Transforming from naïve research student to confident critical thinker

Abstract

In this chapter, the author discusses the thinking skills that assisted her in her research higher degree project, especially in terms of understanding what was needed in order to conduct research with the necessary systematic rigour. Different modes of thinking are described as basic tools for achieving the required rigour of research, and producing a study that contains quality knowledge with a high degree of excellence. Fundamentally important for achieving quality knowledge is a student’s production of reliable and valid knowledge. In this process four modes of thinking are essential: objective, subjective, reflective and reflexive thinking. These are outlined to introduce how these thinking skills connect to achieving rigour, and producing reliable, valid knowledge and, at the same time, assist in the completion of a PhD-level study. There is no blueprint for how to use these thinking tools, no formula for success, as each new study brings with it its own settings and conditions. Nonetheless, this author found the thinking skills acquired for confronting the demands of rigour opened the way for creative solutions to overcome major obstacles in her fieldwork strategies, and they continue to support her decision-making in life after the study.