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Hermeneutics Simply Explained (Hermeneutic Circle & Gadamer)

Post author By admin
Post date April 24, 2024
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Are you looking for someone to explain the concept of hermeneutics in simple terms? Then buckle up, because things are about to get philosophical.

In this article, in less than 10 minutes, you’ll get an overview of the following 3 things:

What is the theory or philosophy behind the term hermeneutics?
What is the hermeneutic circle and what is it used for?
And who are the key thinkers in hermeneutics that you definitely should have heard of?

So, if you’re looking for a quick and painless overview of the topic, keep reading. By the end of this article, you’ll be at least a bit wiser than before.

Hermeneutics Explained

What is Hermeneutics?

Hermeneutics is “the art of methodically guided understanding” (Kaus, 2022, p.1), which means that it helps us as a researcher in understanding the overarching structures of meaning in human life and action.

Primarily dealing with written texts, as they offer potential access to these structures of meaning, hermeneutics is particularly relevant in the humanities. However, the significance of hermeneutics extends far beyond the boundaries of individual disciplines.

It involves interpreting texts or other symbols, as well as interpreting the act of interpreting itself. It’s about how we, as researchers, can better understand the social life around us.

Hermeneutics can thus serve as an auxiliary science for various disciplines. Whether a theologian aiming to understand the Bible, a lawyer interpreting legislation, or an educator decoding youth slang – all these scenarios require guidance on interpretation.

Are you still with me? I hope so. We’re about to get to the more tangible part. Hang in there.

Philosophical Hermeneutics (Gadamer)

Philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer takes a step further, conceiving hermeneutics not just as a tool for interpretation but as a process that touches on something much more fundamental.

In a philosophical sense, hermeneutics can also deal with how people or even entire nations understand each other.

For Gadamer’s teacher Martin Heidegger, it was already clear that hermeneutics represents a fundamental principle of human existence. That is, we humans are constantly engaged in understanding, and existence itself means to understand.

Gadamer particularly emphasized the role of language in hermeneutics. For him, understanding is always connected with language.

He also coined what I consider the most beautiful metaphor for understanding hermeneutics better. He describes hermeneutics as a never-ending conversation (“The Infinite Conversation”).

Imagine you’re a researcher looking for structures of meaning, and your data material is a text. Imagine you are you, and the text is your counterpart.

The metaphor of the infinite conversation suggests that you approach your counterpart (the text) with an open attitude.

You have certain preconceptions, which you “put at risk”. You’re open to the idea that the assumptions you entered the conversation with might be replaced by others, depending on what you learn from the conversation (with the text).

The conversation is infinite because hermeneutics repeats this adjustment of pre-knowledge and new knowledge over and over again. We’ll take a closer look at this important principle in a moment.

Another famous image used by Gadamer is the horizon. It represents the structure of meaning and the knowledge we are exposed to. The horizon affects us when we want to understand something new and provides us with orientation.

The Hermeneutic Circle

Having introduced Gadamer’s ontological considerations on hermeneutics, let’s see how this principle can be applied to concrete scientific methods.

If you’re familiar with my tutorials on qualitative content analysis or thematic analysis, this will seem familiar. These approaches can be seen as a hermeneutic process:

The analysis of qualitative data often does not proceed sequentially from start to finish. Instead, the process is dynamic. You can always return from the analysis to the research question, or from the presentation of results back to the development of categories.

This approach is fundamentally based on the hermeneutic circle. It envisages moving back and forth in spiral movements between pre-understanding and text understanding, similar to Gadamer’s infinite conversation. This principle is particularly evident in a quote from Jürgen Bolten (1985):

“Understanding a text means, therefore, to comprehend features of the text’s structure or content and its production, incorporating the text and reception history as well as reflecting on one’s own interpretation stance within a reciprocal justification relationship. The fact that there can be no false or correct interpretations, but at best more or less appropriate ones, follows from the […] historicity of the constituents of understanding and the related unfinishability of the hermeneutic spiral. […] According to the spiral movement, the interpretation regarding its hypothesis formation is subject to a mechanism of self-correction.” (pp. 362-363)

It’s also important to mention the relationship between the whole and the parts in the hermeneutic circle. Understanding a text means understanding its parts in relation to the whole and vice versa. This is why it’s called a circle or a spiral.

This principle also applies to the relationship between the text and its context, or between different texts. The interpretation always moves in a circle between understanding the individual parts and the whole.

Who Should You Know?

Hans-Georg Gadamer: As mentioned, Gadamer is a key figure in hermeneutics. His work “Truth and Method” is a foundational text in the field.
Martin Heidegger: Before Gadamer, Heidegger laid the groundwork for existential hermeneutics. His main work, “Being and Time,” is crucial for understanding the philosophical underpinnings of hermeneutics.
Friedrich Schleiermacher: Often considered the father of modern hermeneutics, Schleiermacher emphasized the importance of understanding the author’s intention and the historical context.
Wilhelm Dilthey: Dilthey developed the concept of the hermeneutic circle and stressed the difference between explaining natural phenomena and understanding human expressions.

Challenges of Hermeneutics

The inductive reasoning and the “infinity” of the hermeneutic approach can lead to challenges.

One of the most well-known issues in the history of hermeneutics revolves around the interpretation of the Bible. Here, a particular case arises due to the Bible being written by various authors, at different times, and within different cultural epochs.

If one understands the Bible as a cohesive work and deduces the whole from its parts, things become tricky.

The second challenge of hermeneutics and the hermeneutic circle is their infinity. If knowledge can never truly be considered complete, then there’s always a certain provisional nature to it.

We can never arrive at definitive statements, but must consider everything with reservations. This can be unsatisfying in some cases.

Conclusion

Hermeneutics, then, is not just a fancy term for interpreting texts. It’s a fundamental approach to understanding the world around us, grounded in the principle that our preconceptions and the context of our understanding are always in dialogue with what we seek to understand.

Whether you’re a student, a researcher, or simply someone interested in the philosophy of understanding, grappling with hermeneutics can deepen your appreciation for the complexities of interpretation.

So, the next time you sit down to interpret a text, remember: you’re engaging in a process that philosophers have pondered for centuries, and you’re part of the infinite conversation that is understanding itself.

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How to Get over Fear of Presenting in Class (7 Quick Remedies)

Post author By admin
Post date April 17, 2024
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The announcement “In this subject, the assessement is a 45-minute presentation,” immediately triggers your fear of presenting in class?

Oh no! Where’s the exit?

The mere thought of your next presentation sends your pulse racing, induces sweat, and triggers an urge to flee? Then, it’s time to conquer your fear of presentations.

Don’t worry, from personal experience, I know exactly how daunting it can be to stand in front of the entire class and have to deliver a speech.

To help you feel more confident in your next presentation, I’ll share 7 tips in this video on how to manage your stage fright and perform with confidence.

#1 Practice Makes Perfect

Practice? Well, that’s nothing new. True, but this tip is indispensable for overcoming your fear of presentating in class.

The better prepared you are for your presentation, the greater your confidence will be, and simultaneously, your fear and nervousness will decrease.

Once you’ve developed your presentation, practice delivering it. Start by presenting to yourself.

It’s often recommended to practice in front of a mirror. This is a great way to see and improve your body language.

However, it can sometimes feel odd to watch yourself in the mirror, especially if you’re just starting out and feeling uncertain.

Initially, you can practice without a mirror and go through the presentation out loud at your desk.

Or simply walk around the room while going through your speech (this is my favorite method).

Speak loudly and clearly. The greatest learning effect comes from having to actually articulate the sentences you’ve planned.

Just by presenting out loud, you’ll save yourself from long pauses for thought when it really counts, and you’ll automatically gain more confidence.

Next, you can practice your speech in front of a mirror or even record yourself on video. Even if it still feels a bit uncomfortable, give it a try!

No one but you will ever see it, and you can observe your own body language and identify weaknesses in your delivery.

A test audience is also great for practicing your presentation. Ask family or friends for feedback!

This way, you’ll go into the presentation even more confidently. It’s important to practice exactly how the presentation will be conducted at the university. So, use the same laptop, the same notes, and slides.

Don’t forget to also prepare for possible discussion questions. A stuttering discussion can ruin a lot of your hard work.

By the way, even the world’s great speakers practice before they go on stage. All professionals practice, which is why they are so good.

If you want to learn more about this, I recommend reading “Turning Pro” by Steven Pressfield.

#2 Convey Confidence with Body Language

During a presentation, it’s not just about what you say, but also how you convey it nonverbally.

Body language plays a crucial role, as it affects not only the audience but also your subconscious.

Even if you’d rather shrink and disappear into the ground, stand up straight with a firm stance, feet a bit wider than usual, pull your shoulders back, and put on a smile – you’ll automatically feel more confident.

And if you’re still panicking on the inside, then just don’t let anyone see it. “Fake it ’til you make it.”

If some of your friends are among your classmates, even better. Try to make eye contact with them. They want you to succeed, and as your cheerleaders, they boost your confidence!

From my own experience, however, you need to master Step 1, practicing the content, before you can optimize your body language.

If you have to constantly think about what to say next, you’ll forget to pay attention to your posture.

The more you practice, the more attention you can give to the details, and the better you can overcome your fear of presenting in class.

If you don’t know what to do with your arms, hold a pen or a presenter. This gives your hands something to do, and you can gesture more effectively.

#3 Calmness through Breathing and Relaxation Exercises

In stressful situations, we tend to breathe shallowly and quickly, which amplifies our nervousness. Through targeted breathing exercises, you can interrupt this reaction, lower your pulse, and get your nervousness under control.

