Author: Ryan Greene

On 22nd September, professor Hilde Wågsås Afdal from Østfold University College in Norway, gave us an introduction to literature review. Conducting a literature review is often a part of a research process at advanced levels. However, there is variation in how systematic these reviews are. At the seminar, we learnt about the difference between scoping and systematic literature reviews, and we learnt how we can use different digital tools to conduct a literature review. The seminar was attended by almost 90 participants, including BSW, MSW and PhD students, as well as staff from all partner universities – in addition to guests from other institutions. You can find the slides from the presentation here.

About the Seminar

Many researchers, especially in professional disciplines, have a professional or personal experience from their field of study. This poses a number of challenges for the researcher. How should one relate to one’s own experiences from the field one is researching? How can one make use of these experiences in research and at the same time avoid biases? The seminar will help the resilient students reflect on how they situate themselves in their respective projects. These are some of the topics covered in this seminar for PhD-students where we have invited Cecilie Basberg Neumann to give an introduction about situatedness in research.

The students came away with many valuable insights to help them implement their tasks in the social work field. Here is what one student had to say:

It was a very important seminar for me, I had learnt a lot on how to situate myself in the project and reflect my position as a researcher. It made me reflect on my research topic and think of anticipated challenges that I may encounter and how to manage them.

Catherine Manda, PhD Student, Institute of Social Work, Tanzania

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I learned a lot during this session, like:

1. Before going to the field, the researcher has to make a work structure in a logical way emphasizing on that which is connected to own experience.

2. Personal experiences may be relevant to research. However, a researcher has to privilege objectivity taking into account vulnerability and academic experience to avoid bias.

Genereuse Mukayisenga, PhD Student, University of Rwanda

About the Facilitator – Professor Cecilie Neumann

RESILIENT’s PhD students will be attending a seminar on Situatedness at Oslo Met University on 2nd September during their visit to Norway.

About the Seminar

Many researchers, especially in professional disciplines, have a professional or personal experience from their field of study. This poses a number of challenges for the researcher. How should one relate to one’s own experiences from the field one is researching? How can one make use of these experiences in research and at the same time avoid biases? The seminar will help the resilient students reflect on how they situate themselves in their respective projects. These are some of the topics covered in this seminar for PhD-students where we have invited Cecilie Basberg Neumann to give an introduction about situatedness in research.

About Professor Cecilie Neumann

Cecilie Basberg Neumann is a professor at the Department of Social Sciences at Oslomet, where she researches topics related to health, work and social inequality. Together with Iver B. Neumann she has written the books Forskeren i forskningsprosessen. En metodebok om situering https://www.cappelendamm.no/_forskeren-i-forskningsprosessen-cecilie-basberg-neumann-iver-b-neumann-9788202366407 and Power, Culture and situated research methodology. Autobiography, Field, Text https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-3-319-59217-6

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