ID 6020: Introduction to

Research

17 August 2017
V.Vijayalakshmi

"If you want to go fast, go alone.

If you want to go far, go together.

 Starting with the Why

I love doing research. I am capable too.

Why, then, should I know about

interpersonal relations?

How does it help me in my MS/PhD?

 Clich! IPR Is An Ocean
Emotional Intelligence
Self-Awareness, Self-Management,
Social Awareness, Relationship
Management

Communication
Assertiveness,
Listening, Non- Conflict
Verbal Body Management
Language

People Skills
Social Intelligence
 At the end of this session

Building a
The challenges
resourceful state
 Think Pair Share

What resource states or capacities do you already

possess to work in harmony with others?
 Research Journey at IITM
2 Journal
July Joined Scoping submission Convocation
1st Journal
submission

Course Compre Seminar

Thesis
Work Writing

Acceptance/ Synopsis
rejection
Problem Proposal
Identification, Defense Submission

Nov Lit Rev Conf 2

Identifying
Gaps Conf 1 Defence
Viva

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

 Setting the Context
GTC/DC/
Compre
members
Friends Researchers in
and your field
Family
Research
Advisor
Hostel/ Lab
Colleagues
mates

Dept./
Other
Admin
Faculty
Staff
 Understanding Your Advisor

Research has demonstrated that the advisor can have a

tremendous influence on the developmental outcome of the
graduate students personal and professional goals...graduate
students who had favourable mentors had more publications,
more conference papers, more first authored papers, and were
more productive post graduation. (Castro, 2009)
 The Guide Effect

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham; www.phdcomics.com

 Types of Guides
TYPE 2

TYPE 1

TYPE 3
 A Variety of Roles
(Brown and Atkins, 1988)

Supervisor Scholar
Guru Shishya
Master Servant
Guide Explorer
Project manager Team worker
Auditor Client
Friend Friend
Colleague Colleague
Teacher Pupil
Expert Novice
Editor Author
Counselor Client
Director Follower
a common typology

"Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham; www.phdcomics.com

Symptoms of Unhealthy Interpersonal Relations
Avoiding bumping into the guide!

Infrequent visits to the department

Good business for Canteen: Catharsis

Its my research and my world

Becoming over emotional/sensitive

"Piled Higher and

Deeper" by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com
survey: faculty

survey: scholars
Survey Research Scholars Perspective
Good communication
Willingness to share
knowledge
Mutual Patience No ego
Respect Different! As simple as that
Discipline
Ability to accept mistake
Humility Non- Difference in the style of
judgmental working
Difficulty in Communication
Comparisons / Competition
among Peers
Communicating
Impractical Deadlines
clearly &
Stress from Workload
honestly
The ideal image of a guide
 a continuum from wonderful

is up-to-date in your field; meets with you regularly; engages his or her mind
with your intentions, detailed, constructive and sometimes tough feedback on
your drafts; helps you set realistic timelines; consoles and encourages you when
you are lost, constructively critical, good-humoured, punctual;

helps you get in touch with other people (students and academics) who are
working on related topics; circulates information about what's going on in your
field (talks, visitors, conferences); helps you prepare for your defence, fair but
supportive

co-presents/publishes with you and/or helps you present/publish on your own;

acknowledges your authorship properly

Ref: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/faqs/help-for-graduate-students/supervisors
 to not that wonderful

is rarely around (frequently out of the country), generally late and in a hurry,
keeps you waiting; distracted, non- responsive

doesn't understand what you're trying to do and/or isn't interested in it;

doesn't read your work

makes comments that are either very generalized or very picky, or irrelevant;
fits your work into a rigid or preconceived plan that fits with what he/she is
interested in , contributes little or nothing to co-authored papers and always
insists on his or her name coming first (or even leaves off your name)

offers no support (or even turns on you) in committee meetings and your
defence

Ref: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/faqs/help-for-graduate-students/supervisors
Survey Research Scholars Perspective
Good communication
Willingness to share
knowledge
Mutual Patience No ego
Respect
Different! As simple as that
Discipline
Ability to accept mistake
Humility Non-
judgmental Difference in the style of
working
Difficulty in Communication
Comparisons / Competition
Communicating among Peers
clearly & Impractical Deadlines
honestly Stress from Workload
Mismatch in expectations
What supervisors expect of their doctoral
students (Phillips and Pugh, 2005)

Students to be excited
Independent with their work & fun Follow the advice
to be with

