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• It helps you to develop your knowledge in

the area of research generally and in

relation to your chosen topic area.

• It helps you to take control of your

research project.

Of course, none of these aspects of the book

can guarantee you a higher mark, but they

can help you to succeed.

The role of writing in research

and learning

Many tutors and supervisors encourage their

students to keep a reflective journal as part of

the research process, but few give advice on

how to do this effectively to get the most from it.

In higher education, there is growing evidence

of the value of journal writing in aiding students’

development, and here are some of the reasons

why. Journal writing helps us to:

• Gain new insights and develop our

understanding. It is difficult to write about

something well unless we understand what

we are writing about. If we don’t

understand what we have written,

probably no one else will either!

• Slow down and think at a significantly

deeper level. Most of us live life at a fast

pace, and slowing down is important for

developing our critical thinking. We need

to give ourselves time and space to do this.

• Examine where we stand on things as

a researcher. If we have not made our own

position in the research clear, it may open

us up to criticisms of subjectivity and bias

and it will fail to stand up to the academic

rigour of assessment.

• Engage with the research process in a more

transparent way. Any dissertation or research

project needs to be open and transparent in

relation to how it has been carried out, so that

its validity can be assessed.

• Make an accurate record of each aspect

of our research. It is all too easy to think

that we will remember relevant detail,

when, in practice, this doesn’t always

happen. This becomes problematic as

our research progresses, and we need to

look back and write about what we

did and why. In addition, we probably all

remember times when we have been

writing a piece of work and need to refer