Reflective Summary

Critical Reflection on the Research Planning Process "How Might We Improve Access To Reliable, Affordable, And Safe Housing Options For International Students In Bristol?" Student’s name Name of institution Course name and number Instructor’s name Due date 1 Introduction This essay critically reflects on the research planning to improve access to reliable, affordable, and safe housing options for international students in Bristol. This reflection will use Rolfe's Reflective Model (Rolfe & Freshwater, 2001) to explain the research methods used in this study, the integration of the model to the How Might We (HMW) question, the impact on the teaching research and outcomes, and current and future endeavours of the team to discuss the research planning (Siemon et al., 2018, p. 97). This reflection has a target audience of academic user-research experts to demonstrate theoretical understanding and practical application of research methods. The essay focuses on my experiences with our team's primary and secondary research while carrying out interviews and online surveys for research purposes. The essay will also offer different perspectives on the research planning process. Figure 1: Rolfe’s Reflective Model (Rolfe & Freshwater, 2001) Research Method 1: Survey Questionnaire Challenge: Ensuring Participant Engagement Throughout the Survey What? The research planning process includes the survey questionnaire to gather data on the housing options for international students in Bristol. The respondents include international students with a keen interest in, awareness of, and concern for Bristol's reliable, affordable, and safe housing options. The study aims to understand students' perceptions regarding housing and accommodation in Bristol. The students belong to diverse backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities, which allows the research to cover a variety of experiences and observations (Arrowsmith, 2023a, p. 7). The survey includes Likert scales, multiple-choice, dichotomous scale questions (Yes/No), open-ended questions, Semantic Differential Scale (SDS), and rating scale questions. The variety of questions allows the researcher to collect comprehensive insights into the investigation (Birkett, 2022). The non-probability sampling technique is used for this survey, and the method used in convenience sampling involves selecting students who we can access easily to participate in the research study. Students from different universities will be selected for the survey. Survey questionnaires usually consist of 10 or more questions for the participants to respond to. It is challenging to ensure their engagement throughout the survey because of lengthy responses or uncomfortable questions, which reduces their interest in the study, and they end up skipping the survey or inaccurate responses without giving much thought. This resulted in a lower response rate in the last questions. The literature review shows that survey length and the nature of questions directly affect the quality of data collected in the form of responses (Kato and Miura, 2021, p. 3). Long surveys cause fatigue and tiredness, leading to skipping the survey or ignoring the response to some questions. Moreover, the lengthy questions and detailed responses make it difficult to interpret the meaning of the response. The data comparison, sorting, and classification become more complex with such responses. So What? -10477545015150The fatigue and lack of interest profoundly impact the quality of data collected through the survey responses. The participant must avoid long and detailed answers, resulting in incomplete data. This reduces the reliability and validity of the research study. Sometimes, they skip the questions they find irrelevant or difficult to answer as the students belong to foreign countries where most do not speak English as their first language. Simple language and vocabulary make the questions more understandable and reasonable for the respondents (Meterko et al., 2015, p. 134). International students do not prefer open-ended questions as they are not fluent in English. The data collected may have selection bias because respondents who are not fluent in English may leave the survey incomplete. So, the data represent only a specific group of people who can understand, speak, and respond in fluent English. This leads to ethical implications because the survey results represent only a particular student population group. In contrast, they ignore the majority of students who could have made a difference in the research outcomes. Figure: Example of Survey Questions Now What? Now, we can change the survey questionnaire to make the research study more effective and reliable. It is necessary to make the survey more convenient and attractive for international students to improve their engagement till the end of the questionnaire. Several strategies can be used to ensure the reliability of the data and information shared by the respondents. Firstly, simplifying question flow is essential for the respondents to build their interest and keep them engaged. The flow of the questions must be from more straightforward to relevant, detailed questions after the respondent understands the significance and purpose of the research. The survey length can be reduced by eliminating the repetitive questions (Sharma, 2022, p. 67). It is essential to collect valuable data rather than unnecessary details that do not provide any value to the research. So short surveys are preferred by the majority of the participant and maintain the richness of the data as expecting a brief survey can keep their interest and the level of engagement. The researcher can offer the option of multilingual in online survey forms to reduce language barriers for international students. It will increase their response rate and the quality of data provided by the participants. Stage Questions Reflection Descriptive: What? - What did I learn? - What was I trying to achieve? - What actions did I take? - What was good/bad about the experience? - What feelings did it evoke? I learned that balancing question complexity and length is crucial for maintaining engagement and data quality. I expected to achieve insights into international students' housing experiences, focusing on affordability, safety, and availability. I designed and distributed a survey with mixed question formats to a large sample of international students. Good: Reached a broad audience with diverse data. Bad: High dropout rate and incomplete responses due to question complexity and fatigue. I initially felt optimistic but later frustrated by incomplete data, leading to a determination to improve future surveys. Theoretical: So What? What does this tell me about my learning/methods? - Could I have done better? - Is my new understanding of the situation better? It shows that my methods need more focus on simplicity, flow, and engagement in survey design to ensure better response rates and data quality. Yes, I could have simplified the questions, structured the survey to reduce fatigue, and piloted the study to catch potential issues early. Yes, I now better understand the need to balance simplicity and engagement in survey design for improved data quality. Action-oriented: Now What? - What do I need to do to improve in the future? - What might the consequences of changing something be? I must simplify survey questions, shorten the survey, and conduct pilot tests to ensure better engagement and data quality. Improving the survey design could lead to higher response rates, more complete data, and better insights for decision-making. Research Method 2: Interviews Challenge: Insufficient and Superficial Responses in Interviews What? The structured interviews were conducted with the relevant participants in this research. They provided qualitative data for the study (Alamri, 2019). They include the international students seeking accommodation in Bristol, the house owners renting their homes to the students, and the university housing representatives. The interview questions were designed to provide a detailed insight into the affordability, safety, and reliability of the houses in Bristol for students, particularly from foreign countries. The interview questions are generally open-ended, allowing the respondents to offer in-depth details about their housing and accommodation experiences (Desai and Reimers, 2019). However, the response was different than expected, and we encountered an unforeseen challenge where the reactions were insufficie...