[Bimbo Fafowora]

in reply to: Module 4, Session 1: Ethics in Research #5930

Ethical issues that are pertinent in the field of Journalism and Media studies research range from plagiarism at any stage of the research writing process, to autonomy in situations in which the research requires human participants. Some research in my field of study also requires that the participants are granted anonymity.

To nurture ethical responsibility in our students, we as supervisors need to make our students understand the need and importance of ethical research. Students can be introduced to resources that teach about research ethics or encouraged to enrol on seminars and workshops to expand their knowledge of the subject matter.

The process for obtaining ethical clearance at my institution commences at the early stage fo the research. A student is expected to apply for the institutional ethical clearance approval immediately after their proposal has been accepted. They are expected to provide details about the research in the ethics application. The required information includes the type or nature of research, method of data collection, location of data collection, number of participants, data processing and storage methods, the potential impact of the study on the participants and how the researcher intends to ameliorate this. Approval to conduct research is granted after all of these and every piece of information required of the students has been perused to the satisfaction of the ethics committee.

[Bimbo Fafowora]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Research approach and design #5929

I agree with your submission, Gollaz. The worldview and the research approach are truly the foundation from which every aspect of research is developed. It is, therefore, essential for a supervisor to guide their students in understanding the specific worldview and approach they will be adopting for their research before embarking on the research at all as this will make the conceptualisation and execution of the research clear and less difficult for students.

[Bimbo Fafowora]

in reply to: Module 3, Session 3: Disciplinary differences #5928

The knowledge structure in my field of study, Journalism and media studies, is predominantly horizontal knowledge. Researchers in my field conduct research utilising any of the four worldviews. Many of the research is conducted from a monodisciplinary perspective. The implication of this is that there is no cross-fertilisation of knowledge in conjunction with other disciplines because knowledge is mostly produced within the boundary of the field. This, however, does not mean that there is no multi, inter or transdisciplinary research in the field, their occurrence is just low.

[Bimbo Fafowora]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 4: EPE resources’ assessment #5789

I found most of the collection of resources on the Enhancing Postgraduate Environments website very useful for postgraduate students and especially for a newbie postgraduate supervisor. Of particular interest to me is the resource material on researcher positionality. The listening to the video made reflect on my position as a researcher and supervisor in relation to my supervisees positions. The material made me more aware of the need to be aware and take cognisance of one’s positionality in relation to that of other researchers in one’s field of study.

[Bimbo Fafowora]

in reply to: Module 2, Session 2: Scholarly community of practice #5763

A scholar is anyone in the academic community who is constantly engaged in intellectual enquiry and knowledge production in a specific field of research. A scholar is usually someone who is vested in expanding the frontiers of knowledge. Scholarship on the other hand, is the process of engagement for the production of new knowledge. The word scholarship also applies to the funding support or grants provided for individuals who are interested in becoming scholars in a specific academic discipline.

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