“RESEARCH” is a word as ubiquitous as smartphones on campuses. The worth of an academic for the yearly appraisal assessment is, apart from teaching and other functions, often largely based on research — funds generated and deliverables in various forms including papers published in refereed, most often in indexed journals.
I am not belabouring the conceptual meanings of research. I hope to save that for an article in the future. I hope to raise awareness of a consciousness of why we do research, among other things. And this is fundamental to new academics, thesis supervisors and postgraduate students.
Read more in the Jan 25 issue of Learning Curve in New Sunday Times.