Managing Risk
Risk is part of all kinds of activities. Doing research carries risks characteristic of all projects which require adequate time, money and quality in the final product. Some of these overlap with ethical issues, such as ensuring that people who participate in your research aren’t exposed to unnecessary harm and ensuring that consent is informed. These are usually addressed when writing the protocols for a study and included in IRB or ethics committee applications, who will often want to see an ethics plan and copies of the proposed research instruments. Ethical considerations are foregrounded since minimising the risk to people is the most important mitigation. Aside from these, there are interrelated operational issues to consider throughout the research lifecycle.
- Costs: For a lot of doctoral researchers making sure they have adequate funding throughout can be a challenge. This can be a matter of a grant not covering all of the activities required for a project; or can result from overrunning in time. Failure to correctly estimate costs when you start a project can lead to problems downstream. Managing the financial aspects is a key element in successful projects.
- Time: It’s common for people writing PhDs or EdDs to feel the pressure of time, especially if they have to balance their studies alongside personal and professional commitments. Doctoral study also involves more self-regulation than other degrees. Managing your time and finding ways of being productive when you need to are important skills for researchers.
- Scope: Doctoral projects can start with a well defined research question but, as the literature is reviewed, the essence of the project begins to evolve. This is no bad thing as it shows that the ideas and concepts are being developed, but if the definition of the project starts to change then care must be taken to ensure that it can still be delivered with the resources available.
- Quality: Quality refers to the standard of the work being delivered, and is to some extent dependent on the other factors. At a practical level, the most important quality consideration is convincing your examiners that you meet your institutional requirements for the award of a doctorate.
At its most general level, risk management is about anticipating problems before they arise and adapting to unforeseen situations. What happens if things don’t go as anticipated? You might lose access to a data source that you were relying on. Do you have a plan B? Plan C? What happens if you fall ill and are unable to work on your project? When focused on the academic parts of a project it can be easy to overlook these kinds of considerations.
Ideas for risk mitigation:
- A better research design can mitigate more risk, or build in more contingency.
- Practising agile approaches develops the ability to adapt to changing circumstances while maintaining overall vision.
- Writing a log of risks and their mitigation as a project is underway to record further issues that arise so you can get better at anticipating and solving problems.