Introduction
The purpose of this learning statement is to reflect upon my experiences in terms of learning over the past 12 months whilst conducting this research project. To achieve this aim I would like to address the valuable learning experiences which I have developed throughout the process of dissertation. I will use various examples of my learning experiences.
I approached the dissertation by setting myself to a time table with some key objectives to meet, for example, what should be the time limit of completing literature review section, when the interviews should be conducted, how many respondents were needed to meet the objectives of this dissertation.
I was able to maintain this time table to some extent and I have realised that when working on a research project over the few months it is important to build some flexibility and to be stress free to get the fresh ideas about the topic.I have learnt that it is very easy to get demotivated particularly when things do not work according to the plan, at the beginning stage of the research. This has had an initial affect on my research undertaken. However, after taking a break for a week I have regained the inspiration.
Skills Developed
I would like to identify the skills that I have developed throughout the process of this dissertation which was an important part of my personal development in terms of academic learning. Firstly, I have developed skills of written communication. Before I started this dissertation, I felt my written communications were quite good. However, when I started with my dissertation writing it was noted that my previous writing style was not up to the expected level of dissertation at master’s level.
My dissertation tutor highlighted the various specific nature of writing that was essential to complete this dissertation successfully. I have learnt from my dissertation tutor that it is actually the quality of the writing that is more important than the number of words I have written. I have received some constructive comments from my dissertation tutor as my writing style was too formal and the meaning that I wanted to convey was different from the actual words that were used at the initial stage.
Secondly, another important point that was highlighted during the frequent meetings with my dissertation tutor was that, I was using too much of information and thus the writing was losing the main context of the topic and the argument of literature review were almost lost in the solid wall of texts. The written technique that I was adopting at the initial stage of this dissertation writing was inappropriate in the flow of writing because what I wanted to say was not exactly reflecting in my writing. Also it was recommended by my dissertation tutor to adopt the writing style in the third person. This has taught me that while undertaking a research it is very important to focus on the core topic and issues that needs to be addressed, also to keep the reader in mind for example why I am writing, who will be the readers.
At the beginning of my dissertation writing, I was using too much of information which was confusing and was difficult to draw a clear thought.Finally, I have also received critical feedback for not been able to organise the paragraphs under the suitable headings and more importantly under the most appropriate position. The internet sources that I was using for this dissertation particularly for the literature review section was criticised and was questionable by my tutor.
I was recommended to use valuable resources that are directly related with the topic of this dissertation and are reliable for example, BBA, HM Treasury, and Financial Times. At this stage, I have realised that I will have to change my writing style and I will also have to change the major parts of the sections that was already completed.
It was a very tedious task to edit down the large section according to the recommendation of my tutor. I was very frustrated, and I found it extremely difficult. However, I have realised that it was essential to produce the quality and expected level of standard in my work.
How the skills were developed
I feel that I have developed a better understanding about a great deal of learning about how to write and structure a qualitative research report. With the help of continuous feedback and meetings with my dissertation tutor I started identifying what kind of writing was important for this dissertation. I have then spent about two weeks in reading and taking notes from the previous dissertations that were available at the university library to follow the structure of the writing style.
After this, I have started organising the information that I have already collected in a more structured way according the recommendation of my dissertation tutor. At this stage, I have re-evaluated what was actually required to give the sense about the topic, and what information were less important in the body of this dissertation but could be meaningful for the appendices section. This was very helpful for me to develop an understanding about the presentation of the information. It took a lot of time and effort to decide how I wanted to present my information in support of my findings.
The next important step was to find out how to search the internet effectively for example the journals that were related to this particular dissertation, their validity in the context of present marketing and economic environment and more importantly how up to date the data and information were that I can use in the context of my research problem and topic. For this purpose I began with looking at others work related to my dissertation. Then I started looking at step by step guide on our university website which provided me the exact piece of information that I was looking for.
University guidelines and supporting tools were extremely helpful to build up my confidence and to maintain the flow of my writing. This was also very effective which helped me to edit all the chapters according to the relevance of this dissertation, to refine the research problem and design. In this process I have developed a great deal of learning about the importance of key word search, for example when I looked for key word ‘’relationship marketing’’ I have found some valuable other findings about that particular word which I did not even know.
The in-depth interview with the credit card managers at HBOS in Leeds was a great opportunity for me to know about how HBOS plans for sales and corporate customer retention. It provided me with an insight about the working environment and what it is like to work in a corporate business like HBOS. I did lot of home work before conducting that in-depth interview. I arrived on the day of the interview 30 minutes before the agreed time.
I was nervous but once the interview started, I have realised that my pre-planned script was very helpful to encourage the participants to talk more on the subject. This was also helpful in creating a positive impression on the participants which showed my keen interest on the topic. However, when I started transcribing the data taken from the interview, I have realised that it is more time consuming and at times, it was very difficult to analyse this data.
Finally, my overall learning outcome through this dissertation process is that now I am more conscious about the way I wish to write something, or if I wish to search some business information on websites. I feel this will help me in further higher studies, also in this way I have reviewed my work in this dissertation in a constructive argument instead of putting my own words according to my convenience.
