Research is the Most Difficult Part of the Academic Writing Process

Academic research process is a systematic method of developing a research paper. However, a research process can rarely progress in a methodological design as envisaged. In most cases, a researcher requires continuous and extensive revision and re-evaluation of a research topic and its mode of presentation. Furthermore, an initial plan may be revised to remove extraneous material, add new items, or change the topic depending on research findings; the topic may be broad and has to be narrowed and insufficient information resource that cannot support the thesis.

The second most difficult part of research is introduction and conclusion. Whereas it is easier to write the body, it requires a casing around it. Introduction and conclusion summarizes researcher's point of view and bridges concepts for the reader. Introduction is a bridge that takes the reader away from their life into the researcher's analysis, and conclusion helps the reader to make the transition back home. It makes the reader understand why the researcher's analysis and information matter to them. Conclusion gives the researcher a final chance to comment on the subject and allows him to summarize his thoughts, demonstrate the importance of his ideas, and push the reader to have a new perspective on the subject and finish on a confident note by having a noble final impression.

Thirdly, choosing the topic can be very difficult. Research outcome depends on the kind of topic that is chosen and as a result; a researcher has to be careful when making such decision by developing a doable topic and carrying out extensive literature review on the topic. In addition, find out theoretical basis in support of the topic, how the topic holds researcher's interest, niche to make a difference, shift gears and fine tune the topic based on input from other researchers. Once a the subject matter has been chosen, the next difficult part that follows is the methodology, a procedure followed by the researcher to conduct research so that he can move forward. The research has to refrain from choosing between quantitative or qualitative methodology but has to be guided by research questions to determine which methodology to follow. For example research question with words such as generate, explore and understand clearly indicate qualitative study while words such as correlate, compare, and relate designate a quantitative study.

Furthermore, research is not done in a vacuum and once the topic and methodology have been identified, a researcher needs a research team to help him. Getting these people is never easy, and a researcher has to solicit useful feedbacks by cultivating friendship with people who may help him critically and creatively about the main gist of the topic and who may offer invaluable insights on how the topic can be approached at different perspective. Once a research team is in place, the research has to find participants to conduct the study. It is the most challenging part of research as some researchers are afraid to reach out, and others may waste a lot of money and resources has they try to research out to the subjects. In some cases, study participants from institutions may be a hindrance especially if the intended research is sensitive or controversial.

Additionally, a researcher staying motivated and working on his plan in large research projects is a big challenge because it is hard for the researcher and research team to remain motivated and to keep moving forward against research obstacles, work pressure, and personal commitments. Finally, after a researcher has completed his study, the final challenge is to know how to make sense of the data he has collected. A researcher has to connect his finding with the existing research, compare the methodology of the books that he has read. He has to analyze the data using the right software and see whether the finding answers the researcher's questions and hypothesis, biases and whether the result can be generalized or not.