A simple technique is diaphragmatic breathing, where you breathe deeply into your belly and slowly exhale. This improves oxygen flow, better energizes your brain, and automatically calms you down.

Place your hand on your belly to feel if you’re really breathing deeply into it.

You can also try to take a deep breath through your nose after your normal, shallow breath. As if you were trying to fill your lungs completely with air. Repeat it 3 times.

This technique slows down your pulse and calms you down.

Relaxation exercises like progressive muscle relaxation or meditation can also help reduce your tension and strengthen your concentration.

Regular practice of these techniques can decrease your fear of presenting in class over the long term and help you approach presentations more calmly and confidently. If you’re not already using a meditation app, now is the time!

My favorite is “Waking Up” by Sam Harris.

Before your next speech, it’s definitely worth spending a few minutes on breathing and relaxation exercises. You don’t necessarily have to do the exercises and meditations right before your speech, as that wouldn’t be practical.

Immediately before your speech, however, you will remember the techniques you have practiced extensively and can apply them unnoticed and spontaneously.

#4 Embrace Your Inner Stoic

“Surely I’ll forget half of it.” “I’m not prepared at all.” “My presentation is bad, the others are much better.”

Is your inner critic in top form on the day of the presentation? We definitely need to counteract this, as it unnecessarily increases your fear of presenting in class.

You can’t change your external circumstances. But you can change how you respond to them.

Accept Your Emotions: It’s normal to feel fear or nervousness. Accept these feelings, but don’t let them dictate your actions.
Focus on What You Can Control: Concentrate on the things you can influence in your preparation and presentation, and let go of things that are beyond your control, such as the audience’s reactions.
Use Negative Visualization: Imagine the worst-case scenario as mental training. Visualize your presentation going wrong, but then visualize how you calmly and collectedly respond to it.

Familiarize Yourself with Stoic Philosophy if your emotions and fears often overwhelm you. Often, giving a situation a new, more positive framing is enough to become more composed.

Look into books by Ryan Holiday and William B. Irvine.

#5 Leave Nothing to Chance

You’re optimally prepared, the speech is ready, and belly breathing is already showing its effects. Time to start!

Quickly connect your laptop… Oh God, what kind of projector is this?

Why doesn’t the cable fit? And suddenly, the nervousness rises, and you’re completely thrown off.

To avoid this, familiarize yourself with the technology and the premises in advance. Arrive at least half an hour early and test the technology calmly.

Even better: Stay a little longer in the room the week before and get familiar with the set up in the room. If you want to show a video, test the sound and whether it plays through the room’s speakers.

Also, prepare backups. Prepare for the eventuality that the internet in the room doesn’t work. Download all files locally to your computer. Pull everything onto a USB stick, just in case. Bring your own HDMI adapter, just in case.

Be a pro. Be prepared. This way, you can overcome your fear of presentations.

#6 Focus on the Essentials

You’re deep into the topic, and so far, everything is going well. But what’s going on in the third row on the left? Why is someone yawning? And in the fifth row, someone has their head on the table!

Am I putting everyone to sleep? Even the professor just glanced out the window! Oh no! Even the Stoic gods can’t help me now. My presentation is boring and therefore bad!

Don’t make assumptions.

Try not to take everything personally. Even if someone yawns, it doesn’t automatically have to do with your presentation.

Maybe the person just slept poorly or was out late at a party. Stay focused on yourself and don’t be distracted by the audience.

I’ve had rows of students fall asleep during my lectures. But honestly, that’s happened to me before, too. It certainly wasn’t because of the lecture… 😉

It’s normal for different reactions to occur in the audience, and this doesn’t necessarily reflect the quality of your presentation. Stay calm and focus on what you have prepared well and how you want to convey the knowledge.

If they’re not listening, it’s their loss.

You do your part.

#7 Always Compare Yourself to Yourself

You don’t want to forget anything during the presentation, misspeak, blush, and definitely want to be able to answer ALL questions.

If you aim to do everything perfectly, you’re more afraid of failing. Try not to be so hard on yourself because there’s no such thing as perfection.

Even Justin Bieber has had a blackout during a concert, and the news anchors mess up despite years of experience.

And who remembers it the next day?

No one.

Realize: Nothing is perfect, so you don’t have to be perfect either. If you lose the thread, pause for a moment, collect yourself, and continue.

As long as your presentation is 1% better than your last, you’re doing everything right.

You’ll find that it becomes easier to give a presentation with each one.

So, be patient with yourself and don’t expect to overcome your fear of presentations overnight.

It’s a learning process, and with each presentation, you’ll become more confident and better. University is there to grow and make mistakes.

That’s the only way you’ll improve.

Why Nervousness (in Moderation) Can Also Be Positive to overcome your fear of presenting in class

You can alleviate the fear of presentations with the aforementioned 7 tips and a bit of patience.

However, a certain degree of nervousness before your presentation will almost certainly remain.

And that’s a good thing and often even makes your presentation better. So, you don’t need to completely overcome your fear of presenting in class.

Our body produces adrenaline in stressful situations. This hormone boost provides your body with more oxygen and energy – you’re more alert and your concentration and performance improve.

In short: The tension helps you to successfully manage the presentation.

If you view your nervousness as a positive companion, you can accept it as part of the natural process and deal with it. It’s important to recognize that you don’t have to be perfect and that it’s okay to be nervous.

Pros are nervous too. Nervous but prepared. Be a pro.

Study Hacks

Building a Second Brain for Students (Tutorial) 🧠💡

Post author By Philip
Post date April 8, 2024
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What’s a Second Brain for students, you might ask?

Imagine, on your way to university today, you listened to a podcast and thought to yourself at several points, “Ahh yes, that sounds interesting and would be a great angle for my next term paper.”

Then, during your lunch break, you read an engaging blog post and watched a YouTube tutorial in the evening – but you’ve already forgotten the interesting facts from the podcast.

Darn it! You really wanted to remember them.

To manage the flood of information you’re exposed to today effectively, you need a system.

The “Second Brain” method has accompanied me through my studies, my doctoral thesis, and while building up this YouTube channel.

In this article, I’ll show you how you can better organize your thoughts and ideas to be even more successful in your studies and all other areas of life.

The Challenges of Information Overload

Do you know the feeling when you’re trying to remember something important, and it just won’t come to mind?

Or when you spend hours searching for a document you were sure you had saved somewhere?

You watch YouTube for hours every week to educate yourself, but what actually sticks?

I know this situation all too well.

The flood of information we are all exposed to today can be overwhelming. Our brain is not capable of absorbing all these details and information but can only store a limited amount of it.

But here comes the good news: You don’t have to keep everything in your head. The solution lies in outsourcing the task of remembering to technology.

The concept of the “Second Brain” allows you to store and access information in such a way that you can easily retrieve and use it later.

Then your “First Brain” is no longer so occupied with storing information but can develop more ideas and be creative.

The Basic Idea of the Second Brain Method

The Second Brain is a term popularized by author and productivity expert Tiago Forte. In his book “Building a Second Brain,” he details a four-stage approach known as the C.O.D.E system.

2.1. The C.O.D.E. System

Capture

The first step is capturing information. This process is crucial because this is where you lay the foundation for your “second brain.” It’s about being attentive and consciously capturing information you take in – whether from books, lectures, movies, or conversations.

That means you really write down the information. Of course, not every piece of information is worth noting. Focus on what truly speaks to you or stimulates your thought process.

In the context of the Second Brain method, you would have definitely noted down the interesting podcast facts from the introductory example.

Use digital tools like Notion, Evernote, or even a simple notebook to capture your thoughts and discoveries. Make notes, draw sketches, save quotes – whatever inspires you.

Organize

After capturing information, the next step is to organize it. Good organization allows you to quickly access your collected ideas and information.

Create categories to sort your notes. This way, you can quickly find everything related to “Psychology” or “Programming,” for example.

Remember: Your system should be simple and intuitive. Complicated structures often lead to frustration. In your digital system, you can also always use the search function (Ctrl+F) to find information even faster.

Distill

The third step is about filtering out the essence of your notes. It’s important to identify the core messages and summarize them in a way that is personally useful to you.

Therefore, it’s best if you don’t just copy notes from a webpage into your Second Brain, but instead process them in your own words once. This not only aids in understanding but also in truly internalizing the information.

Imagine you had to explain the most important points from your notes to someone else – how would you express it? This approach helps to pinpoint the essence of your thoughts.

Express

The final step is expression. This is about transforming your collected and processed information into something tangible – be it an essay, a blog post, a project, or a presentation.

The contents of your Second Brain are of no use if you don’t apply them. In the phases when you are not consuming but creating, you should always have your Second Brain at hand.

By internalizing the CODE system, you turn the collection and processing of information into an active, creative process. Thus, your second brain becomes a tool that can enrich your studies, your sports, or your company forever.

2.2. PARA Method

In addition to the CODE system, the PARA method is a crucial component of the “Second Brain” concept.

PARA stands for Projects, Areas, Resources, and Archive. By organizing your information according to the PARA method, you ensure that you always know exactly where to find what and how best to use the information for specific purposes.

Projects: These are short-term endeavors with a specific goal. For example, a project in your studies could be preparing for an important exam or writing a term paper.

Areas: These represent long-term responsibilities or aspects of your life that require continuous attention, such as your progress in studies or personal development.

Resources: Here, you collect information on topics that interest you or could be useful in the future, like research articles, interesting websites, or specialist books.

Archive: Everything not currently in active use but might be important later ends up here. The archive serves as a kind of memory storage that you can always refer back to. The PARA method organizes your digital information so that you always know where to find what and how to optimally use it.

