[Exercise 1] Build a metaphor of a research

- Exercise 1 (28/9): Build a metaphor of a research as a house, journey, theater or as an analogy of another everyday thing for illustrating the roles and interrelations of problem statement, purpose, and the four aspects of research design.

By giving an example related to scholarship, I can understand the differences of two kinds of background: one in problem statement and another one in the context of research questions. The background of the context is narrower than one in problem statement. It means that you will focus on problems that are more detail and smaller.

Solution:

I choose a metaphor as a journey of finding the way studying abroad with a scholarship.

In my country – Vietnam, in order to get a scholarship of studying abroad, anyone must prepare carefully with many steps. Therefore, I will tell these processes as a metaphor of a research.

The education system in my country is not good, so knowledge studying from schools is quite out of date. Current reality is that if students want to work after graduating from universities, they need to training for a long time or work with low salaries. Therefore, many people find chances of studying abroad. After graduating, they come back to the country and can be employed by prestigious companies with high salaries.

----> Background and motivation of problem statement.

However, almost all people are not rich, so they need scholarships for studying abroad. The problem is how to get a scholarship for studying?

----> This is the problem.

Scholarship will help you have confortable life of studying and your parents have no financial burden.

----> This is the purpose.

Studying in Europe is the best choice because of modern environment, multicultural activities, and free tuition fee. However, we need scholarship for living expense.

----> Background in the context of research questions. 

In order to obtain a scholarship, we start finding information and making many questions:

- Where I can get scholarship information?

- Which country I will study abroad?

- How to prepare a good profile for applying scholarships?

----> This is the question. (This step is crucial and will decide the result of scholarship)

- Finding information from the Internet

- Asking alumni for experience and information

- Studying English well and joining extra-curricular activities.

----> This is the method.

In order to apply, I need a requirement of English skill such as IELTS 6.5 or Toefl 95.

----> This is a constraint.