ABSTRACT
Research methods education typically focuses on acquiring skills. This is essential, as graduate students often need to be able to produce a thesis or dissertation as their final degree requirement. To successfully navigate what for many is their first major research study, however, students must also be introduced to the fact that research is not just a set of skills to learn and apply. There is no generic research template to which researchers can turn for every study they conduct. Research is entirely context bound and no template or skill set will apply to every context. Therefore, it is necessary for research educators to also help students develop the mind of a researcher, recognizing that research is as much art as science. In this way, students are better equipped to understand the implications of various decisions they make while conducting a study – implications for the study, for the profession, and for themselves as professionals in their respective fields.
