Looking in a mirror shows things reversed. Looking in a spoon shows things distorted. And reflecting on research doesn’t automatically reveal everything we want or need.
- Gathering thoughts or summarising ideas doesn’t tell the whole story.
- Focussing questions mean that some points have to be left out.
- Memory can be faulty and our biases can cover up things that they shouldn’t.
With all of that in mind, perhaps the best thing you can do when when reflecting on your research for viva preparation is to reflect a lot.
Ask lots of questions. Create lots of small summaries. Find many different ways to look at what you’ve done, how you did it, why you did it and what happened.
A reflection is never perfect, but by exploring different perspectives you will find more than if you just looked back one time on one aspect.