In addition to his foundational book on the Second Brain approach, Tiago Forte has now also published a second book specifically on the PARA method.

It’s currently on my To-Read list. Which, by the way, is part of my Second Brain.

Tips for Implementing Your Second Brain

To conclude, here are some insights from my nearly decade-long journey with the Second Brain concept. They might serve you well.

Start Small

Don’t feel compelled to capture everything from the get-go. Taking on too much too soon can lead to quick burnout due to the overwhelming nature of extensive note-taking, marking a significant shift in routine. Start by focusing on one subject or a particular area of interest. Gather notes, ideas, and insights focused on this domain. Once this becomes a norm and feels effortless, introduce a second domain (“Area” as per the PARA method).

Leverage Technology

Tools such as Notion, Evernote, or even basic Word documents can streamline your note organization. Explore various applications to discover the most suitable option for you. My journey began with Evernote, transitioning to Notion later on. While Evernote offers simplicity, Notion demands a learning curve but presents unlimited potential. Absolute Second Brain enthusiasts swear by Obsidian, a sophisticated software that enables you to implement your own Zettelkasten method, facilitating a deep, interconnected note-taking approach.

Filter Aggressively

When assimilating new information, ponder its applicability in real-world scenarios. Storing an impactful quote is beneficial, yet its true value lies in future creative applications. Ensure that only information with a realistic potential for future application by you gets included in your Second Brain.

Reflect Regularly

Carve out dedicated time for regular review and reflection on your amassed information to enhance comprehension and connectivity. This practice not only enhances long-term memory but also aids in drawing connections across different knowledge segments. The greatest challenge I face with the Second Brain is maintaining consistent curation, pivotal for maximizing its benefits.

Share Your Knowledge

Actively engage in discussions about your ideas and insights with peers, as sharing perspectives can significantly enrich your understanding and creativity. For collaborative ventures, consider making sections of your Second Brain accessible to peers, allowing them to contribute to and enrich your repository.

The Second Brain transcends mere project utility, evolving into a companion for lifelong learning. Persisting with it over a year or two quickly makes one wonder how they ever managed without it.

Hence, the most important advice I have for you is straightforward: Just start!

Study Hacks

Spaced Repetition: The Study Method for Top 1% Grades

Post author By admin
Post date April 2, 2024
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The Spaced Repetition Study Method is about to change everything you thought you knew about studying.

Do you usually start studying for exams just 5 days in advance? No wonder you forget 80% of the material by exam day.

Educational research suggests that Spaced Repetition is the solution.

By applying this method before your exams, not only will you spend fewer total hours studying, but you can also continue your daily routines totally relaxed in the week leading up to the exam AND expect a top grade.

In this article, I’ll show you how to implement the method in 5 simple steps.

How Does Spaced Repetition Work?

Early 20th-century psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneer in research on human memory, conducted a series of self-experiments.

He attempted to memorize a series of nonsensical syllables and documented his success.

He found that he forgot information over time if he didn’t repeat it.

This observation led to the development of the forgetting curve, which shows how memories fade if not actively refreshed.

The curve flattens over time, meaning the intervals between repetitions can increase to achieve the same level of recall.

This effect is explained by the multi-store model of memory, suggesting that memories move from short-term to long-term memory.

Spaced Repetition is a study method based on this principle, aiming to anchor information more effectively in long-term memory. The key idea is that you retain information better when repeated over longer periods in increasingly larger intervals, rather than cramming in short, dense intervals.

First repetition: Shortly after initially learning the information. Subsequent repetitions: At increasingly longer intervals.

#1 Understand the Mechanics of the Spaced Repetition Study Method

Imagine retaining everything you study not just for the next exam, but for years. Spaced Repetition makes this possible.

By repeating study material at progressively longer intervals, Spaced Repetition deeply embeds information in your long-term memory, similar to muscle training: regular, well-timed training leads to well-developed muscles.

Just like muscle memory, your brain builds strong recollections for your exams with Spaced Repetition.

Why is Spaced Repetition So Effective?

Each time you recall information after a longer interval, you strengthen the neural connection to that information, akin to turning a path in a dense forest into a broad road. These “roads” in your brain help you quickly retrieve information years later.

Studies support Spaced Repetition’s effectiveness, showing that recalling study material at increasing intervals challenges your brain to retrieve information from deeper memory layers (e.g., Cepeda et al., 2008).

This process of active recall solidifies your knowledge more sustainably than repeating information in short, dense intervals.

To outperform 95% of your peers, start studying with short, semester-spanning sessions as soon as you get the lecture notes, rather than cramming at the last minute.

#2 Your Spaced-Repetition Schedule

Moving on to the foundation of the study method: the schedule.

While the science and principle of Spaced Repetition sound great, without a good plan for its implementation, it’s pretty useless.

First, get an overview of your study material and break it into manageable parts. Then, distribute these parts over a period leading up to your exam or the end of the semester, starting as early as possible.

The trick: You don’t repeat each part at regular intervals but in increasingly longer ones, e.g., on day one, then after three days, a week, two weeks, and so on. This may sound complex, but don’t worry—there are apps and software to help (more on that soon).

All you need to do is adjust your schedule for various exams so that the more frequent repetitions at the start don’t all cluster in the first week of the semester. Begin with the material for the exam scheduled earliest at the end of the semester.

Now that you have a plan, it’s time to integrate it into your daily life.

Make Spaced Repetition a (nearly) daily habit by finding a fixed time each day, perhaps in the morning or between lectures, and dedicate this time to your Spaced-Repetition study sessions.

Tip: Pair this session with something you enjoy, like your favorite café or an episode of your favorite podcast afterwards. This makes learning less of a chore and more a part of your daily routine you can look forward to.

Example Spaced-Repetition Schedule: Let’s say you want to learn a specific topic for an exam.

Here’s a simple schedule for applying Spaced Repetition:

Day 1: Study the new topic (e.g., Lecture slide deck No. 1)
Understand and process the information thoroughly. Clarify any questions (e.g., in a tutorial).
Day 2: First repetition. Review the previous day’s learning to solidify it. Use flashcards or software.
Day 4: Second repetition. Repeat the topic to strengthen the memory. Day 7: Third repetition.
Day 14: Fourth repetition. Review the topic again.
Day 28: Fifth repetition.
Day 30: Exam.

Maintain these intervals for all sub-topics (e.g., lecture slide deck). If you can stretch the period even further, to 60 or 90 days, even better.

This schedule is just an example and can be adjusted based on individual progress and needs.

The key is increasing the intervals between repetitions, maximizing the method’s effectiveness.

But in our digital world, you don’t have to create your study plan from scratch; there’s software for that.

#3 Software Tools

Traditional flashcards are great for manually implementing Spaced Repetition. Write a question on one side and the answer on the other.

If you answer a card correctly, move it further back in the stack. Incorrect answers go to the front.

Utilize the Active Recall principle at this point.

As we live in the digital age, you don’t have to make things harder for yourself.

There are many tools like Anki, Quizlet, or Memrise that help organize your study material and automatically adjust repetition intervals. These apps use algorithms to determine when you’re ready to revisit specific information.

In a comparative study among 3 groups (1: without Spaced Repetition, 2: Spaced Repetition, 3: Spaced Repetition with algorithmic personalization), the group with algorithmic personalization achieved the best exam results (Lindsey et al., 2014).

An algorithm can analyze how well you remembered information last time and how long ago that was.

Based on this, it calculates the ideal time for the next repetition, meaning the repetition intervals aren’t fixed but dynamically adjust to your study progress.

A major advantage of these apps is personalization. Everyone learns differently, and these tools take that into account.

If you make faster progress on a topic, the repetition intervals extend.

For topics you struggle with more, they shorten. This ensures you use your time efficiently and focus on areas needing more attention.

Many of these apps also offer tracking and gamification features, allowing you to monitor your progress.

This not only provides transparency but also motivation. It’s incredibly satisfying to see your knowledge build over time and how your efforts pay off.

#4 Time Management and Efficiency: Study Smarter, Not Harder

“Spaced Repetition sounds good, but that means I have to start studying in the middle of the semester. That seems quite laborious.”

Ultimately, Spaced Repetition doesn’t necessarily mean investing more time in studying. You’re just distributing your time differently. Instead of cramming for 7 days and nights before the exam, you study continuously throughout the semester for a few hours each week.

Spaced Repetition is a real time-saver.

Rather than spending hours cramming and then forgetting most of it, Spaced Repetition allows you to learn more efficiently. By repeating information at optimal intervals, you spend less time reviewing things you already know and more time on what you need to learn.

This also means you spend less time studying and more time for other important things – whether for other courses, hobbies, or just relaxing.

Spaced Repetition helps you learn more—in less time.

#5 Combine the Spaced Repetition Study Method and Active Recall

If you combine Spaced Repetition with the study method Active Recall, as hinted earlier, you’ll not only reach your goals faster but also with a deeper understanding and longer-lasting memory.

With this approach, your next exam is sure to be a success. I’ve linked a video on Active Recall here for you.

How to Write a Thesis in 2 Weeks: A 7-Step Emergency Plan

Post author By admin
Post date March 25, 2024
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Need to write your 10,000 word thesis in 2 weeks? Oh dear! Well, let’s quickly figure out a solution.

Since you don’t have much time, the next 15 minutes of reading should be enough.

In this video, you’ll get personal emergency coaching consisting of 7 steps.

If you follow these steps one after the other in the given time, you still have a chance to submit your thesis in 2 weeks without failing.

