The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia triggers an array of problems in several sectors. In this case, some activities that used to be done offline have to adapt to an online system. The research sector is also disturbed by this pandemic since several field research can’t be conducted in order to minimize the physical interaction between the researcher and the respondent.
The pandemic and alternative research method
The health and security aspect becomes the utmost priority of each individual, including university students,in the middle of this pandemic. The limitation of space, difficulty to get out of their home, and the strict health rules are factors that contribute to the failure of last year university students to complete their final essay. Generally, this pandemic makes it difficult for final year students to conduct field research or qualitative research that requires them to physically be in the field to observe. Meanwhile, the average research method used by bachelor students, especially in the politics and government department, is the qualitative field research with a primary data source (Savirani, 2020).
Though the pandemic puts an obstacle in the final year students’ way, it turns out that there are several alternative research methods for university students. In this case, Amanda Savirani explained the three methods of research which are the discourse analysis research, simple big data, and thought study. The important point in those three methods are the use of a secondary data source and the desk study method to replace field work.
The discourse analysis method focuses on the study of language (word expression, argument expression, and the stream of thought inside of it). When using this method, a researcher has to focus on a main idea of a discourse. The second method is the big data research. This method has several types. However, the majority of bachelor students use the descriptive analytics type. The core of this type is the question of “what happened?”. Next, the third method is the thought study method. This research is done by choosing a scholar and choosing the thoughts that will be analyzed with a thought study approach, such as the sociology of thoughts.
The desk study research is a beneficial solution for bachelor students wanting to write their final essay. The aforementioned method also uses technology to ease the research process of students, for example by using the internet as a media to gather data. In this case, the big data method uses google trends and eventregistry as tools to gather data. Meanwhile, for the discourse analysis and thought study methods use the internet through articles and news. This is also in line with what Ma’mun Murod (2020) said. According to him, for students who prefer qualitative research, they can use the literary study method during this pandemic (Amar, 2020).
How to be consistent when making your final essay
Making the final essay can be one of the most gruesome and tiring fights for university students. More often than not, students become confused or are tempted to delve into another topic in the middle of the road. Though it is hard, students that want to graduate need to finish their final year essay. Acknowledging the importance of the final essay for students, the majority of students see it as a burden. In a research by Muhammad Solih Nasution,et al. titled “The effect of writing final essays to Sumatra Muhammadiyah University students Batch 2014’ anxiety and depression”, it is found that among 84 research subject, 76 people shows mild symptoms of anxiety.
Therefore, Amalinda gave several tips to keep our consistency in finishing our final essay. First, choose the topic that we love. By choosing the topic that we love, at least there will be some motivation boost to finish our final essay. The second tips, refine our instrument, chapters, and method. This second tip can help students focus and not veer off the topic. If students are still confused, they can do tip three; to choose a topic that is trending or hot in the moment. By using this step, the data source is usually easier to get.
The pandemic is an extra burden for final year students looking to graduate. But, as the proverb says “when there’s a will, there’s a way” which signifies that the only thing we need to do is to try. Additionally, we need to throw away all excuses of not doing our final essay in the middle of this pandemic. Good luck for all final years students!
Reference;
Amar, F. (2020, April 19). Republika.co.id. Retrieved from Republika.co.id: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.republika.co.id/amp/q9168w385
Khalika, N. N. (2019, Januari 05). Tirtoid. Retrieved from Tirtoid: https://tirto.id/depresi-karena-skripsi-kampus-dosen-wajib-menolong-mahasiswa-ddqy
Savirani, A. (2020, September 09). Menulis Skripsi di Era Pandemi. sleman , Yogyakarta, Indonesia