studying for my other modules. Consistently reminding myself about the aim and focus of research proposal helped me in clearing this hurdle.
Before starting the writing process, I developed a structure for the literature review after discussing it with my supervisor. Although I had a structure in hand, I had difficulty in maintaining a logical flow of arguments and struggled with deciding what information is relevant to my proposal and what needs to be left out. Due to the shortage of time I was not able to seek help of University’s academic writing department and hence had to rely on helping guides which were available on moodle to improve my writing skills.
Inspite of all the hardships. I was finally able to finish writing my dissertation and started the process of writing this reflection piece.
So What? – Learnings from this journey
Working on this project proposal has been both challenging and rewarding at the same time. Now that I have finished writing my first ever research proposal, I can see how it has helped me to develop skills which will help me both personally and professionally in future.
Secondary research skills
Searching for the resources related to my topic has considerably improved my secondary research skills which were very basic and amateur before working on this project. Although I still have to learn a lot about research, most important skill which I have developed is the process of developing search strategy and using it to prioritise the data found during research and filter it according to the set inclusion and exclusion criteria set in the search strategy. This a very important skill in research as it helps in saving the tedious process of going through the large amount of data available these days, a mistake which I had done when I had first starts researching, and which took a lot of time and made the process very stressful.
While working on this project I was doing two internships and was also managing my house and family commitments. Therefore, in order to maintain balance, I used to develop a weekly plan with set targets to keep me on track. This process of setting weekly goals, helped me to manage all my responsibilities and also developed my time-management skills as well as organisational skills. As working within the deadlines and multitasking is very important in professional life these days, I am sure these skills will help me professionally in the long run in future.
Apart from the skills mentioned above, writing this dissertation has been one of the biggest achievement for me personally as well as academically. On the personal front, this journey has taught me how to overcome the fear of unknown, and how to have confidence in ones abilities and to seek help whenever in doubt. Thus, on the whole, the journey of the last few months has not only made me a better researcher, but has also increased my confidence in myself and showed me how enlightening and rewarding research is.
Now What? Future Actions
On reflection, this project has been an enriching experience as a whole. The skills which I have developed has given me confidence that I am ready to work as a healthcare manager in the near future.
As the research involved searching for both academic as well as government policies related to the voluntary sector in the hospice industry, I have developed better understanding of the topic and would have decided to pursue career in this field. My learning experience while working n this project along with the level of confidence and skills which I have developed in this MBA programme has given me confidence that I am ready to face the challenges of the modern competitive job market and work as an effective and result producing healthcare manager.
Therefore, I can conclude that the entire journey of my MBA programme has empowered me both as on the personal and professional front and I am excited about the future.