Disclaimer Before we start, here’s a 10-second disclaimer:

I would never, ever recommend letting it come to this. If you’re only giving yourself 2 weeks for your thesis or final paper, you’ll have your reasons. These reasons are none of my business and are entirely your own.

If your goal is to excel intellectually in your thesis and get a top grade, then this video is not for you—in that case, you should check out my other tutorials.

This article is for you if you just want to get your thesis onto paper as quickly as possible—and pass.

So, let’s get to work.

#1 Lower Expectations and Drastically Increase Priority

The first question that comes to mind in such a situation is this:

Is it even possible to write a 10,000 word thesis in 2 weeks?

Of course, it’s possible.

It is even possible without any dirty tricks, plagiarism, or a Red Bull poisoning.

But only under certain conditions.

Lower Your Expectations to Zero

The first condition is to accept the situation and eliminate your expectations of a good grade or anything else. Approach the situation stoically and do your best to show yourself that you don’t give up.

That you don’t throw in the towel but make the best of the situation.

Visualize that you fail this thesis and accept that too.

This shouldn’t lead you to half-hearted action in the 2 weeks you have left. Rather, these 2 weeks are your chance to take on the challenge.

Now you can intensively train how to write a thesis in 2 weeks.

And if a second attempt comes, you won’t have to start from scratch.

Treat Your Thesis as Priority Number 1

Whether you can write a thesis in 2 weeks doesn’t depend on whether you can write well or are blessed with other talents. What decides now is your time management.

If you don’t make your thesis your top priority, it will be very difficult.

If you really want a chance, then your thesis must be the only thing you focus on now.

(Besides your health, but more on that later)

Make a contract with yourself and signal to your environment that you will be unavailable for a short time as usual. Put your phone in the fridge in the morning and don’t get it out until after work.

(Please don’t actually put it in the fridge, put it in a drawer.)

#2 Your Research Strategy for a Thesis in 2 Weeks

Enough of the admonishing words, now let’s move on to the substantive strategy for your daring venture.

The first strategic decision you must make concerns your research strategy.

What do I mean by that?

Basically, your research question and the method you want to use to address it.

Scientific papers in social sciences, but also beyond, can be divided into empirical and non-empirical works.

Why No Empirical Thesis?

For an empirical research design, you need qualitative or quantitative data that you collect through a survey or interviews and then analyze.

I would advise you, if you can make this decision yourself, to not pursue an empirical research design in this situation.

Not because it’s more difficult or time-consuming than a conceptual or literature-based work.

The reason is that you depend on other people.

You need to get people to fill out your survey or give you an interview.

Any situation in which you rely on others should be avoided if you want to write a thesis in 2 weeks.

Last Resort: A Literature-Based Thesis?

The only scenario in which an empirical research design makes sense is if you have already collected the data or have been provided with it.

Or any other case where you completely control the implementation of your methods, such as a simulation.

So, ask yourself what dependencies you have in your strategy and eliminate them all.

If you don’t have data available, you’re left with a literature-based thesis.

You can write a review for which you collect your “data” in the form of scientific articles.

The good thing about it is that you can decide for yourself how quickly you get your literature.

What types of reviews there are and what the literature collection looks like, you’ll learn in my tutorial on how to write a literature review.

Not all supervisers would expect you to write a critical review or a systematic review in a 10,000 word thesis.

Your thesis can also address a research question that you answer with an unstructured analysis of literature.

However, I would recommend choosing a recognized review strategy and implementing it step-by-step.

The advantage is that you can refer to one or two methodology articles that explain exactly how to proceed.

All you have to do is follow the instructions.

So you don’t have to waste thoughts on how to structure your thesis or what your research question should look like.

Everything is predetermined, and you save valuable time and energy.

If you choose the research strategy of a standalone literature review, you don’t need to feel bad about writing a thesis that is less valuable than an empirical one.

The synthesis of literature is an important part of scientific practice and can lead to great results!

#3 Set Up a Work Plan to Write Your Thesis in 2 Weeks

The next step in your emergency plan is a strict time allocation. Since every minute counts, you must work with sharp deadlines that you keep for yourself.

To not make it unnecessarily complicated, I suggest dividing the remaining time into three equal thirds.

1. Data Collection (first third)

2. Data Analysis (second third)

3. Text Production (third third)

Assuming you have 2 weeks available, you have 4 days and a few hours per third. Set the deadline for each third in the calendar and stick to it.

This way, you also have a sense of achievement every 4 days that motivates you to keep going.

Now let’s focus on each specific third and what you need to do.

#4 Data Collection (First Third)

For simplicity, let’s assume you’ve chosen a systematic literature review as your research approach.

Literature Search & Screening (Day 1)

On this day, your goal is to gather all the literature you need. Define your search key words and databases and try to land somewhere between 100 and 500 hits.

Once you’ve collected all the hits based on your keywords, the screening follows in the second half of the day. Now read the titles and abstracts and sort out.

If you end up somewhere between 20 and 30 relevant articles, that’s OK.

If you’re below that, keep searching through forward and backward search. You’ll learn what that is in my other tutorial on literature reviews.

Read, Read, Read (Day 2 and Day 3)

Now make yourself comfortable somewhere where you’re undisturbed and read your 20-30 relevant articles.

No one said you can’t have fun with your turbo thesis. So go to your favorite place and start reading. You can’t get around reading. Because without input, no output. The more you read on these days, the easier text production will be later on.

Collect text passages for indirect and direct quotes in an excerpt table.

How to set it up, you’ll learn in my tutorial on how to write an excerpt, where you also get a template for a table to start with right away.

Literature Management (Day 4)

Load all your relevant articles into your literature management tool (e.g., Mendeley or Zotero) and check if all metadata are correctly entered.

If not, supplement them for each article. If you have additional literature that you already know from your studies, add it and check the meta data of those.

If your thesis has about plus or minus 10% as many references as pages required, then you’re in a good range regarding the length of your reference list.

For a literature review, you can rather assume plus 10%.

Don’t skip the steps with literature management, because at the end of text production, you can generate your bibliography with one click and save valuable time.

If you still have time left, continue reading your 20-30 relevant articles.

#5 Data Analysis (Second Third)

The next 4 days you’ll be busy with data analysis. You’re preparing everything for the results and discussion section of your thesis here.

Analysis (Day 5-7)

For a qualitative evaluation of literature, as is the case with a most review types, the analysis mainly consists of coding.

This is nothing more than forming abstract categories based on your material, which consists of your 20-30 relevant articles. You can find plenty of tutorials on coding techniques on my channel.

The goal now is to form categories that summarize the contents of all your relevant articles. That’s now your task.

No matter which method you follow, empirical, literature-based, programming, design science – watch how the pros do it and follow their structure.

Scientific papers always follow the same blueprint. You just need to recognize the blueprint that is right for your thesis, adopt it, and fill it with your own content.

It’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel. On the contrary: Your supervisors want to recognize a blueprint that is common in their research discipline.

Creating Figures and Tables (Day 8)

Create a figure for your methodology section that reflects your data collection.

In the findings section, add tables that summarize your literature analysis.

For the discussion section, add a table or figure that abstracts your results (which are the categories you have built) and provide a small theoretical contribution (e.g., organize the categories in a small framework).

Again, I can only recommend that you take an example from existing research papers.

It is important that you create all your figures yourself and insert them in high resolution into your thesis. No pixels!

Detailed tutorials on writing methodology chapters, a findings and discussion section can be found on my channel or my online course.

Check out the video description for more info.

#6 Text Production (Third Third)

The last third is dedicated to text production. Don’t be intimidated by the fact that you haven’t written anything yet.

In the first and second thirds, you laid the foundation for what you’re writing about. If you start writing on day 1, you write into the blue without knowing where the journey is going.

Normally, I would recommend not starting with the introduction. In this case, however, you have already done all the preliminary work and can “write from the top.”

Open your literature management software and your excerpts from the first third and get started.

Introduction and Background Section (Day 9)

Methodology and Findings (Day 10)

Discussion and Conclusion (Day 11)

Revision (Day 12)

On day 12, you start again with the introduction and revise all chapters so that they are linked to each other.

Use the same terms, add references where you need more evidence, and check where you can make grammar improvements.

If you’ve been counting, this emergency plan leaves 2 days left.

At least one day is a buffer for formatting. After all, you still have to create your reference list, maybe an appendix, proofread and print your work, prepare a digital submission, and so on.

The last remaining day is your joker. Save it as long as possible and use it for unforeseen emergencies that are more important than this stupid thesis.

If everything goes well and you still have the joker day after completing the second third, then use it for a break. Which brings us to the last point of the video.

#7 Mental and Physical Health Management

As stressful as it may sound to want to write a thesis in 2 weeks – a 10,000 word thesis is by no means more important than your health.

You can simply write it again and failing is not bad at all. Who cares?

Only go through such a sprint, as I have described it, if you feel physically and mentally fit. If you’re already at your limit, then listen to your body and don’t make it worse.

Your health always has priority number 1, because if it’s out of balance, then you won’t enjoy a passed thesis anyway.

Since this emergency plan requires full days of work, I recommend planning them intelligently.

Work with 90-minute deep work sessions and take breaks in between.

In the middle of the day, I recommend a longer break. Go running or to go to the gym – after that you can continue fresh.

In the evening, set a limit that you don’t exceed. So that you still have enough time to wind down and don’t get less than 8 hours of sleep.

Try not to rely too much on junk food and caffeine, but on food that supplies your brain as best as possible.

Over a period of 2 weeks, it makes a big difference what fuel you give your body.

And now stop procrastinating and get started – time is ticking!