Honest when
reporting research Regular meetings Not be oversensitive
progress

Produce close to
Accept challenges
perfection
 What doctoral students expect of their
supervisors (Phillips and Pugh, 2005)
support encourage
involvement guide with open
in research encouragement discussion of
activities ideas

assess progress ensure the

objectively and final goal is interest in
provide honest realistic and your research
feedback identifiable

be
available/prepared
for meetings
An Effective Meeting with your Advisor
be
be on time, prepared!
notify in
advance if
canceling, fix short
up next reminder of
meeting context

update when present your

needed work

clarify
listen intently
deliverables
 Asking for Feedback
Am I making enough Do you think that I am
use of the learning managing to get enough
opportunities work done in the time
available? between our meetings?

Are you satisfied with

Are you satisfied
my attitude towards
with how I use your
your supervision of
comments?
me?

How do you
think we might
work together
more
effectively?
some weapons
 What personal qualities will enhance
Inter(Intra)personal Harmony?
Empathy Respect & trust

Expansiveness

Warmth and Positive

sensitivity unconditional regard
Investing Time & Energy to Peel Off
Layers: Not jumping to Conclusions
 What will help?
My name in a
Publication
low quality
low quality
journal!!???/
journal/
Where is my
Single author
name?!!!
paper

TRANSPARENCY
 Want the
draft EOD Sure.

Oh God!
How is it
possible!

SETTING, COMMUNICATING EXPECTATIONS ,

ISSUES CLEARLY, REALISTICALLY

Reporting
Frequency,
Attendance Level of and Aspect of
duration of
patterns preparation feedback quality
meetings
practices
EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE
What events require your emotional balance to the most?

Problem
identification

Compre
 teaching , grading

many
ongoing
projects,
duties
Step into their shoes
writing
proposals Empathy
other research
scholars. research
 Significant Others
How can you make others trust you? Goto
person
The Advisor team
Social side is important too! - Participating in
others successes, functions, seminars
Sharing knowledge conferences, best
practice
A good word goes a long way!
What will help?

A HEALTHY DOSE
OF HUMOR!
Using Humor
 Free will to Change!!!
Think of 3 learnings of importance to you from this session.
Two responses (behaviors) you would want to do differently

Identify your blocks that does not allow you to do what

you want?
______________
______________

What capacities can help you?

______________
______________
 References
Cryer, P. 1997. Handling Common Dilemmas in Supervision. The Society for Research into Higher Education,
London.

Cryer, P. 2000. The Research Students Guide to Success. Open University Press, Buckingham.

Dietz A.J. (Ton), Jonathan D. Jansen, Ahmed A Wadee, 2006, Effective PhD Supervision and Mentorship. A
Workbook based on experiences from South Africa and the Netherlands, Pretoria and Amsterdam: Unisa
Press and Rozenberg Publishers (133 pp)

Finn, J. 2003 Getting a PhD: An Action Plan to Help Manage your Research, your Supervisor, and your
Project, Routledge, London.

Granovetter, M. (1973) The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78: 1360-1380.

Hockey, J. (1997) A complex craft: United Kingdom PhD supervision in the

social sciences, Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 2: 4570.

Phillips, E. M. and Pugh, D. S. 2005. How to get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and their Supervisors.
McGraw-Hill Education, New York.

Medawar, P.A. 1981. Advice to a Young Scientist. Harper Collins, New York.

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/faqs/help-for-graduate-students/supervisors
The Window
 A young
couple moves
into a new
neighborhood.

The next morning, while they are eating breakfast,

the young woman sees her neighbor hang the wash
outside.
.
 That laundry
is not very
clean. She
doesnt know
how to wash
correctly.
Perhaps she
needs better
laundry soap,
she said
Her husband looked
on, but remained
silent.

. .
 Every time her
neighbor would
hang her wash to
dry, the young
woman would make
the same
comments.

.
About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a
nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder

who taught her this.

.
 The husband said:
I got up early this morning and
cleaned our windows!

.
 And so it is with life:
What we see when
watching others,
depends on the purity
of the window
through which we
look.
Before we give any
criticism, it might be a
good idea to check our
state of mind and ask
ourselves if we are
ready to see the good
rather than to be
looking for something
in the person we are
about to judge.

.
. This is about
challenging our mental
model
 we dont see things as they

are, we see things as we are.

 Signing Off
Life is not a competition, it's a game. It's not

about winning or losing, it's about all the fun

you can have before it ends. Simon Sinek