Object Understanding and uncertainty about research Objects

The preceding subsections on the Object of research activities have shown how complex research can be. Across the breadth of these interviews, interviewees indicated that navigating these uncertainties changes the Subject’s understanding of the Object. Interviewees’ most successful strategies also drew on the Community to better understand the Object. So navigating the process of research appears, for these interviewees, to connect closely to influences and help from their peers, supervisors, mentors, and colleagues about how research and

publication/presentation are done. One interviewee described their sense of uncertainty in the absence of guidance as “When it’s not guided it’s like, oh my gosh I’m doomed” (C3). Another interviewee explained the value of working with a range of colleagues for help during a point of confusion or uncertainty:

You know, you’re running through a whole list of things because your mind is really just kind of spinning at that point because it was just so much information. So I think that’s where I get help from [a senior colleague], somebody who has done more research than I have, somebody who I feel is very helpful in

developing an idea again and deciding how big or how small to go with it, whether it’s one project or multiple projects ... Also I can go to really any of our reference librarians and say this is what I found and this is what I’m looking for and just trying to make sure I’ve covered all the bases …[So] sometimes I’ll pick their brains too, tell me if you’d search, these are the search strands that I’ve been using, tell me if you have another suggestion of something you think I should try, or if you think I’ve really kind of covered this in as much as there’s out there to see. So that’s another way that you can work with your colleagues too. Then I think the other thing that helps me refine things or think of next steps or other conclusions is to share your research with everybody. … I’ll say this is what I’m working on and this was my question. I think if you share that with your staff and your colleagues and everyone you get some good feedback, and some feedback that you’re not necessarily expecting. (C1)

At my study sites, ways to deal with uncertainty included reading about research

methods, attending trainings locally or at conferences, and discussing with colleagues. The most successful core interviewees had discussed extensively with colleagues for advice and feedback at all stages of research. They touched base with their colleagues not only for the big-picture planning but also for encouragement and answers to small-seeming questions. As the preceding long quote shows, a successful strategy drew from a variety of colleagues with different

expertise. Then, a wide network of people with different skills was helpful to interviewees, on top of individual mentors.

In this wide network, different experienced people play different roles. A critical role is supporting a junior researcher who is grappling with foundational concepts. One experienced

researcher described a colleague’s mentoring of new researchers with, “[s/he] understands the things that they’re dealing with… [and] are trying to struggle with. ‘How do I get started with this? How do I even know what anything, what this means?’” (C3). This uncertainty in coping with foundational concepts can undermine any potential for progress, so knowing someone who can work through the basics is valuable. In addition, scoping and focusing onto something appropriate depended on collegial feedback. Sometimes this depended on a community with broader disciplinary engagement, as per one core interviewee who said, “What I’m thinking of is getting feedback about what other people think is interesting. Like there’s tons of things that I think are interesting, but which of those seems most sort of salable in terms of what I can get accepted somewhere?” (A1). In other cases it was a matter of giving advice on how to use dissemination approaches most effectively to focus interpreting and sharing results, as one junior peer described,

I had already started writing it [but then a senior colleague] recommended that I do the poster … Now that I’m moving back to the writing I’m finding it very helpful. Because I had to think about, what were the kind of three main findings? What were the main questions and what were the main findings, you know, what came out of those questions? I was able to answer, ‘How do I interpret these results, and how do I really like in five minutes just boil it down and explain it that way?’ So I’ve found that really, really helpful. (B2)

However, core and junior participants’ senses of need and uncertainty were particularly high around issues of study design and methodology. As one participant said, “The data piece. That’s a little harder… [in a study that] was not so successful, I was working with someone who didn’t know as much about data. And I knew very little” (F2). Of another experies, the same interviewee said, “One that I did with someone who knew data and knew how to deal with it, and she knew her limits … so that was very successful” (F2). Design and methods uncertainty can

interrupt progress during initial design, data collection, or analysis. One interviewee explained uncertainty in the analysis process with, “I had all this data I didn’t know what to do and how do I analyze it. How do I get from A to B in making a conclusion?” (E1). Another described the search for mentoring or collegial advice on a survey study in process, “I’ve got this hiccup of, like ugh, I’m not sure where to go next, or I just worry about the [survey instrument] questions… Can we tighten these? And then, can we ask for feedback from people who have done this sort of thing before and see what they think?” (F1).

Uncertainty may also develop over time but remain unvoiced. Because the research process is long and uncertainties can persist for a long time, mentoring interviewees suggested that there needed to be some proactiveness on mentors’ and supervisors’ parts too. As one said, “I do check in with them. I do make sure that I’m paying attention to what they’re working on, what they’re doing. And I’m looking for those opportunities to assist when I can, if needed” (F2). Active intervention by mentors was valued by junior interviewees, who described feeling support from these kinds of “check in” visits (C1, E2, F3). In the end, persistence will build experience and experience is key to coping with uncertainties. This is well summarized by one core interviewee who said, “It’s probably not a challenge that I can’t overcome now, but I felt like I couldn’t overcome it at the time” (E1).