Scientific Writing

How to Write an Excerpt: Unraveling Complex Texts

Post author By Philip
Post date March 17, 2024
No Comments on How to Write an Excerpt: Unraveling Complex Texts

Mastering how to write an excerpt can turbocharge your academic writing.

After sifting through all the online databases and looking for papers, you’re often left with a daunting pile of references.

Some of these are dense giants, packed with complex ideas that seem impenetrable at first glance.

Fear not! In this article, I will show you how to efficiently break down those texts, pulling out the golden nuggets of information, arguments, and key passages essential for your own essay or thesis.

At the end of the article, I will provide you with a ready-to-use table template, which will help you navigate through your literature review and make your academic writing so much easier.

#1 What Is an Excerpt?

The term “excerpt” originates from Latin and means “extract.” In a figurative sense, you are pulling all the important information from the text you wish to excerpt.

However, an excerpt is not limited to information alone. Depending on your intention, you can also extract argumentation patterns, specific linguistic features, or other elements you are looking for.

The goal is always the systematic simplification and summary of the original text.

You can write excerpts from factual texts, newspaper articles, and even Donald Trump’s Twitter feed. Typically, however, this technique is applied in the context of academic literature. For this reason, we will stick to this example in this tutorial.

#2 Why Should You Write an Excerpt?

From my perspective, writing an excerpt has three advantages.

#1 Overview

By excerpting the central texts underlying your academic work, you can take an abstract look at these works. You understand the differences between authors, how views and definitions vary. You can juxtapose and contrast the original sources to argue more effectively.

Especially when writing a literature review, a selection of excerpts can provide the necessary depth to make it outstanding. Often, I see literature reviews that only scratch the surface. They simply string together summaries of single studies, which is NOT what you want to do in a good literature review.

But if you have produced rich excerpts, you can interconnect the references and independently argue how this literature forms the basis for your academic work.

#2 Understanding

Another obvious advantage of excerpts is the increased understanding of the text. If you are faced with challenging foundational literature written decades ago by the giants of your research discipline, these are often not easy to digest.

An excerpt breaks down a text and reveals its central statements. What remained hidden to you through passive reading is now visible.

Thus, during the text production of your own work, you will have much less trouble using your own words and, moreover, you can eloquently talk and discuss the texts at any time.

#3 Cataloguing

Writing excerpts also helps to make your selection of literature searchable and readily available. Imagine creating your own little database.

You will likely not write just one academic paper during your studies.

With a catalogue of excerpts that continuously grows, you can access an ever-increasing treasure trove of knowledge with each paper you read.

#3 Excerpting with a Table

The excerpting technique I recommend involves using a table. This table ensures that your excerpts are standardized, which later helps in retrieving them more easily.

Additionally, the table serves as a guide for the steps you need to take to write a complete excerpt.

Digital or Analog?

Before we proceed to the table, you need to make an important decision. Do you want to excerpt using pen and paper, or would you prefer to go digital?

If you’ve been following my channel for a while, you’ll know that I favor the digital approach. Handwritten excerpts cannot be automatically searched, and you cannot easily copy and paste text from the excerpt into your paper.

Moreover, you’ll know that I strongly recommend using literature management software. If you use software like Zotero, for example, you can also manage your excerpts with it, keeping everything in one place.

Furthermore, if you want the ability to work on your academic papers from anywhere in the world, then the digital option is superior to the handwritten one.

But this decision is entirely up to you.

The Excerpt Table

For the actual technique, it doesn’t matter whether you proceed digitally or analog. The table I recommend works for both approaches.

And this is what it looks like:

If you’d like to save yourself a few seconds of work, you can download the excerpting table in Word format here:

Excerpt-table Download

#4 In 4 Steps to a Complete Excerpt

Now we start with the actual excerpting process, which I have divided into 4 steps.

#1 Understand the Context

Read the text in its entirety first.

If you read a research paper, you can skim through the parts that are not relevant to you right now.

The goal is to get a complete picture of the without being interrupted too often. Here, you can roughly estimate into how many and what kind of thought sections the text is divided. Often, paragraphs and subheadings can also be of help.

#2 Set Goals

Before you can write your excerpt, you need to be clear about what you are looking for. It may be that your text is only relevant in a few places for you and your academic work. This could be because you are investigating a highly focused research question that only requires certain parts of the source as a basis.

Here are a few example questions an excerpt can answer for you:

How is term X defined?
What is the author’s stance on topic Y?
What is the current state of research on topic Z?

Questions, direct quotes, information – what are you looking for? Sometimes you pick up a text because you are looking for a definition of a term. In other cases, it’s because you want to understand a complicated scientific theory.

Therefore, always create your excerpts with your intention in mind and not aimlessly.

#3 Write the Excerpt

Now you fill out the table. Let’s do this with a simple example. For your academic work, you are looking for a definition of the term “Fake News.”

On the far left, you enter the scientific source you are consulting.

Then, enter the topic in the second column. In the third column, you now collect text passages. This approach is best suited here, since you would most likely incorporate a definition as a direct quote into your work.

In the rightmost column, you have space for notes that are important for you and your work. Here, I often write down ideas and problems that come to mind while reading.

This is how your excerpting table could look:

#4 Summarize

If you had another goal, for example, regarding understanding, then you could also summarize important passages from your source in your own words in the third column.

Feel free to extract both from the texts, i.e., text passages suitable for direct quotes and summaries in your own words.

Both will assist you later in paraphrasing when you are in the process of text production. Here you can find more on the topic of paraphrasing.

As you work your way down in your table, you can stay with the same text and define a new goal. Instead of “Fake News Definition,” you could now open a new topic like “Fake News on Facebook.”

If the text has served its purpose and was only helpful for the definition, then start the next line in your table with a new paper or book.

Here, it could be about “Fake News Definition” again or something entirely different.

However, in the grand scheme, it might make sense for you to create individual excerpt tables for different topics. If you want to go through 20, 30, or more references, then a single table can quickly become cluttered.

Study Hacks

Studying with ChatGPT: How to Ace Your Exam Preparation with AI

Post author By Philip
Post date March 10, 2024
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Studying with ChatGPT could be the game-changer for your next exam preparation.

Are you sitting at your desk wondering how to cram all this knowledge into your head for the upcoming exam?

You could go to the library and pore over some books. Or you could start a study group, hoping to find someone who can explain the concepts to you in an understandable way.

But as you know, we’ve arrived in 2024, and it’s time to rethink exam preparation.

With the help of artificial intelligence, you can prepare for your exams in a way that has never been possible before.

In this video, I’ll show you 7 ways to make ChatGPT your personal tutor and outshine everyone else in your next exam.

#1 Achieving Your Goals with the Right Study Plan

Use ChatGPT as your personal assistant to help you organize your study material effectively. With a well-thought-out study plan, you’ll navigate your exam preparation with ChatGPT confidently.

Just tell ChatGPT what exams are coming up and what your weekly schedule looks like. Whether you’re a night owl or a morning person, ChatGPT can suggest a plan that fits your most productive hours and includes enough breaks.

Example prompt: “I have a microeconomics exam in 4 weeks and I learn best in the morning. Assign a learning topic for each week and specify which topics I should study. I have 2 hours a day to study. Include study breaks. What would my study plan look like?”

ChatGPT will then create a personalized plan for you. If you have access to ChatGPT’s Pro version, you can also send a topic overview of the subject along with it.

If you’re using the free version of ChatGPT, you could attach this overview to your prompt via copy-and-paste.

Extra tip: Once you’ve created the study plan, you can also ask ChatGPT for ideas about how to collect additional resources on the exam contents. Never settle for the study material that your professor hasn’t updated in 10 years.

#2 Mind Maps as a Study Booster

Mind maps are incredibly helpful for keeping track of complex topics. ChatGPT can assist you in creating a visual map of your study material.

Here’s how it works: Ask ChatGPT to organize the key topics of your exam into a mind map. You’ll receive a clear, visual representation of the material, showing how everything is connected. Perfect for grasping the big picture!

Example prompt: “Can you create a mind map for the main topics of microeconomics, including the connections between supply, demand, and market prices?”

The more information you provide to the AI, the better the outcome. The best result comes from using a GPT specifically adapted for creating mind maps. Look for a “Mind Map Generator” in the GPT database.

If you’re using the free version of ChatGPT, get creative and have the AI describe what the mind map should look like, then draw it using a free tool or by hand.

#3 Turning Long into Short

Your professor’s slide deck is over 100 pages long and written like in 1995.

Unfortunately, not every professor is a pedagogical genius.

However, these contents are often crucial for exams. What do you do to understand this jumble of words and formulas?

Don’t worry, if there’s one thing ChatGPT excels at, it’s summarizing large amounts of text and data.

The summaries created by the AI can be key for you to manage all the study material. Provide ChatGPT with a text or your notes and ask for a summary. The AI filters out the most important points, saving you hours of compiling.

Example prompt: “Here’s a lecture slide deck about Adam Smith’s market theories. Can you summarize the main points for me?”

The concise versions you have now are invaluable when you want to focus on the essentials and quickly get up to speed. They’re also great for quickly revisiting topics before an exam. Just save ChatGPT’s response in Notion or whatever you use as a second brain, and you can access it anytime.

Note: If you’re using ChatGPT 3.5, you’ll need to paste the content via copy and paste. Unfortunately, you can only process a limited number of words per prompt. With ChatGPT 4, it’s more convenient as ChatGPT can access entire PDF files via plugins. Alternatively, try other LLM’s such as Microsoft’s Bing AI to summarize PDF files for you.

#4 Your 24/7 Study Buddy

There are days when your study group just doesn’t cut it – whether it’s because everyone has different schedules, or because your meetings turn more into coffee chats than effective study sessions.

