Exploding the research question

I have written about the idea of pulling apart the research question before (see here), but it is really important to ensure that all key components of a research question feeds into the project, and does not dilute the project (read about the dangers here). That includes the title, aims, objectives, literature review components, measurements, and the research outcomes. 

When we ask our research question, we need to sit back and consider all the elements we need to know in order to answer that question. That can be done by breaking our question down into the sub-questions so we can be sure we are asking the 'right' questions in order to answer our question; or in the language of Thompson and Penny: "exploding" out our research question (University of Southampton, 2020). 

By exploding the question, what I mean is that we blow our research question apart into the component elements. By doing that - pulling all of the elements from the question itself - it enables us to explore each component via our literature review, to then work out how we can measure each, to then compare our findings with the literature and to draw conclusions. We look at each element and track it through to its logical conclusion. All pieces are tied off; there are no loose ends. 

While Thompson and Penny are talking about key words - word search via Google - in the clip below, the same principles apply. Watch the clip to see how we could reconsider our research question in order to evaluate all the terms that we have used in it (University of Southampton, 2020).

We sift our research question and trim it back to all the necessary components. Once we get our language accurate, by streamlining and simplifying our terms. This helps to make our research question more answerable, as well as directing what we need to search out in our literature, and where the research gap is to guide what we need to find.

I hope this helps!

Sam

References:

University of Southampton. (2020). Week 3.10: Exercise: 'exploding' out terms for searching. In E. Thompson, R. Penny (Eds.), Developing Your Research Project. FutureLearn. https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/research-project/21/steps/735963

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Career mapping

When we are "navigating unfamiliar territory, it is natural to feel anxious - especially if there is no map" to guide us (Clarke, 2011, p. 3). So, to guide where we want to go in our work, we build a map: a process which is called - logically - career mapping. 

We plot our potential career path, like a mindmap or a flowchart, through self-knowledge, skill development training, qualification, internship, and role hierarchy to reach a particular goal. The goal might be a particular position, function, status or skill set: so a CEO, Human Resources specialist, leader, or creative. Alternatively, we could plot a linear model (Clarke, 2011) such as - for example - taking sciences, maths and technical drawing at secondary school, then doing a first year science at university, going on to train as an electrical engineer, beginning PLC programming work for a commissioning engineering firm before training more in circuit design; leading to a role with an electric vehicle manufacturer. We can plot in detours. We can build bridges. We can collect skills. The possibilities are endless. 

Career mapping is a tool which allows us to understand and put our "personal values and career goals in an institutional context and [...] perspective" (Tinsley, 1984, p. 20). It allows us to put ourselves into an industrial, functional or organisational context, and consider where that gets us. Creating a map - whether a linear list or a flow chart - helps us to make sense not only of our own mahi, but also our team, our function, and "the institution as a whole, its mission, its values, its context in higher education nationally and locally, its informal agendas, its resources, and its problems" (p. 20). Powerful stuff.

This can take a "written form [..such as an] essay, chart, map with annotations, graphic" which enables our client "to develop an action plan for [their] own career, beginning with present title and salary and a brief description of present responsibilities and projecting title, salary, and responsibilities along the following time line: one year from now, two to three years from now, [...or even through to] retirement" (Tinsley, 1984, p. 21). How the client wishes to present their map is up to them, but putting it in some type of recorded form and monitoring it makes them more likely to achieve their goal (Harkin et al., 2016). While career mapping has been around for at least 40 years, apps now enable us to easily flowchart and visualise the "personal rewards and costs, [and to define] the skills and resources" (Tinsley, 1984, p. 20) for us to make sense of our path through an organisation, a sector, or within the broader world of work. 

Also, for a change of direction, we could consider dividing the map a new school leaver client is creating into levels, organising it to address the following ideas (Clarke, 2011, p. 23): 

• Entry level: Our entry point into the world of work. "our expectations about the work world will likely have to change. Even though [we] might not think [we] have much leverage or ability to choose, in fact [we] have quite a bit. Use [...]our youthful innocence to [...]our advantage and just go for what [we] want with purpose"
• Mid-level: As we build skills, keep track of progress. Network. Think ahead. "Establish [...]our regimen of building [...]our arsenal of skills, contacts, and other resources. Challenge [...ourselves] to learn something new every day, no matter how seemingly insignificant"
• Mastery: Build self-knowledge. Train for the gaps. Work to our strengths. "By now [we] have probably worked in a few different companies and environments, and [we] know what [we] want and what works best for [...us]. Make informed choices and continually evaluate options - even if [we] don't choose to pursue them"
• Encore: What have we missed? What do we regret not having tried? "It is hoped that [we] have made wise career choices, but perhaps [we] haven't explored more of what turns out to be an infinite set of possibilities. Push the limits on the "what if" to see where it can lead [us]"
• Detour: Use reflection to dig in and consider our values, interests, engagement, energy, passion and excitement. "Introspection is [...]our friend as [we navigate ...]our course. Get in touch with what moves [us] - with what has meaning - and let that inform [...]our choices. Couple that insight with decision, and [we] are off"

While the example above is for a school leaver, the ideas of entry, mid-, mastery, encore and detour are concepts which be considered at any age. 

