Research is one of the chief pillars of academic studies. One of the major reasons behind lack of research acumen among scholars is that doing research has become a compulsion rather than a goal. There are a lot many scholars who register themselves for PhD just to earn a doctoral degree and to make themselves fit for the eligibility criteria of assistant professor and other gazetted grades. They don’t have any interest in research but are compelled by the demand of the job market.
Another major reason behind poor research standards is the faulty selection system. Admission in doctoral programmes is provided on the basis of qualifying NET/SET/JRF rather than on the basis of research aptitude, and we all know that qualifying NET/SET is no guarantee of being the best fit for research. There are many non-NET/SET students who desperately want to do research and have good research aptitude but fail to get admission. The authorities need to give a serious thought to it and set a strong line of demarcation between research and other academic degrees. It is too easy to produce a bunch of doctorates but too difficult to raise even a handful of competent researchers.
Besides, a pre-PhD course work component is not done the way it should be. Since PhD is altogether different from other academic PG programmes, pre-PhD course work should acquaint scholars with the ABCs of research. From how to select a problem to how to do literature survey to how to do data collection, analysis and interpretation, everything should be taught to budding scholars via a hands-on approach. Being a research scholar, I can relate well to the frustration, chaos and stagnation that scholars face, especially in the first year. I remember how I used to spent hours in front of laptop or books trying to read but failing to understand how and where to start. At the end of the day I used to ask myself: Am I fooling myself or others that I am doing research?
Now coming to the positive side: the authorities are doing much for improving research standards. Different departments in University of Kashmir keep conducting refresher courses, FDPs and workshops on research methodology for scholars and faculty. Last year, the Department of Psychology conducted three workshops on research methodology. One was on quantitative data analysis, another on qualitative data analysis, and the third for training field surveyors for data collection. The third was held specifically for field surveyors working under the project “Women and Mental Health”.
In the same way, the Department of Statistics conducted a wonderful three days’ workshop on Data Analytics using SPSS and R (Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis) from 26th September to 28th September. The aim of this article is to congratulate and express deepest gratitude to the patron of the workshop, Prof Anwar Hassan (Dean SPMS & Head, Department of Statistics) and to the whole organising team and resource persons for this fruitful learning opportunity. Prof Anwar sir managed to get the best resource persons including Prof SN Dwivedi, Biostatistician at AIIMS Delhi, who deliberated upon understanding of data and confounding and modifier effect. He cautioned the participants about the disastrous effects that inefficient and careless data analysis can cause. He sensitised us about the misuse of statistical software packages by amateur researchers and highlighted the need to have an in-depth understanding of statistical techniques, their assumptions and applications. He emphasised on psychological flexibility and open-mindedness in research. Besides, Prof Dwivedi highlighted the role of biostatisticians and encouraged researchers from diverse arenas to consult statisticians before and after data collection so that they can come up with quality and reliable research with sound implications.
Prof SK Sharma (Dept of Statistics, University of Chandigarh) known as “Man of SPSS” due to his expertise in SPSS, was invited to give hands-on training on SPSS to participants. He immensely benefited us with his expertise and teaching skills. He gave training on correlation analysis, regression analysis, graphs and plots, and hypothesis testing and missing data analysis using SPSS. He added to the workshop by his poetry and inspirational messages.
Prof Athar Ali (Department of Statistics, AMU, Aligarh) was another eminent resource person, a man with rich expertise in R software. He gave theoretical and practical overview on R package and its applications. His lectures were food for thought especially for research scholars from statistical and physical sciences.
The three-day workshop organised by Department of Statistics under the patronship of Prof Anwar Hassan was a wonderful learning opportunity. As the Vice Chancellor of our university rightly said, the Department of Statistics should work in collaboration with other departments especially social sciences and organise more such workshops so as to boost research acumen and standards of budding research scholars. I request the organising team to kindly conduct another workshop with some experts from social sciences and on themes like Mediation, Moderation, AMOS, EFA and CFA. Above all, I request our esteemed VC and other authorities to provide funding and other needed support to all the departments so that they come up with more such activities and workshops with longer duration.
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Bisma Farooq Sheikh