Then, there are those nights when you, being a night owl, learn best.

In such moments, you can turn ChatGPT into your tutor. The best part: AI can always adapt precisely to your needs.

With ChatGPT, you can dive deep into topics that give you a headache. Ask the AI for precise questions, request clear, detailed explanations, or seek support for the trickiest tasks.

You can ask ChatGPT to explain things as simply as if you were a 6-year-old – ideal for getting to the heart of complex topics.

Imagine having someone by your side who explains everything at your pace, without the pressure of a group or the constraints of a fixed schedule.

Example prompt: “I don’t understand how cross-price elasticity works. Pretend you’re a microeconomics expert. Can you explain it in a way that a third-grader would understand?”

ChatGPT provides quick feedback and helps you close gaps in your understanding. And don’t worry if you still don’t get it after the fifth follow-up question. ChatGPT is cool with you asking a ton of questions – so go for it!

#5 Mastering Past Exams

In my studies, I preferred studying with mock exams. It gives you a feel for the questions you can expect in the exam.

ChatGPT can help you understand and answer mock exam questions.

Simply give ChatGPT questions from previous or mock exams and ask the AI for sample answers. This way, you get a sense of what’s expected and how you can structure your answers.

Furthermore, ChatGPT can provide explanations and tips on how to best structure your answers. This helps you understand the mindset behind the questions and adjust your answers accordingly.

Additionally, you can ask ChatGPT to review your answers and provide feedback, helping you identify and specifically improve weaknesses in your knowledge.

Example prompt: “Here’s a question from an old microeconomics exam: ‘Describe the effects of subsidies on the market.’ Can you give me a sample answer and explain how I should structure my answer?”

#6 Question Generator for Deeper Understanding

Solving questions from previous exams is a good idea, but what if there are no mock exams available? No problem, because ChatGPT can also help you generate your own exam questions.

This method is not only a good substitute for past exams but also allows you to view topics from different perspectives and dive deeper into the material.

Extra tip: Use ChatGPT to create various scenarios or case studies. This way, you can prepare for different types of questions and ensure that you’re comprehensively equipped for the exam. Additionally, you can use ChatGPT to check your answers and get feedback, helping you identify weaknesses in your knowledge and improve them specifically.

Example prompt: “Can you give me some exam questions on price elasticity in microeconomics?”

Save the questions and answers so you can review them later, following the principles of the Spaced Repetition learning method.

#7 Creating Flashcards

Flashcards are a classic.

With ChatGPT, you can quickly and efficiently create them, perfect for reviewing the lecture contents before an exam.

Simply provide the AI with the desired content and ask it to create corresponding flashcards.

ChatGPT analyzes the main concepts of the content and develops suitable questions and answers. You can also ask it to provide the result in a specific format, such as for flashcard apps like Anki.

You can create a table with two columns: one for the questions on the front side and one for the answers on the back.

Example prompt: “Create a list of flashcard questions on market power in microeconomics with corresponding answers. Use two columns, one for the question and the other for the answer.”

Alternatively, you can copy and paste your own notes or scripts, and ChatGPT will create flashcards from them. When studying with your flashcards, remember to apply the principles of Active Recall. You can find a corresponding tutorial linked here.

Scientific Writing

How to Write the Perfect Essay for University (3 Secret Tricks)

Post author By admin
Post date March 3, 2024
No Comments on How to Write the Perfect Essay for University (3 Secret Tricks)

Do you want to know how to write the perfect essay for university this semester and achieve a top 1% grade?

Then you’re in the right place.

On YouTube, you’ll find plenty of video tutorials and guides on writing essays and term papers. There, you’ll get tips like:

Start with the relevance of your topic and structure your arguments from weak to strong. Well, thanks, I didn’t really need a tutorial for that.

This article is different.

Here you’ll get 3 secret tricks that will make your term paper so good, your professor will hardly believe you wrote it yourself.

To achieve this, I’ll skip the generic tips and instead give you solid text examples that I, as a university lecturer, would mark as outstanding.

#1 Position your essay in a controversial debate

How to Write the Perfect Essay for University is a question many students grapple with. Your essay or term paper is always good when it’s interesting. It is even better, if it can teach the person who is marking it something new or change their thinking.

Imagine you’re a professor and at the end of the semester, you get a basket full of term papers. In this basket are 30 submissions.

10 term papers are graded with a C or worse. 10 term papers with B or so, and 10 term papers with an A, or whatever equivalent you have in your country.

This results in a nice bell curve in the grade distribution, as with all academic assignments.

To land among the top 10, you need to fulfill all the basics, like correctly and citing relevant sources, achieving a high density in writing, and dealing with a topic that is related to the topic of your subject or class.

With the following trick, however, you will manage to stand out even more among the top 10 and enter the top 1%.

And that is by making your term paper MAXIMALLY interesting.

You can do this by…

Choosing your topic so that it is positioned in a scientifically and socially relevant (and even better: controversial) debate.

Teaching your professor something they don’t already know.

Developing a counterintuitive argument on a subtopic within this debate.

Okay, let’s go through these 3 things with an example. To make the learnings from this example relevant to you, simply apply the principles to your own field of study. Understanding how to write the perfect essay for university is essential for academic success.

Position your essay in a controversial debate

A highly controversial debate in my discipline is the topic of the Metaverse.

This is because the concept of the Metaverse so far is purely fictional.

The technology is not yet advanced enough for the characteristics of the Metaverse to be met in the foreseeable future.

Moreover, the Metaverse is hardly used in practice yet, and managers make jokes about others who are involved with the Metaverse.

On the other hand, there are voices that are very enthusiastic about the Metaverse and would like to set the course for its development now.

Try to describe this debate in your essay or term paper and the problems that arise from it. Be sure to use the most current and high-quality references possible, if this is requirement for your submission.

Like this:

“The term Metaverse refers to an environment that connects physical reality with a digital world (Mystakidis, 2022). Individuals can use digital avatars to enter Metaverse applications to facilitate social or business interactions (Duan et al., 2021; Park & Catrambone, 2007; Peukert et al., 2019; Yang & Xiong, 2019). In addition, Metaverse applications are characterized by four main features: (1) realism, (2) ubiquity, (3) interoperability, (4) scalability (Dionisio et al. , 2013; Mostajeran et al., 2022). Due to an ongoing discrepancy between technological feasibility and the conceptual requirements of these features, the term Metaverse is controversial. Dolata and Schwabe (2023) refer to this as a ‘constantly evolving socio-technical phenomenon that still needs to be defined’ (p.754).“

Definition
Social relevance
Detailed description (as a basis for the controversy)
Controversy
Evidence for the controversy (as current as possible)

This way or similarly, you can build your argument in the introduction and deepen the same argument in the chapters of the main body of your essay or term paper.

Teach your professor something they don’t already know

Your professor has probably already heard of this controversy. If you now treat this topic on this general level in your essay, you will only be able to scratch the surface. Setting clear goals can help streamline your approach to how to write the perfect essay for university.

A much better strategy is to narrow the focus of your work so that you can teach your professor something new. He or she will perhaps have read a handful of articles on the topic of the Metaverse and have a superficial understanding of the subject.

Now choose a specific aspect within the controversy and deepen it in your manuscript. For our example, let’s take the topic of work.

Sure, the Metaverse is there for playing, trading, consuming, and so on, but also for working. A small subtopic of the whole debate is whether the Metaverse can represent a better technology that can make work easier for us, for example, compared to currently used tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

Your professor has most likely not thought through all the use cases of the Metaverse. With your term paper, you now address exactly this one.

With a clever Google search into the research interests of this person, you can also make an assumption about which use case or subtopic might be particularly interesting for them.

All you have to do is narrow down the debate. This makes the topic of your essay extremely specific and thus interesting, as it is new to your professor.

“The commute to the workplace and office hours from 9 to 5 have given way in recent years to telework enabled by information technology (Baptista et al., 2020). Despite ad-hoc implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic, telework and collaboration over long distances have proven to be sustainable work arrangements (Hafermalz & Riemer, 2021). However, full-time telework has certain disadvantages. For example, social relationships, office gossip, but also interpersonal collaboration can suffer under remote work (Hafermalz & Riemer, 2020). To overcome the physical limitations of remote work, companies are using Metaverse applications for virtual collaboration (Dwivedi et al., 2022; Purdy, 2022).“

Status quo on the topic of work
Problem with the topic of work
Argumentative link between work and the Metaverse

Develop a Counter-Intuitive Argument within the Subtopic

If you look at 5 random scientific articles on the topic of the Metaverse or Virtual Reality and work, you’ll quickly recognize a pattern.

It’s mainly about one thing: How can people collaborate better in these immersive worlds.

Okay, that’s an interesting question, but we said that we want to develop a counter-intuitive argument. The intuitive argument is that we will probably collaborate in the Metaverse. To get closer to the counter-intuitive argument, let’s turn the tables.

What if you don’t collaborate all day, but work alone? Knowledge work isn’t just about collaboration, but mostly about concentrated, uninterrupted solo work.

Couldn’t an immersive work environment also help in this case? How often does knowledge work suffer exactly because of constant distraction through forced collaboration in meetings, emails, notifications, and the temptation of the smartphone?

