Politics of Research: Only learning how to deal with people.

[wilso62]

I am curious as to how many people feel that the majority of graduate school is learning how to deal with people instead of actually performing research? I find myself spending most of my time emailing back and forth about logistics and about how people feel about a certain decision than actually researching science. Do politics/people get in the way of accomplishing your research, and how do you overcome/deal with it?

[TakeruK]

I don't think this is the "majority" of my time. 

 

However, I don't see this as "people getting in the way of accomplishing my research". My "research" is not a set ideal path where I see people as "obstacles". 

 

In my opinion, research/science is a human endeavor and like any other job, we work with other people in order to accomplish mutual goals. So, I view working out the logistics and reaching agreements between collaborators as an integral component of science/research and just as much a part of my job as writing code, or running experiments is.

[themmases]

I agree with TakeruK that many of those interactions are just part of research. Even if you worked in your ideal setting, with any resources you needed at your disposal, you would still probably want to leverage the resources you already own, the processes you've already developed, and the knowledge you've already gained. Other people will be needed to keep all those things going-- there are no lone professors solely responsible for researching science, and it's not necessarily a sign of dysfunction that this is so. A study design that doesn't take environment into account is just an abstraction, it can't be considered complete.

 

In my job, I can choose from at least three piece of software to get a list of people eligible for my studies. To choose, I balance obvious things like the format I need my data to be in, sensitivity/specificity (do I care more about getting every possible patient, or about not spending time reading their medical records and weeding people out myself?), and protecting the subjects by not getting more information than I really need. However, other people own all these resources and they aren't necessarily being political by limiting my access to them-- they might need to reserve that resource for people who are paying for it, or research that is more critical than mine. They probably need to ensure that a shared resource is used responsibly on a study that will lead to meaningful results.

 

I don't think any of that counts as political unless you feel you have to go around someone to get your work done, or someone involved (maybe you) can't or won't be transparent. That definitely goes on outside of research too, though. Sometimes I feel that things are better in research because you can often appeal to a common goal to get buy-in for your project, or at least to discourage people from being openly nasty.

[ss2player]

People skills definitely help, not just in school but out in the working world as well. You can be an all-star in the lab but you need to be able to interact with others in a meaningful way to leverage that data into something more. There will always be drama and difficult people anywhere you go, the trick is to pick your battles and not get distracted by it. Now, if others are holding you back you might need to get a little more direct and "herd" them in the right direction.

I would also suggest taking a management class if your school offers one; I learned a ton and it was a fun class to boot!

[rising_star]

I'm a social scientist who does qualitative research so I deal with people all the time whether it's collecting data, planning data collection, collaborating, etc. I have spent a lot of time dealing with logistics (including coordinating a conference!), so I can understand why that might be frustrating. But, it's also a necessary part of life. Learning "how to deal with people" as you put it is part of being a working adult, regardless of your field. McDonald's cashiers have to learn how to deal with people and so do researchers. If you can, take a course on intercultural or group communication, management, etc. to help you get more comfortable with these interactions and their ubiquity.

[Vene]

It always comes back to people, always.

[spunky]

I am curious as to how many people feel that the majority of graduate school is learning how to deal with people instead of actually performing research?

 

i can only thank the gods that 99.78% of my research happens within the bowels of my computer. but whenever i see other people running around trying to recruit participants, going through ethic reviews, dealing with the pesky egos of their committees, begging people to stay in their studies, etc. i always wonder when do they find the time to do actual research?

 

graduate students are miracles-workers

Edited June 6, 2014 by spunky

[MakeYourself]

Social relations are a part of every job and every aspect of life. The only other option is to live in a hole or on a secluded island.

[wildviolet]

I have meetings to plan future meetings.

 

I have meetings where everyone gets to have their say and then the PI just decides what they want to do anyway (seriously, why did we just spend an hour talking about ALL the possibilities... just make the darn decision already!).

 

I have long, long email threads about logistics... where, when to meet? Oops, someone can't make it now, let's ALL look at our schedules again.

 

These things drive me crazy!!! BUT, they are a necessary part of working on research projects with large groups of people. Most of the big grants in my field go to PIs with co-PIs. This means that at least two or more researchers, often in different parts of the country (and time zones), must coordinate. Research is a messy process. Nothing's a straight line. Nothing's for sure. I dislike the uncertainty--just my personality, I guess. But I have to learn how to deal with it. Not sure that I've found a "solution" yet. I usually just laugh it off. It helps to have good colleagues and support personnel to work with.

 

When do I actually get to DO research? I don't know, I guess that depends on your definition of research. In the broadest sense, if "research" is everything that I do to get this research published, then I suppose pretty much everything I'm doing is research in the sense that everything I'm doing is supporting getting the research done.

Edited June 23, 2014 by wildviolet