The conference was chaired by Associate Professor Dr. Lam Minh Chau and Dr. Emmanuel Pannier. The conference spent a lot of time listening to Anthropology students share about the difficulties they encountered in the research process. Student Tran Thi Tung Lam (K62 Anthropology) said that through the survey, there were many reasons that prevented students from participating in scientific research, such as: not having time for scientific research, not being interested in scientific research, not having enough funds to conduct scientific research, not understanding how to carry out a scientific research...
Tung Lam also shared a problem that many young people are facing: a crisis in orientation and future development, meaning they cannot imagine who they will become, what their future job will be, what benefits scientific research will bring to their future work?... Besides these worries, students cannot overcome themselves when they are tempted by social networks, other recreational activities outside of studying or do not dare to try something new. Many of you think that Anthropology is a subject that is heavily theoretical and you do not clearly understand what specific job positions this subject has?
Tung Lam also suggested that to remove the above obstacles, the Faculty should support students with more scientific exchange sessions, guidance on the process and skills of conducting scientific research. Having participated in scientific research and won awards at the Faculty and School levels, he also gave advice: Students need to be brave enough to dare to challenge their abilities in research activities, actively learn from teachers and devote themselves to this work, the results achieved will be completely worthy. That is, you will mature in your thinking, enhance your practical problem-solving skills and understand the value of your field of study more deeply.
In addition, many Anthropology students want teachers to answer many specific questions about: How to determine the topic and object of research in Anthropology? How to combine interdisciplinary research methods in Anthropology? How to access the latest theories of Anthropology to apply to your research? What is different about research in Anthropology compared to other sciences?...
Sympathizing, sharing and answering students' questions, Associate Professor Dr. Lam Minh Chau affirmed: Anthropology students have a strong tradition in scientific research, with the strong point being the diversity of research topics and the emphasis on field research. Scientific research is the process of actively finding new knowledge through answering research questions. Knowledge created by research is different from knowledge created by experience because research activities must apply a system of methods and research theories of the major, thereby helping researchers find the deep nature of the problem, applying research results in a wider scope. Unlike many other sciences, Anthropology scientific research tends to be qualitative research, observation, direct data collection through interviews with characters, and practical penetration; besides, it also combines many interdisciplinary methods.
MSc. Tran Thuy Duong noted: Determining the topic, research problem and research question is very important, it is the starting point of all research; usually researchers observe life and find problems that they are interested in and passionate about to solve, find answers. Some other things that students need to pay attention to are: Always determine the research question before starting; The research hypothesis must be from a scientific perspective; Do not bring research questions to ask the interviewee; Interview questions must be clear...
According to Dr. Emmanuel Pannier, choosing a research topic must be new and the most important thing in Anthropological research is going to the field. The research topic can change when going to the field because there is information collected from real life that makes us change our previous point of view. And Anthropologists are very good at in-depth interviews, penetrating interviews to be able to exploit information in the most natural, vivid and truthful way. That is a value that not all scientific fields have.
According to Emmanuel Pannier, scientific research is an “extremely interesting, romantic and passionate” activity. By learning about the characteristics of another culture, in the spirit of respecting cultural diversity, you can enrich your worldview, understand yourself better and have more poetic approaches and problem-solving angles for your own life and work.
Dr. Nguyen Vu Hoang shared about the importance of applying Anthropological theories to reflect in research. Students need to diligently accumulate this knowledge over a long period of time by reading books, studying the theories of Anthropologists around the world, and from there choose for themselves a theoretical lens appropriate to the research problem.
Dr. Phan Phuong Anh emphasizes critical thinking in scientific research. Every time there is a new social event or phenomenon, it is an opportunity for Anthropologists to find new theoretical contributions or find ways to solve practical problems of science and social life.
The sharing of the teachers has opened up to the students of Anthropology the values that current scientific research in Anthropology contributes to the development of society and brings happiness to people in many areas of life; thereby helping them see the prospects and bright future of jobs, fields and professions related to Anthropology and be more confident in their learning and training path. The teachers also affirmed that in the future, they will organize more guidance sessions and exchange of scientific research experiences between students and teachers so that they can promptly receive encouragement and support both materially and spiritually for this activity.
Author:Quoc Toan
