Living a Good Life: 6 Valuable Lessons from My Recent Publication

Read the Original Article:

My master’s thesis has recently been published in the Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice with the title: “Evaluating the Good Lives Model Among Students: The Role of Primary Goods and Self-Regulation in Achieving a Good Life”. I have shared a review of the publication in another blog (click here) where I summarised the main findings of the study.

In this writing, I am excited to share what motivated me to research the Good Lives Model and my experience with the project. My goal is to encourage students who are working on their research projects by sharing 6 important lessons they can consider to enjoy the process. This will also be useful for students who are considering a career in academia.

Choosing a topic:

Many students have approached me to seek advice on choosing a research topic. In most cases, students are assigned supervisors who influence their research project. However, if you have the freedom to choose a topic, start by considering your own interests, and experiences, and how they align with your curiosity and career goals. Remember that the research project is part of your life and not an isolated academic exercise. When I conducted my research, I considered my interests and chose a supervisor with similar interests. Before my thesis, I had been involved in various research projects, including a study at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement and the Lie Lab at the University of Amsterdam. In addition to my experience in criminology and deception research, my interests were also in motivation, and self-regulation. Fortunately, Eva Billen had interview data on motivation for committing crimes that she wanted to analyse. What attracted me was the Good Lives Model (GLM), which I had become familiar with during my bachelor’s degree and wanted to explore further. But, the interviews were in Dutch. Eventually, we agreed to focus on the application of the GLM among students.

A Supervisor that Respects Your Views:

One important thing to watch for in a supervisor is someone who values and respects your views. I have observed many students experiencing stress in their research projects because they believe they are only fulfilling their supervisor’s requirements without considering their own input. Your perspectives are important, and a good supervisor should be willing to listen to you. It’s ok to respectfully disagree with your supervisor by explaining why an alternative option may be better. At the same time, you should be open to listening to their views and reaching an agreement. This shouldn’t be a one-sided relationship.

Skills Acquisition and Problem Solving:

Take ownership of your research project and focus on learning instead of just the grade. Your supervisor has valuable knowledge and skills in the field, so try to learn from them. Always bear in mind that you are responsible for your research project. When facing challenges, see them as opportunities to learn something new. If you can’t find a solution, approach your supervisor. Always keep in mind that supervisors are to guide you to find solutions rather than providing answers. Some key skills to develop during research projects include problem identification, communication and collaboration with your supervisor and others, and problem-solving. For instance, after designing the research and collecting data, I realized that my analytical approach didn’t work. I then discussed it with my supervisor and also presented some alternative ideas. Fortunately, she had articles with a similar approach that I reviewed. I also consulted friends and other researchers. Together with my supervisor, we combined our ideas and arrived at a suitable solution.

Listen to Others:

An Akan proverb says, “The one who makes the road does not see how crooked the path is.” This proverb means that there are times when we may not realize our mistakes, and it takes others to point them out to us. Throughout my project, I was grateful to have wonderful reviewers and friends who helped with proofreading and made suggestions on various parts of the project. Every time someone read it, there was always something to change. We also submitted it to some journals that rejected it. Even though such experiences weren’t pleasant, we received valuable feedback that helped us improve the final product.

Resilience:

Your research project is a safe ground for exercising patience and being open to the views of others. Not everyone may agree with you, but it’s essential you can respectfully disagree while still considering the wisdom in what they are saying. Rejections from journals didn’t discourage us. Instead, they provided valuable lessons that we used to improve the project. I also gained insights into various aspects of publication, such as selecting the right journal and responding to reviewers. We persisted in submitting the work to different journals. This was because the feedback from previous reviewers was something we could address. For the points we couldn’t address, we could explain our reasoning. I always kept in mind the idea of trying again. After multiple revisions and submissions, the project was eventually published.

Enjoy Your Research:

Most of the time, we are so caught up with academic and time pressures that we do not have time to appreciate the work itself. We are focused on getting to the destination, and we do not value the journey. However, we should be mindful of the fact that if we do not enjoy our research project, no one will. In my case, reading about the Good Lives model gave me different perspectives about my life. It was interesting to see that I was not the only person who had that view. Several participants got back to me and told me how taking part in the research survey helped them rethink the kind of life they were living. This made me understand that conducting the research was not just about data collection, but also about impacting people’s lives.

Conclusion

The research process can be challenging, but with the right help from your supervisor and the right attitude, you should be able to overcome the obstacles. Always focus on the learning aspect of the research project. Whatever happens to you during the research project is equally important as the final product.