Any tools which give clients an alternative frame to consider their career thoughts are helpful! 

Sam

References:

Clarke, G., with Garrett, E. (2011). Career Mapping: Charting your course in the new world of work. Morgan James Publishing/Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

Harkin, B., Webb, T. L, Chang, B. P. I., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y., & Sheeran, P. (2016). Does Monitoring Goal Progress Promote Goal Attainment? A Meta-Analysis of the Experimental Evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 198-229. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000025

Tinsley, A. (1984). Career mapping and the professional development process. In A. Tinsley, C. Secor, S. Kaplan (Eds.), Women in Higher Education Administration: New directions for higher education (Vol. 45, pp. 17-24). Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishing.

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Six steps to map complex roles

Recently we looked at what career path mapping was, and looked at a pretty straight-forward role (teaching, here). In that post I flagged that mapping more complex roles took a bit more effort. There are six steps that Tallo (2020) propose, as follows:

Step 1: Create A Detailed Career Map. "The first step to mapping out your career is to create a career roadmap for yourself. Like the examples above, you should start from the top down with your dream job. Make a list of the sequential positions you’ll need to get there, keeping in mind that opportunities may arise where you can move sideways to expand your expertise" (Tallo, 2020).

Step 2. Fill In Position Profiles. "After you’ve mapped out the job positions you need to reach your dream job, fill out the necessary skills, experience, training, and certifications you’ll need to achieve each step in your career. If you’re in a competitive field, you may want to consider listing a few additional skills that may increase your chances of advancing quickly" (Tallo, 2020). See the example on the Tallo (2020) site for an Assistant Director of HR at https://tallo.com/blog/career-path/.

Step 3. Do Your Research. "Once you have a career map, start doing in-depth research for different positions, with a heavy focus on your dream career. Carve out time each day to read news related to your industry and read blogs written by those in your field. To get a clearer picture of your dream job, try finding a job shadowing opportunity that will give you a behind-the-scenes look at your future career" (Tallo, 2020).

Step 4. Expand Your Knowledge And Skills. "Now comes the tricky part: gaining the skills and knowledge you need to progress in your career. Read books, take online courses, and use whatever resources you have available to you at work to expand your skillset. Don’t forget to ask for performance reviews at work to see if there is anything that could stand to be improved. If you want to speed the process up considerably, look into getting a mentor. A good mentor can be a huge asset to your career by teaching you valuable skills and being a source of support" (Tallo, 2020).

Step 5. Set Small Goals For Yourself. "While big career goals may be admirable, they can be unrealistic or difficult to achieve. To keep yourself motivated and on track, be sure to set small, attainable goals that keep you moving towards your big goal. For instance, maybe your smaller goal is to learn Ruby programming in three months to help you reach your big goal of becoming a developer for a tech startup. Once you reach your milestone, continue setting small goals while keeping the bigger picture in mind" (Tallo, 2020).

Step 6. Network To Gain Visibility. "Never stop networking! It’s seriously one of the single-best things you can do for your career. Not only can networking broaden your job opportunities outside of your company, it can help you make a powerful lateral move to a different department. By networking with people outside of your department, you can learn about different positions within the company and get first-hand knowledge of what those positions entail. And if you make a good impression, you could give yourself a big advantage if/when you decide to apply for the position" (Tallo, 2020).

This is a pretty helpful list. 

Sam

References:

AIHR. (2023). Create Your HR Career Path. Academy to Innovate HR. https://www.aihr.com/hr-career-paths/

Tallo. (2 July 2020). How to Map Out Your Career Path – With Examples. https://tallo.com/blog/career-path/

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What is career path mapping?

Those of us in career practice know the value of mapping career paths. Doing so has long-term benefits in focus, in goal setting, in goal achievement, and in evaluating options, promotions, and in job satisfaction.

Mapping our career path sounds like it should be easy. However, there is little literature detailing HOW to do it. So let's get practical. Let's take a teacher graduate (Tallo, 2020):

Dream Job: Principal

Starting Point: Bachelor’s Degree in [specialist subject]. Then Teacher's Training College for a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching

• Milestone 1. Become certified as a teacher
• Milestone 2. Work for 5+ years while attending conferences and training seminars. May change schools in this time
• Milestone 3. Earn a master’s degree in teaching OR become Head of Department. May change schools again
• Milestone 4. Work for a few more years then get promoted to assistant principal
• Milestone 5. Work for a few years OR change schools again before getting promoted to principal. 

Those of us in career development are aware that progression may occur in many directions for achievement - and may not be linear - however, this example is relatively linear. Progression can be seen with relative ease. Drawing up milestones helps us to see where we might go. We could also draw up a flowchart, showing the "OR" decisions, if we were in a field where there were a number of different choices.

