Does anyone feel too immature for research?

[LongHours]

Hi all, 

 

I am wondering, do people in their later years ever feel not qualified or too immature to do research? I am in the social sciences and sometimes I feel as though I am too impatient to write well. Putting my thoughts coherently on paper has always been difficult. I know what I mean when I write, but others seem to struggle. This causes my horrendous department head to ridicule my writing, causing me feel horrible for days. I am a native speaker, but I do not know if my writing skills are up-to-snuff. Sometimes I think I am too immature for research and rush the writing process.

 

Thoughts?

[ak48]

Ouch, it sucks that your callous department head makes fun of your writing.

 

There are really only 2 ways to get better at writing: read more and write more!

 

Do you generally use outlines when you write? Or do you just start writing? For some people, it's much better for them to plan an outline first (maybe paragraph by paragraph).

 

Then take it to your adviser or somebody else and ask them for critique.

 

Practice practice practice!

[Dal PhDer]

Hi there!
 

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I don't think immaturity or anything impacts writing. Like ak48 said, it has A LOT to do with how much you read and write!

 

I'm also trying to improve my writing. I think in this field, you always have too. What I'm doing (and you might want to try) is:

 

-Write everyday on my projects (or even in a blog). (a) the more you do it, the better you'll get - even if it's not for a paper. ( just getting thoughts down and ideas is helpful. If you do that everyday, you'll be surprised at how much content you can get down.

-Start early. By writing everyday, I can make sure assignments are done early. This allows me to (a) take it to the writing center at my school to go over it with a tutor who does editing (it's VERY helpful, and I would recommend doing it to all students), ( gives me time to have a peer look over it, and © gives me time to have fresh eyes so I can go over it.

- Edit your peers' work! This really helps!

 

Writing isn't a skill that comes naturally to everyone...but it's also a skill everyone has to work at. Don't let some rude uppity bring you down- they should be building you up and teaching and encouraging you! You can improve your writing!

[Tall Chai Latte]

I'm in the life sciences. I feel immature too, as I find my can-do attitude varies from time to time. Some days I'd be really amped up and feeling like I can tackle anything, some days I feel annoyed/beaten down by the smallest thing ever. I'm not sure why my emotion goes up and down so easily, but I do hope this goes away with time as I gain more experience in dealing with various scientific obstacles.

 

Anyways, we are getting there one day at a time 

[free_radical]

I think everyone has strengths and weaknesses in their respective research fields, no one is good at everything needed to become a good researcher.  It sounds like you're just struggling with one thing - writing.  One weakness doesn't mean you can't do research, it just means you should address that one weakness.  Don't forget about the strengths you have too!  

 

For me personally, writing is one of my strengths, but trust me, I have my fair share of weaknesses in other areas!  I also think being aware of my weaknesses has helped me overcome them, or at least manage them effectively.  

[DNAgyrase]

I'm in the life sciences. I feel immature too, as I find my can-do attitude varies from time to time. Some days I'd be really amped up and feeling like I can tackle anything, some days I feel annoyed/beaten down by the smallest thing ever. I'm not sure why my emotion goes up and down so easily, but I do hope this goes away with time as I gain more experience in dealing with various scientific obstacles.

 

Anyways, we are getting there one day at a time 

 This....is how I feel.

[zapster]

One way to figure out where you might improve is to pick up some of your own earlier writing on a topic that you have not been working on for a while and review it. Try to play devil's advocate and figure out where and why you might want to improve - especially whether the writing flows naturally from argument to argument.

 

Sometimes when we are actively working on a topic, our brain can automatically "fill in" the gaps whilst reading or writing about that topic. This could be one of the reasons why someone else may believe the writing lacks clarity. Trying the above exercise might help you identify if this is the case.

[juilletmercredi]

Does your university have a writing center?  Most universities do, and you can probably meet semi-regularly with a consultant there to help you with your writing.  Bring a piece of work that you want to improve and ask for help, and they'll work with you not only on that piece itself but on general rules for writing.

 

You also may want to pick up some resources on writing, like the book How to Write a Lot or The Craft of Research.  There are a lot of books out there on the process of writing, and writing journal articles in particular (there's a book called something like "How to write a journal article in 12 weeks".)

 

I know some researchers who have struggled with writing.  The only way to get better is to keep writing and continually review your own work.

 

FWIW, I consider myself a strong writer and I definitely outline when I write.  It helps SOOO much to plan what you are going to write ahead of time.  You always have something to refer back to if you get a little lost.  I also don't write linearly.  When I am writing a journal article, I start with the methods section.  That's because that's the easiest section for me to write, and getting something on the paper makes the paper less intimidating when I return to it to complete it.  I start with methods, then write the results; typically, I then write the introduction and discussion.  I started using Scrivener and I think it's a useful app because it encourages writers to think holistically about their writing and not necessarily linearly.  A blank Word document is both intimidating and not useful, IMO, but with a Scrivener project I can house notes and research and writing all in the same area and I can move sections around easily.

[Arcadian]

"Immature" isn't the word, but there are definitely days when I don't feel like doing research. I assume it's normal. I mean, come on - most of research is a drag. Most of it isn't fun. The idea is fun, but actually doing it isn't.

 

However, I am mostly referring to the mundane, non-intellectual tasks involved with research. Writing can go either way. If it's theoretical writing, that's fun. If it's writing a method section for a paper, that's not fun.

[Guest |||]

Immature in as far as intellectual capability

 

I love being a student, where my primary goal is to think (be it solving problems, drafting methodology, making experiments, etc etc).

 

But I do question, if I have the intelligence to actually succeed in academia.