Reflections on My Experience of Studying and Research Preparation in the UK - Assignment Example

?Topic: REFLECTIONS XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX TASK Reflections on your experience ofliving and studying in the UK The United Kingdom has a rich history, a well cultured community and gives endless opportunities to its scholars. These are among the major reasons why I chose to study in the UK at the Greenwich University in particular. It is also quite easy to travel to the UK as there are daily flights that arrive from across the world. In addition to this advantage, Greenwich University is within an hour’s travel from two major international airports which are Heathrow and Gatwick. My expectation from UK was to find and acquire quality education applicable in the current global job market. I also expected to combine work and study in order to finance my personal needs, acquire valuable work experience as well as improve my professional network. I have learned how to live in a multicultural environment since I came to the UK even though there were a lot of challenges in adapting to the life in UK. I have also become a more sociable and confident person from interacting with individuals from diverse backgrounds. I have been exposed to different experiences and cultures of which I wouldn’t have if I was not in the UK. Before I came to the UK I was very shy unlike now. It was not easy for me to make major decision all by myself but the experience here has made me more independent. Among the things I have learnt at Greenwich is how to combine both the theoretical and practical aspects of my studies in real life situations. This has been very helpful to me since theory doesn’t always aid one in getting a placement, an internship or a job. Given that English is not my first language, communication proved quite an uphill task for me at first but I eventually had to learn how to use it fluently. I have learnt to improve my English by wide range of educative books such as those which target international student learning English. This was very useful in the beginning since English in such books is written in a manner that is somewhat simplified. This made it easy for me to learn and understand English. I also sharpened my skills by frequently watching English TV episodes. This made learning more fun. I also engaged in discussions with my fellow student. This improved my communication skills since I can now confidently express myself in English. Since I started learning at the Greenwich University, my study skills have greatly improved. I have learnt to always prepare for my classes at the most appropriate time. For classes that involve recitation, I spend time making questions regarding previous recitation, brushing up on the facts I have and try to memorize them. In the case of lecture classes I make sure I review my notes and organize them appropriately. I have also come to learn to study at the time when I feel fresh and vibrant. In my case, early morning hours are my favorite. In the night times, I am usually tired making reading at such a time is ineffective. Since I work and study at the same time, I believe I have excellent employability skills. I am therefore in a good position to get a full-time job in my home country after I graduate. I was also able to make professional contacts back at my home country through networking skills I acquired here in the UK. My communication skills will enable be work efficiently with people from various regions while at my home country. The knowledge which I have acquired at Greenwich University is of high standards and globally recognized. This will help me climb my career ladders faster while back at home. I am very delighted to be studying and working in the United Kingdom since I have gained a lot in terms of knowledge and experience. TASK 2 Reflection on Research Preparation The process of preparing for my research was quite interesting. This is because of what I learnt and the challenges which I faced. To begin with, I did not know where to start from since I had not thought of an area in which I would like to conduct a research. At the preparation stage, performing the actual research seemed to be complicated and was very intimidating especially since I was intending to use primary data. This was something that I had never done before. In order for me to decide on what topic I would research in, I decided to review major topics in areas which drew my attention. This was after I carried out research on the internet on how one should prepare for a research. I have a great interest in Marketing and believe that it is one of the best strategies that companies should invest in in order to realize higher profits. Using academic data bases such as Google scholar, I looked through the previously researched areas in this field. I learnt that contrary to my belief, a lot of research had been done in this field. I downloaded some of the research works in order to view their details. This boosted my confidence since I could understand the dissertations thanks to my course. After consideration of several unexhausted topics, I decided to research on how promotion strategy affects the customer purchase behavior. I chose this topic due to its precision on what the research will be about. In addition, I believed that I could be able to handle this topic exhaustively before the time the lecturer expected the final work. Reflection on Chapter 1: Introduction I believe chapter one is the most important part of my dissertation project. This is because it shows the information gap which my research aims at filling. This is done by the statement of the problem. The introductory chapter is also very crucial since it gives an objective to the whole dissertation project. Without objectives, the whole research would lack meaning and direction. While formulating this introductory chapter, I faced two major challenges. First, I could not understand the difference between the abstract and the background section. In fact, I thought the abstract section was found in this chapter. Secondly, I experienced some challenges in the formulation of my hypothesis. These challenges helped me learn a lot. I discovered that the abstract is different from the background since the abstract acts as an executive summary of the dissertation project. I also learnt that it should appear before the introduction section. I also learnt how to formulate the hypothesis by review of some websites which explain the whole concept of having a hypothesis in a research project. I discovered that there are two types of hypotheses; Null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis. This understanding helped me formulate the hypothesis for my dissertation. I learnt that the hypothesis needs to be tested in order to affirm or reject it. This was quite informative. Reflection on Chapter 2: Literature Review I enjoyed working in this section and found it quite easy compared to the previous section. Since I had already reviewed several materials on the internet and hence had a good idea of what was expected of me in this part. This seemed like a repetition but as I came to learn later, the literature review is important not only to me as the researcher but also to the target audience of the dissertation. I learnt that this part helps the person using or reading your research understand what other researchers have successfully discovered in the area under research. It also helps the reader understand the gap left unfilled by the research in this field. I learnt several things in this section of my research. I discovered that the research preparation process was not similar to the review of previous research areas covered by other researchers. This is because the literature review section evaluates methodologies used by other researchers and thus helped me know which methods were appropriate for my dissertation section. This was an aspect that I did not consider during the research preparation process. I also learnt that unlike the review done on literature in the process of preparation, the literature review section helped me understand concepts and theories necessary for a researcher to understand and use in his/her research. I found this literature review chapter to be time consuming. This is because of the many research and theoretical materials I had to evaluate. It required lots of referencing which was time consuming although quite important since it acknowledges the use of the works of others. I believe this is also ethical and thus time should not be a reason to omit acknowledging the works of others. Reflection on Chapter 3: Research Method In order to achieve the objective of my research project, I identified Riot games (An American computer game company) as my research target. Since I would be trying to evaluate the effect of a promotion strategy on customer purchase behavior, I chose to use questionnaires as my preferred research method. I plan to send these questionnaires to fans of a game created by Riot games known as League of Legends. I found it easy to identify players of this game due to its worldwide popularity. I believe a sample size of between 40 and 50 will be enough for my research considering resource constraints. I find using questionnaires effective due to its strength in reaching a large number of people regardless of their geographical area. It is also quite affordable to use this method. Conclusion In conclusion, the process of preparation and carrying out of my dissertation project was quite interesting. I enjoyed overcoming challenges which I encountered since they taught me a lot. Among the things I learnt in the whole process include the difference between the background section and an abstract. I also learnt of the importance of literature review since it helps the reader and the researcher understand the theories and discoveries in the area being researched. I believe that my research will be of use to managers and business owners who are considering the use of promotions as a strategy to increase the profitability of their organizations. I am excited that I will fill the information gap existing on this particular subject. Read More