Research can be a solitary and even lonely experience. You spent hours collecting data and pouring over results. Many hours more involve writing up results in isolation. Even for an introvert, it can be a process devoid of interaction. Moreover, a researcher working alone loses the additional experience and perspectives to be gained by working in a research team. In today’s post, I want to offer 7 tips for collaborating on a research project. I’ve been fortunate to have more positive than negative experiences working with colleagues. I hope these tips will provide you with some advice on how to improve your collaboration not only on research, but any work you might undertake.
I am one of those rare Southerners that doesn’t enjoy NASCAR racing. It just has never been my thing. Yet, I’ve always been fascinated by the work of the pit crew. There is such a system in place that allows an amazing amount of work to be done in just a few seconds.
I think of research collaborations in the same way. You can do so much more, better, and faster in a research team than you can working in isolation. In many disciplines and in different methodological approaches, teamwork is common. As a qualitative higher education researcher, I often have the option to work on my own on a project or to work with a colleague.