torsdag 28 november 2013

Theme 3: Research and Theory Post-reflection


 The previous weeks seminars included interesting assignments and discussions leading to an improved understanding of what theory is and is not. Through these seminars I broadened my understanding of what the different kinds of theory (according to Gregor) mean in practise and how to classify different theory into different categories.
Interesting to see was also that the course-collective definition of theory varied between participants. Even though the text have been corrected by other course participants from different years, the text still had some sentences that was questionable and also “corrected”. This shows the relevance of the discussion of theory and its characteristics and the diversity of peoples understanding of the theory about “theory”.

So why is this important to do? In the same manner as Gregor aims to understand and categorize different theory, it is of course important for me to do the same when faced with a scientific task. Understanding what the theory aims to do will ultimately help me in understanding what I am doing when I apply certain theory to my research.

Apart from a deeper understanding of theory, I also learned to analyse text in search of theory and also critically analyse this theory in its context. By reading articles and identifying the different theory and category, one can easily analyse the relevance of the theory in the context of the paper, and also see how the theory is applied and applicable to the method and results. This is a good exercise do to improve analysing skills as ones own writing skills.

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