The Accounting Study Program at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, organized a Visiting Lecturer on the Methodology of Research inviting Assoc. Prof. Evan Lau from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) on Tuesday-Wednesday (24-25/11/2020).

In his opening remarks, Dr. Agung Nur Probohudono, Ph.D., Head of the Accounting Study Program at FEB UNS, expressed his gratitude to Prof. Evan for sharing his valuable experiences on research methodology with the students. “Although conducted virtually, we hope that the current situation does not diminish the value of this lecture. Research methodology is crucial as it provides knowledge about the proper steps and methods for conducting final research,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Prof. Evan addressed the students of FEB UNS who were taking the course on research methodology and several lecturers from the Faculty of Economics and Business, delivering various definitions of research and reasons why research is necessary.

“Research is a process of seeking and investigating, to find the ‘truth’ of an event or condition, which must be carried out in accordance with methodology, systematic, and following the rules and ethics of research,” he explained.

Furthermore, he elaborated on the aspects of research, including the 3C’s: concentration, commitment, and continuity. The first session concluded with an interactive Q&A session between the speaker and the participants.

Prof. Evan also presented the problem statement, which relates to the interesting research topics and how to identify issues that could become research topics. “When starting research, we should begin with uncertainty, doubt, questions, or problems. If there is already an answer to the problem, then there is no need to conduct research on it. Instead, consider extending the previous research,” he clarified.

The problem statement is a crucial aspect as it will affect the literature to be reviewed, hypotheses, required data, analysis techniques, and appropriate conclusions.

A well-formulated problem statement should include several elements, such as answering unanswered questions in previous literature, replicating previous research but focusing on a different research object, expanding or deepening the analysis of previous research, and being related to practical field conditions. For this, Prof. Evan encouraged the participants to brainstorm ideas.

On the second day of the visiting lecturer, the discussion continued with Research Design. Research design can be understood as the plan used to answer the research problem. This design includes the techniques to be used, the objects involved in the research, how data is collected, and how data is analyzed. Several points need to be considered in determining the research design, including the nature of the research problem, research objectives, available data sources, and academic discipline.

(Aulia/Humas)