Some professions remain relatively straight-forward: qualify, entry role, middle-tier, management, and - perhaps - governance. However, other roles less clear and more complex, requiring many role-changes, department changes and possibly company changes. For example, the illustration accompanying this post shows four HR fields, shown by the background colour: an HR Advisor (green, and junior), HR Strategist (blue, senior), Customer Service Technician (yellow, junior) and an Administrator (pink, junior). Each of the three junior roles can be mapped into the senior HR role, given enough time for progression, training and education (AIHR, 2023).

Stay tuned for part 2 (here), where we look at all the steps to map and action career path.

Sam

References:

AIHR. (2023). Create Your HR Career Path. Academy to Innovate HR. https://www.aihr.com/hr-career-paths/

AIHR Academy. (19 July 2022). HR Career Map & HR Career Path Tool [video]. https://vimeo.com/736805853

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My career influences

Another career exercise that can work quite well either for students or for clients is to get them to reflecting on those mentors or influencers who have affected where they are currently. How those "career shapers" have had an effect. Students/clients may draw, take photos (then tell a story), or somehow represent those who have been important influences on their career. This may take the form of a mindmap of networked roles or relationships (see accompanying illustration), a map of our personal terrain; a lego model of important people in our lives; a series of photos on a phone with a guiding story. The career influences may connect with an identifiable theory. Or may not.

Before debriefing the client/student, more depth may be gained from discussing their ideas with whanau (we should use our judgement here). The premise of the exercise is to highlight importance for the client. Then to listen to the explanation, and to consider asking some prompt questions, such as what did the influences do? What worked? What did not work? What was truly valuable? And how did we repay their gifts?

The anonymised image accompanying this post used Super’s Career Rainbow (1992) as the creator's inspiration, mapping a variety of their life roles. Part of the story accompanying the mind map (Buzan, 1988) was "I have an extensive, sparse network with many weak ties which also gives it a level of density as many of my networks interconnect as is illustrated by the dotted lines", continuing with it "is in the area of my new career where my existing networks are weakest", but they are seeking "a mentor to reap the benefits" (Inkson et al., 2015; Kram, 1985). 

The creator goes on to say that their family makes mention that they are continually "bumping into someone I know, they are yet to appreciate how valuable my network might be to them in the future" and has been "described 'as the most relentless connector I've ever met, you join dots, causes, people, whanau, communities, resources, ideas and systems in a way that mutually benefits all involved'".

The insights for both client and practitioner from doing such work is clear to see.

Sam & Eleanor

References:

Buzan, T. (1988).  Super-Creativity. St. Martin's Press

Inkson, K., Dries, N., & Arnold, J. (2015). Understanding Careers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Ltd.

Kram, K. E. (1985). Mentoring at Work: Developmental relationships in organizational life. Scott Foresman.

Super, D. E. (1992). Chapter 2: Toward a comprehensive theory of career development. In D. H. Montross, C. J. Shinkman (Eds.), Career Development: Theory and practice (pp. 35-64). Charles C. Thomas.

* Eleanor Blakey kindly assisted with the material for this post

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Mapping the research question

I have written about this before (see here), but it is really important to ensure that all key components of a research question feeds into the project title, the aims, the objectives, and the research outcomes. 

When we ask a research question, we need to sit back and consider all the components we need to find out in order to answer it. We may break our question down into the sub-questions so we can be sure we are asking the 'right' questions to answer our question; so that our aims and outcomes will clearly get us to what we want to know; and that our literature review scopes the environment clearly so we can then construct a clear and unambiguous method to collect our data. Or we may ask a single question, and simply pull out the elements from the question itself that we know we need to explore fully. In this post we are exploring a single question.

Each of the question components will form a section of our literature review, so we can scope each idea, and then link it to the next idea. We build argument that way. Our methodology is designed to collect the data so we can measure fit with the research question, and determine just how well we have answered our question.

For example, the question (the image accompanying this post): "To what extent does quality career advice support the successful transition of Māori students into higher education?" contains seven concepts:

1. To what extent 
2. quality career advice 
3. support 
4. transition 
5. successful transition 
6. Māori students 
7. higher education

I think that having roughly six areas to define - one fewer than the student had originally proposed in the research question above - is probably about right. Remember that each of these sections must be thoroughly explored in the literature review, as we need a baseline to measure and make sense of our findings (once we collect them). Most of these elements need to be built into our collection methods and data collection questions; and then the corresponding data must be collected in order to answer the question. Then the structure of our findings may be written to mirror our literature (if it fits that structure). We can back-check our methods by auditing our research design to see if it will meaningfully collect our data from the participants in a way that answers our question. 

We can also see with this question that the research period needs to be of a good duration. We might need a five year study to answer this meaningfully: interviewing student participants as they leave secondary school, and following them through their tertiary training until they are successfully navigating the job market. We need to consider whether this is achievable in our own timeframe.

This is a lego-like process. Everything should fit together without loose ends. And if you want a great example of research having left many loose ends, check out the horror story here).

Sam

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