Research Is a Discipline, Not a Personality
Strong research is less about sounding sophisticated and more about designing decisions you can defend.
In many academic settings, “research-minded” is treated like a personality trait: you either have it or you do not. In practice, research is a discipline—an approach to decision-making that can be learned, practiced, and improved.
A research habit begins with a question that is both meaningful and answerable. “How does social media affect consumers?” is too broad. “How does short-form video exposure influence purchase intention for local clothing brands among university students in Dhaka?” is a question you can operationalize: define exposure, define intention, define a population, and decide how you will measure each.
The next discipline is humility. A good literature review is not a list of citations; it is an argument about what is known, what is uncertain, and why your question matters. When students struggle, the issue is often not intelligence—it is structure.
Finally, research ethics is not a formality. If your work involves people, you must respect time, consent, and privacy. If your work involves claims, you must respect uncertainty. Clear wording, transparent limitations, and honest interpretation are the difference between persuasion and scholarship.