Here, I have tried to write down this counter-intuitive argument and support it with references:

“The existing literature underscores the potential of Metaverse applications to create innovative workspaces that increase social presence and promote effective collaboration (Bhagwatwar et al., 2018; Brünker et al., 2022). However, this paper aims to nuance the discussion on how Metaverse applications can compensate for the shortcomings of telework and video conferencing. In the current debate, the actual nature of knowledge work, namely undisturbed and concentrated solo work, is largely overlooked. If Metaverse applications are designed as an immersive twin of a traditional office workplace (Lee et al., 2022; Xi et al., 2023), companies will most likely forfeit the productivity gains achieved through the introduction of telework. Unfortunately, there is a tendency in the current literature to focus on virtually reintroducing elements of the traditional workplace, which we thought we had overcome with the widespread adoption of telework.”

Status Quo (orange)
Counter-Intuitive Argument (pink)
Problematization (green)

#2 Analyze More, Describe Less

After you’ve implemented this first secret trick in your introduction in brief, the following chapters are about elaborating the counter-intuitive argument in detail. Striving for clarity and coherence is vital when learning how to write the perfect essay for university.

While you might conduct a small empirical study in a thesis, in an essay or term paper you primarily work with literature.

The mistake too many students make is to just describe this literature.

Authors X, Y, Z investigated in their study how… Author X calls this term such and such…

For an average essay or term paper, you’ll get by with that. But for a top 1% grade, you need more than that. You have to start thinking analytically, not descriptively.

What does it mean to be analytical? Here are some activities that are analytical:

ordering, breaking down, categorizing, classifying, comparing, connecting, contrasting, deconstructing, recognizing, representing, differentiating, distinguishing, dividing, explaining, identifying, integrating, inventorying, ordering, organizing, relating, separating, structuring. (Anderson et al. 2001)

You don’t have to do everything in an essay. Which of these activities could you perform to make your reflection of the literature more analytical?

Could you break down different positions in the literature on working in the Metaverse?
Could you categorize the potentials of the Metaverse for work?
Or maybe identify the key prerequisites for implementation in companies?

Tables as a Secret Ingredient

Look at your specific aim in analyzing the literature and implement at least one of these activities in your chapters.

To present the result of your analysis activity as well as possible, use this simple tool:

A table (or several).

The great thing about a table is that, unlike running text, it already has the analytical activity built-in. To create a table, you automatically have to order, compare, identify, and so on.

An excellent example is Table 1 in the already mentioned study by Dolata and Straub (2023), where the authors juxtapose various interest groups of the Metaverse.

#3 Give Yourself an Editorial Review (x10)

I often wondered what the difference is between my abilities in academic writing now and those I had during my studies.

As a student, you don’t know what you don’t know and simply haven’t had much practice.

That’s also what still distinguishes me from a professor who has 20 years more practice.

Nevertheless, I have noticed a few things that I do differently now than I did as a student.

I was slow in writing and took my time with every sentence. This led to me sometimes only managing to put down a page or even less per day.

Yet, I then left that supposedly perfect sentence as it was and didn’t revise it further.

How I would write a perfect essay today

That’s no longer the case today.

When I write a scientific paper, each chapter goes through several, sometimes even dozens of revisions.

Take the introduction, for example.

I write it once from beginning to end. As well as I can. Then I work on the current state of research and the theory part.

What I have read in the meantime or have developed argumentatively has implications for the introduction. I go back and work on the introduction again.

The same happens after I have finished my analysis, and so on.

With each revision, I make the introduction a little bit sharper, each sentence a little bit denser. I add a new reference here and delete an unnecessary sentence there.

Round for round, the introduction gets better.

It helps just to let the text rest for a weekend.

When I sit down to it again, I have a new thought, and the “old text” doesn’t seem as perfect as it did 3 days ago.

Be Your Own Editor

In these revisions, you are your own editor.

Of course, you can enhance this effect by getting feedback. A fresh and foreign pair of eyes brings you an additional perspective.

The more feedback and input you can get for these revisions, the better. And if the feedback doesn’t come from others, then from yourself.

How often do you revise each part of your term paper?

Once?

Then you’ve found something where there’s still plenty of room for improvement.

Academic writing is revising.

Again and again.

Remember, mastering how to write the perfect essay for university is a journey, not a destination.

Understanding the requirements is crucial for knowing How to Write the Perfect Essay for University.

Study Hacks

Learning how to Learn: 8 Practices to become a TOP 1% Student

Post author By Philip
Post date February 23, 2024
No Comments on Learning how to Learn: 8 Practices to become a TOP 1% Student

Are you already feeling the stress of the exam period at the start of the semester? Has your semester break not been enough to recover from the rigors of the last term?

And do you find it frustrating that despite hours of memorizing and studying, you only managed a mediocre grade?

What do those top students know about study techniques that you don’t?

If this resonates with you, then this article is just what you need. In this article, we will go through the 8 most common mistakes that prevent you from learning any subject and achieving top grades in your studies.

#1 You Start Studying Too Late

We all know that feeling, as the exam approaches, our motivation to study really kicks in – after all, you don’t want to fail.

The pressure is a real motivator to stop procrastinating.

If you’re someone who crams right before the exam and enjoys your free time during the semester instead of sitting in the university library, you’re not alone.

This is how most students study.

However, this method of exam preparation is not really smart and is extremely stressful – this learning strategy is probably the main cause for long nights of cramming and all-nighters.

What if you spread your study hours more evenly throughout the semester?

You don’t need to study more, just more evenly distributed.

Instead of handling the entire study load at the last minute, distribute your sessions evenly over the time you have available.

This means starting early in the semester and regularly reserving time for studying. This way, you won’t panic as exams approach, because you have already laid a solid foundation.

One of the main advantages of this approach is that the number of study hours you invest throughout the semester remains consistent.

You don’t have to catch up last minute on what you typically would have missed until then. This not only leads to a deeper understanding of the material but also makes it easier to remember it.

This is also why the Spaced Repetition technique is so effective.

Determine at the beginning of the semester how many hours per day or per week you want to study and then stick to your spaced repetition schedule until the end.

Instead of fear and panic, you’ll walk into the exam with confidence.

So set yourself a goal. For some, it may be 2 hours of study a day, for others, 5. Everyone learns at a different pace. Don’t compare yourself to others. Stay true to yourself.

If you can’t imagine this strategy paying off for you, challenge yourself.

Maybe start this type of exam preparation with just one exam. After that, you’ll see whether you ever want to prepare differently again. 😉

By the way, the Spaced Repetition technique has been around for a while.

It was described as early as 1932 in the book “The Psychology of Study” by C.A. Mace and has since been found to be maximally effective in countless scientific studies.

This approach is a fundamental part of learning how to learn, as it allows for better distribution of study time and long-term memory.

#2 You Study Non-Stop

If you want to takt the learning how to learn thing serious, it’s vital to incorporate regular breaks.

To understand how important this is, think of studying similar to muscle training in the gym.

When you activate neurons and absorb new information while studying, it’s akin to your muscles being exerted during exercise.

Just as your muscles need rest periods after intense exercise to grow and recover, your brain cells also need breaks to consolidate what you’ve learned.

Studies in neuroscience and psychology have confirmed a relationship between learning and breaks and even naps.

Groups of learners who incorporated regular breaks into their study routine achieved better learning outcomes than control groups that did not take breaks.

This means that the brain has the opportunity to process and organize the absorbed information during these breaks.

If you only start studying a week before the exam, you probably have little time to take breaks.

After all, you have to cram all the material into your brain. So this gives you another reason to start right at the beginning of the semester.

Okay, but how exactly should you study now? To find the ideal learning strategy, it’s important to take a look at Bloom’s Taxonomy.

#3 You’re Not Familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy

This framework elevates your learning how to learn strategy from simple memorization to higher-order thinking skills.

Bloom’s Taxonomy is a classification system for learning objectives, developed in 1956 by Benjamin Bloom.

It differentiates various levels of learning. In the lower levels, it’s about the learner being able to remember and understand basic course concepts.

However, the tasks of an exam or assignment are often on the higher levels of the taxonomy, where you are asked to apply, analyze, evaluate, or create new concepts.

To achieve this, you must really process information, not just memorize it. Always check during your study whether you have understood the material on a deep level.

For example, you can summarize concepts in your own words and then apply this knowledge by actively solving practice problems of varying difficulty.

These tasks should test your ability to analyze and evaluate information. When studying, ask yourself at which level you are.

Can you solve problems?
Are you able to critically evaluate information, compare concepts, and derive recommendations for action?

For instance, if you’re studying medicine and learn new things about the workings of the heart, you shouldn’t just limit yourself to memorizing medical facts like the function of heart valves.

Instead, you should go a step further and ask yourself how heart valve defects manifest and why they occur.

To reach the top of the pyramid and truly master a subject, teaching others and creating your own teaching materials is one of the best methods.

In doing so, you force yourself to go through the entire taxonomy, develop your own opinions, and teach others based on your own understanding.

#4 Learning How to Learn: You Don’t Enjoy the Process

Learning is supposed to be fun? Yeah, great phrase, but not really possible in reality.

Wrong!

Try to see it differently. For me, learning used to automatically mean memorizing, which I found terribly monotonous and boring.

So, one day I decided, I didn’t just want to learn economics, I wanted to really understand it.

Instead of plowing through textbooks and lecture scripts, I approached it differently.

I first familiarized myself with the subject. And that’s super easy with entertaining content on YouTube, documentaries, or podcasts.

I could hardly believe it myself, but documentaries like Inside Job, Money Never Sleeps, or the books by Ray Dalio for example not only made the subject more accessible but genuinely sparked my interest.

This new approach turned learning into an exciting adventure rather than a tedious obligation.

So, learning can indeed be fun if you find the right ways to make it engaging. And who knows, maybe you too will find an entertaining way to delve into your study topics.

