Creation and writing practices in academic research

¶ … propagation of academia and the various disciplines it contains. There are a number of reasons the aforementioned statement contains a high degree of veracity. One of the most eminent of these reasons is that in practical terms, the conducting and writing of research is one of the most demonstrative ways in which a student can actually indicate mastery of the concepts that he or she has learned. Simply internalizing and regurgitating facts has never been the founding basis of academia. Instead, academia is founded upon furthering knowledge, and furthering an understanding of the surrounding world and its denizens. To improve upon knowledge, to utilize an existing body of knowledge to actually add to it, one needs to conduct research and document it through writing. In such a manner is scholarship truly achieved and propagated so that others can ideally add on to whatever particular discipline a student chooses to study.

To that end, the creation of research does involve a state of cognizance related to a particular discipline. However, the ability to be well versed in the traditional developments and principles of a particular subject is really only beneficial so that a student can ideally ascertain what areas of scholarship are still unexplored within that discipline. Therefore, the process of writing for research definitely involves students understanding the previous precepts for a subject matter that are existent, so that they can be employed as the basis for further study. There is nothing pejorative about memorizing or being well acclimated with existing notions upon which an area of academic focus is centered upon. However, many students erroneously believe that obtaining a significant degree of achievement in this part of scholarship is the acme of academia when in all reality -- a mastery of existing principles and concepts is merely the beginning of scholasticism and the research which it relies upon to continue to exist.

These thoughts directly correlate to many of those pertaining to the notions of a scholar practitioner, particularly as they are outlined in Janelle Jalbert's article "What does scholar practitioner mean?." What stands out the most about this article is the relationship to scholarship and the environment, or to the world at large in which such academic research is performed. These external influences should always play a significant part of the research performed by any scholar practitioner, since it is the development of the outside world and its treatment that should ideally fuel the forms of research that academic scholarship takes. Research should be performed in those areas that are most relevant to subjects of concern not just within an academic discipline, but also to the population subset that is most directly influence by it. Additionally, performing research with this sort of social value enables one to effectively get outside the proverbial ivory tower, and substantiate academia in a pragmatic fashion that is as valued as that of virtually any other social aid. I look forward to engaging in research that is practical and (hopefully) oriented towards my surrounding community. Doing so would enable me to not only further the realm of assistance my particular area of study is able to reach, but would also help to aid the pragmatism that academia is ideally founded upon.

Other aspects of the process of academic research that are vital to the fulfillment of this practice include employing a sure methodology that is well grounded in scientific methods. To that extent, research must be in accord with the bevy of knowledge that precedes it. One of the most important aspects of this knowledge, of course, is the methodology that was used to establish many of the principles which constitute the basis of a particular academic subject matter. In this respect, it is not detrimental to be derivative when employing the methodology of previously existent research. Doing so does not limit the furthering of knowledge, but merely ensures that a scholar is taking prudent measures to verify the authenticity and the veracity of his or her findings. In fact, the usage of an established methodology -- such as using a control group to conduct experiments with and other fairly standard aspects of methodology commonly employed in academic research -- is oftentimes the best way of ascertaining innovations in such methods, which are integral to the integrity of the research one conducts.