Facilitator: Prof Kambidima Wotela is an esteemed scholar in the field of demography and population studies, holding degrees in these disciplines from prestigious institutions. Throughout his academic journey, Prof Wotela has been recognised for his outstanding achievements, receiving scholarships and fellowships, including the esteemed William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellowship and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholarship.
Currently, Prof Wotela shares his wealth of knowledge and expertise as a Faculty member at the WITS Graduate School of Governance. He is known for his dedication to teaching systems thinking, monitoring and evaluation, and research and analytical methods, inspiring countless students along the way. Of particular significance is Prof Wotela's research focus on approaches to research supervision, a critical aspect of academic mentorship that shapes the future of scholarly inquiry. His contributions in this area are invaluable to our academic community and beyond.
Target Group: Research supervisors and postgraduate students doing their masters and doctoral research studies.
Background: This workshop looks at four research processes and the resulting six components that provide for a quality research product. We then detail the most important of the six components since this holds the six components together. Using this interrogation, we propose the 20 research steps that we should consider in an effort to produce a quality research product. Further, within each step, there are five concurrent tasks that we should be undertaking with varying intensities, that is, (i.) framing, (ii.) sourcing, summarising, and synthesising literature, (iii.) writing, (iv.) re-conceptualising the research, (v.) peer-reviewing. To appreciate these tasks, we shall use the most crucial Steps 7 and 9 as examples.
Expected Outcomes: The aim of this workshop is to provide a clear orientation for both supervisors and their postgraduate students about the hallmarks of a quality, coherent research process, and its resulting research report, be it a thesis or dissertation. We hope such an orientation will assist them to understand the specific issues around the different stages of the research journey.
Requirements: Participants should be supervising research or undertaking postgraduate research.
This workshop is funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) through the University Capacity Development Grant (UCDG)