#5 You Only Focus on Your Favourite Topics

Naturally, we prefer to engage with things we are already good at. It’s easier to learn new things in these areas, as it requires less effort. And of course, we prefer the easy path over climbing the mountain.

And besides, learning should be fun, as I just told you.

But unfortunately, you also have to pass subjects that are not your strong suit. To finish with good grades, you have to invest time. So challenge yourself and turn your weakness into your strength.

Believe me, economics was not my favorite subject.

I even disliked it, so I tried to make it easier for myself to access the subject. Try it out, and you might find that the topic isn’t as terribly boring as you thought – sometimes it’s really the boring professor. 😉

Challenging yourself to study less-preferred subjects is crucial for learning to learn.

#6 You Study with Flashcards

My beloved flashcards, that’s how I always used to study!

Nearly all of my fellow students also had a stack of 268 flashcards on the table in the library. Why should that be a mistake?

Let me explain.

On one side of a flashcard is the question, and on the other is the answer.

And what is the goal of flashcards?

Memorization.

And if we recall Bloom’s Taxonomy, memorization is at the lowest level. So, you are most likely not going to get an A+ in the exam using them.

Flashcards are not optimal because they focus on isolated facts and not on the overall context. Yet, it is this context that is important for comparing information, showing contrasts, and applying learned material to new situations.

These tasks are higher up on Bloom’s Taxonomy and secure you the top grade.

Move beyond flashcards and embrace Active Recall as a powerful tool in your learning how to learn arsenal.

You read a part of the material and then put it away.
Then write down everything you remember and phrase it in your own words.
Then read the text again and check which information you missed.

Repeat this process until you know everything.

#7 Focusing on Memorization

I’ve already hinted at it, but this point is so important that I can’t stress about it enough.

In most cases, you can actually completely save yourself from memorization techniques, apart from a few exceptions like the first semesters of a medical degree, for example.

If you start solving problems and achieve a deep understanding of the material, you’ll not only understand connections better but will also automatically remember the facts over time.

Even though it seems counterintuitive at first, if you focus on memorization, you will forget information faster than if you build relationships between facts. This way, the learned material goes not only into your short-term but also your long-term memory.

So, in exam preparation, focus on tasks that are at the application, analysis, and evaluation levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

This means you shouldn’t just passively read your notes and books. Engage with the material and don’t just highlight text in color.

Really think about what you read. Answer questions that arise while reading and research information that goes beyond the script.

#8 You Study Without Using Mock Exams

Incorporate previous or mock exams into your learning how to learn journey. Right at the beginning of the semester, you should download past exams.

Old exams provide insight into the format and style of the exams. This can help you better prepare for the specific requirements of the test.

Also, you see which topics or types of questions were more common in previous exams. This allows you to focus your preparation on the areas that are likely to be tested.

By solving old exams, you can improve your time management for the test. You can find out how much time you need for different tasks and how to divide them most efficiently.

Furthermore, by going through the old exams, you can identify your knowledge gaps and weaknesses and focus your revision on exactly these areas.

But here’s another important reminder. Don’t just memorize the answers to the old exams. It is very unlikely that the same questions will be asked again. Therefore, focus on a deep understanding and application of your knowledge.

Research Methods

Empirical Research Methods (Quantitative vs. Qualitative)

Post author By Philip
Post date February 11, 2024
No Comments on Empirical Research Methods (Quantitative vs. Qualitative)

Finding the right empirical research methods for your academic project can be challenging, whether it’s a term paper, thesis, or dissertation.

On my channel, you’ll find extensive information and tutorials about specific methods and techniques, such as grounded theory, experimental design, or survey research.

But before you dive headfirst into applying a particular method, it’s essential to take a step back.

First, it’s crucial to understand which empirical research methods are out there, and which ones are suitable for your current situation.

Based on a 5-step process, this article will guide you on how to select the best method for your research design.

What are empirical methods in research?

The starting point for questions like this article is always the field of philosophy of science. I will attempt to simplify the basic assumptions here, but still provide helpful insights for your practical application.

Philosophy of science deals with the question of how we, as researchers, can gain knowledge or understanding. Despite centuries of philosophical deliberations and different schools of thought, it has become clear that science operates quite well with the dichotomy of theory and empiricism.

Theory preserves knowledge at an abstract level and provides frameworks for specific phenomena. It waits to be challenged, strengthened, refuted, or refined by new insights.

Empirical investigations are situated one level below theory, closer to the real-world subject. Methods are the tools and practices used to acquire new knowledge based on real-world phenomena. This process can inform theory and vice versa.

#1 Position Yourself in a Discipline

Then there’s the administrative side of science. A few centuries ago, it was much looser, and scientists like Isaac Newton, for example, were simultaneously physicists, philosophers, and theologians.

Today, science is sharply divided into distinct disciplines and communities. Each discipline has its own theories and methods, but fortunately, the dogmatism of these individual disciplines is being slowly dismantled, and researchers often draw from the knowledge of so-called “reference disciplines” and engage in interdisciplinary research from time to time.

This trend is also reflected in the study programs that are offered by universities. For example, today, there are fields like Business Informatics or Social Work, where students work at the intersection of two or more disciplines.

No matter what you’re studying, you should first understand which scientific discipline(s) your field of study is related to. If you’re studying in a highly specialized field like mathematics, philosophy, or psychology, the situation is very clear.

If you’re studying at an intersection, be aware of which disciplines are relevant to you. This may also change over the course of your studies or from one project to another. For example, a Business Informatics student may be methodologically and theoretically focused on computer science in one assignment but may rely on insights from business literature in another.

#2 Identify the Methodological Toolbox of Your Discipline

To decide which methods you should use in your next project, you need to find out which methods are common in the disciplines that inform your studies. It makes little sense to develop new methods or question the entire discipline as a student.

You just need to discover what is already in the toolbox.

The quickest way to do this is actually through textbooks. I’m not typically a big fan of books because the publication process is slow, and the knowledge can become outdated shortly after publication.

However, methods books and other textbooks can be useful for gaining an overview as a newbie. Often, they are authored by selfless professors who compile the basics of a particular field in a single book!

In such textbooks, you’ll usually find an overview of common methods. Additionally, you can search databases for journal and conference articles to see which methods are used in current research in your field.

Ideally, your study program offers methods courses to choose from. However, this is not always the case. If they are available, attend them, even if they are not mandatory.

#3 Distinguish Between Empirical and Non-Empirical

In most disciplines, there is some sort of split between empirical and non-empirical work. Sometimes, the empirical part is more dominant, for example in Psychology. Other disciplines are more inclined to non-empirical research but sometimes use empirical methods, for example Media studies.

Non-Empirical

When a discipline mostly follows a non-empirical approach, it doesn’t mean it is less valuable or less scientific. It simply means that the nature of the discipline leans toward understanding socially constructed or abstract phenomena and relies on (inter-)subjective argumentation.

Examples of disciplines primarily using non-empirical methods include philosophy, theology, other humanities, and the unique discipline of mathematics.

Empirical

Empirical research seeks to gain knowledge through “experience,” which is achieved by systematically collecting and analyzing data from the “real world.”

Originally, the role model for empirical research were the “hard” sciences, meaning the natural sciences such as physics, or chemistry.

However, many social sciences adopted the same approach and since then try to objectively measure all things related to social phenomena.

But since the last 50 years or so, many social sciences are also influenced by the humanities, which bring in non-empirical or subjective ways of collecting data.

#4 Consider the Research Paradigm (Qualitative vs. Quantitative)

Especially within empirical social research, there has been an ongoing battle between qualitative and quantitative researchers.

An explanation and differences between these two paradigms are summarized in my article “Qualitative vs. Quantitative.”

For these basics, please refer to that article, and I will now introduce you to the most common methods in both areas.

Quantitative:

Surveys, experiments, simulations, trace data analyses, etc.

Quantitative methods emphasize standardization. Collected data must have a format in which it can be easily translated into numerical values and statistically analyzed.

This allows you to examine large samples.

The foundation for quantitative research often includes a research question and specific hypotheses that you define upfront.

This is also referred to as a hypothetico-deductive approach, and simply means that your goal is to test the relationships between a number of theoretical constructs.

Qualitative:

For qualitative methods, it makes sense to distinguish between data collection methods and data analysis methods.

In terms of data collection, interviews (e.g., with experts, focus groups, individuals) and observations are the most prominent ones. But you could also collect data from online sources such as social media or a City archive, for example.

To analyze qualitative data, you can use grounded theory techniques, content analyses, or more computational methods such as topic modelling.

For most qualitative methods, interpretation and depth of the investigation play a significant role. Hence, you tend to examine smaller samples.

This often follows an inductive approach, which means that you develop new theory rather than testing existing theory in new combinations.

#5 Make your choice in line with your research question

The research question plays a crucial role in selecting the right method for you.

You must first know what you want to investigate before making a decision about the method.

This means that a method must be suitable to help you answer your research question.

I provide detailed guidance on how to formulate a research question in another article.

Here are five questions that can help you make a choice:

What foundational skills have you already acquired? (e.g., statistics, qualitative coding)
Does your department or supervisor lean more towards qualitative or quantitative research?
How extensive is the existing theoretical basis of the phenomenon you are studying?
Which method aligns with your personal strengths? (e.g., are you good with numbers or a creative writer?)
Which method would be the most enjoyable for you?

Summary

In academia, theories and methods aid in the acquisition of knowledge. Academia is organized into disciplines, each with its own methods and theories.

Your research can be empirical or non-empirical. Empirical research distinguishes between natural science and social science methodologies.

In empirical social research, two paradigms, quantitative and qualitative, are prevalent.

Your choice of method depends on your research question, your existing skills, and your preferences.