Lesson Report:
## Class Summary Report
**Title: Understanding Thesis Development: Supervisor Relations, Research Relevance, and Empirical Analysis**
**Synopsis:**
In this class session, students were guided in the ongoing development of their senior theses, specifically focusing on the importance of effective communication with supervisors, taking initiative, and understanding the empirical and theoretical relevance of their topics. The instructor emphasized the importance of students leading their research efforts by preparing questions and documents in advance of meetings. The session also explored different kinds of relevance (theoretical, empirical, and practical) as students were tasked with anticipating the contributions their research might make to existing data and its practical implications.
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### Attendance:
– **Absent:**
– Farhunda (Absent)
– Najla (Absent)
– **Cameras Not Turned On (Counted as Absent if not resolved):**
– Vajunda
– Handa
– Masiya
– Chobha
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### Topics Covered:
1. **Class Introduction: Supervisor-Student Expectations**
– The instructor began by emphasizing that students must take initiative in their communication with supervisors.
– Pointed out that while supervisors offer guidance, the thesis responsibility rests on students, including writing drafts, asking questions, and submitting documents (shared Google Docs, etc.).
– The importance of regularly consulting with supervisors via shared documents, rather than expecting face-to-face meetings at all times, was stressed.
2. **Research Question Development and Responsibility**
– Reminder that thesis topics and research questions are the students’ responsibility, not the supervisor’s.
– Students need to independently solve research puzzles, frame questions, and apply for IRB if necessary.
3. **Importance of Empirical and Theoretical Relevance**
– Instructor introduced the differences between ‘theoretical relevance’ (building on frameworks and concepts) and ‘empirical relevance’ (contributing new, quantifiable data or evidence to literature).
– The class reviewed how individual research could provide new data or analysis to fill gaps in existing literature.
**Key Questions for Students on Empirical Relevance:**
– What kinds of new data could your research add?
– Are there gaps in the current research that your thesis will address?
– What new information will your research provide, and how will it impact understanding of the topic?
4. **Practical Relevance of Research**
– Moved towards discussing practical relevance, where the real-world impacts of their research were explored, i.e., how their findings might influence policy decisions, community welfare, or public discourse.
**Class Activity Key Questions on Practical Relevance:**
– How could your research influence decision-making and public policy?
– What real-world benefit or impact will your findings provide?
5. **Class Discussion on Individual Research Projects**
– Each student shared the progress of their senior thesis along with how they plan to address theoretical, empirical, and practical relevance.
– Notable discussions included:
– One student aimed to study Turkey’s involvement in BRICS and its economic/political implications.
– Another planned to examine vaccination coverage in southern Kyrgyzstan to propose health policy improvements.
– A broader discussion touched on securitization theory in relationship to migration and conflict, and how these frames should or shouldn’t be securitized.
– Students were encouraged to focus specifically on what their research will add to academic and public discussions, aiming for clarity and specificity in framing their contributions.
6. **Homework Assignment:**
– Students were given a task to find a journal article relevant to their theses.
– Required to identify the research question and outline the theoretical, empirical, and practical significance of the study, with a focus on how it contributed to the existing field.
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### Actionable Items:
**Immediate (Urgent):**
– **Attendance Reminders:**
– Ensure that all students have their cameras on to be counted as present in future sessions. Vajunda, Handa, Masiya, Chobha need to confirm attendance by this method.
– **Student Progress Reports:**
– Some students (like Masiha and Rebecca) need further guidance on refining their research question and ensuring their projects show a clear direction in their empirical contributions.
– **Follow-Up on Supervisor Relations:**
– A few students mentioned difficulties or delays in meeting with their supervisors. Ensure these students finalize the scheduling of these meetings to maintain progress.
**Upcoming (Less Urgent):**
– **Homework Due Next Session:**
– Students must submit their journal article analysis on e-course before the next class. This analysis includes addressing the empirical gaps, theoretical significance, and practical outcomes of the research they chose.
– **Empirical Evidence Clarification:**
– Review whether students clearly articulated what new data their projects would contribute in relation to their field. For example, ensure Bobor understands soft power data gaps and Amira refines her contextual contributions on civil society resistance.
Homework Instructions:
ASSIGNMENT #1: Analyze a Journal Article’s Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Relevance
This assignment will help you better understand how to frame the relevance of your own research by analyzing how another scholar does it in their work. By breaking down the relevance in terms of theory, empiricism, and practical application, you’ll be better prepared to do the same for your work.
Instructions:
1. Find a journal article that is within the general realm of your research topic. This article should use a similar theoretical approach to the one you intend to use. (Please ensure that it’s from a scholarly journal; do not use mainstream news sources like CNN, BBC, etc.)
2. Carefully read the article, paying special attention to what the author is investigating and how they structure their research.
3. Identify the research question or questions that the author is looking to answer.
4. Analyze the article in terms of its relevance:
– Theoretical relevance: What kinds of theoretical frameworks or ideas does the article use or expand upon? How does it contribute to the broader academic discussion?
– Empirical relevance: How does the article address or contribute new data to the topic it’s investigating? What kind of data is gathered, and how does it add to or fill gaps in the existing literature?
– Practical relevance: How could the article inform real-world decision-making or public policy? Who might benefit from the findings or conclusions presented in this article? What communities, regions, or political systems are impacted?
5. Summarize your findings on each of the three points above in a structured format.
6. Post this summary on the class eCourse page before our next class meeting.