2021 04 25 Innovation survey planning
This post will be a bit technical for a blog. But if you think this is a postdoctoral research blog, you'll agree with me. I think it would be very logical to share not only my new daily experiences during my research, but also information about my scientific development.
Those who follow the blog know: I came to Germany as a TÜBİTAK postdoctoral fellowship researcher. In other words, TÜBİTAK covers the funding of the research I am conducting at Friedrich Schiller University. First, let me briefly talk about how I got the scholarship: A former colleague of mine I met at a conference towards the end of 2018 told me about this scholarship. I thought the scholarship was only given to permanent staff, it turns out that it wasn't. However, since there was 14 days left for the application, it was not possible for me to prepare a project proposal and to find an invitation letter from a research institution abroad where I could realize my project. Still, I started to search. I wrote my project while searching for a professor who could do my consultancy, for 3 months. I literally worked until mornings at nights. I have searched the economics departments of more than a hundred universities and their studies. If you think that there are around 30 economists in a university, you will understand the excess of the number. 95% of these professors were not suitable for my position. Those who were eligible might not need a postdoctoral researcher either. I only got two positive returns. Both were very good options. I chose Friedrich Schiller University because of Professor Cantner. As soon as my invitation letter was received, I started to wait for the new application period of TÜBİTAK, but in 2019 they opened only one application, and that was in August. Normally, two applications would be opened. Anyway, I waited for the results of the application to be announced, but I expected that I would win the scholarship. Because after the first 3 months, I worked continuously on my project proposal until the time of application. I knew that this project should receive a scholarship 90%.
The scholarship results were announced in February 2020. Right in the period of Covid-19's spread. It was not possible for us to prepare and come to Germany in two months anyway. Thus, I had to postpone for a semestre. Finally, I was able to start my research in October 2020. Again, we had a lot of difficulties due to Covid, but we succeeded.
We stayed 45 days at our first residence and then moved to our current apartment. Those first 45 days were spent meeting people, getting used to the environment, exploring the city, arranging official issues, and some work. As of December, we entered the last two months of my wife's pregnancy and I could not work at full performance again, as it was a pregnancy that requires close monitoring. When I started not to go to the office in Germany due to Covid-19, January and February of 2021 passed by working at home and doing housework. Our baby was born in the second week of February. During that rush I could not work very efficiently again. Three days after bringing our baby home, we had to temporarily move to another flat because the landlord had to do a kitchen renovation. After living in a different apartment for 12 days, we returned to our old apartment. We also had a newborn baby on hand. It has been so difficult ... During this whole process, my working hours have shifted from 21 pm to 03 pm, because I was busy with house cleaning, shopping, following up health bills, some of the baby care, cooking, washing and disposing of the garbage. Of course, these are not very productive hours for working.
In this hustle and bustle, I tried to catch the calendar of my project. I have to admit that I was 1 or 2 months behind schedule, but I also added a lot of extra knowledge and skills to myself. For this reason, I am not upset.
Let's get to the main issue. The issue that worries me the most in my project was whether I could achieve the benefit I wanted as a result of the survey I would apply. At this point, I realized I was working with an experienced consultant. The professor made sure I didn't jump into the survey. He first explained how I could collect data from various sources. Thus, before applying the questionnaire, I had the opportunity to see the questions in other surveys and benefit from them. In addition, I have a large data set. Thus, I had a thorough idea of the subject I was examining. When I was able to see the whole picture, I realized that I could remove some of the questions from the questionnaire I had prepared earlier. Some new questions came to mind, of course. In the meantime, I had the opportunity to read various resources on preparing survey questions. I haven't done the survey yet, because I will receive detailed data from an important source next month. I would like to see that data too. In the meantime, I will have read the sources about the German energy transformation (or let's say revolution) and learned the basics.
Let me talk a little more about the questionnaire. I prepared the list of institutions that I would be surveying, while living in our first residence. In addition, I prepared separate questions for companies, institutions and scientists if there would be time to ask. The questions I prepared for companies were more numerous and detailed. Because I see that they are the most important factor that creates the market because they are the real producers of the goods & services. Many sources on innovation share a similar view. Local and central government institutions are also very effective as policy makers. So are associations, foundations and collaborations. But I would like to ask them a few key questions and understand the renewable energy ecosystem, as they are not as important as companies in terms of innovation, which I am studying.
When preparing a questionnaire on innovation, it is of great benefit to consider some previously prepared documents that serve as the main source. For example, you must have read the Oslo Manual prepared by the OECD and Eurostat, the National Innovation Systems by the OECD dated 1997 and The OECD Innovation Strategy. Learning the perspectives in these studies enables a common language to be used with other innovation research. But this does not mean that we must do what the Oslo Manual or a similar text says. I think on the contrary, we should also try those that are not there. However, in terms of understanding a basic approach, the presence of such texts makes the researcher advantageous.
That's what I've been doing for a month. On the other hand, I am trying to improve the computational parts of the methods I am using. Actually, my priority is to advance in system dynamics softwares, but due to an article I am busy with, I brought my SPSS learning goal to the first place. I had many training files ready to learn SPSS. But when I researched it again, I found a great course at Udemy, I leave the link here (Click ... Unfortunately, only in Turkish.). Although it was not systematically designed as I wanted, it is a course that I could call tidy. Both the hypotheses, when the tests are used, and the examples are very well explained. Half of the course was useful for me, and I watched half of it. But I want to learn the AMOS, too. After advancing in system dynamics with Anylogic, I will probably look at this course again to learn AMOS. AMOS is an extension of SPSS. It allows us to do network analysis. Since the point of view is slightly different from normal statistical analysis, it is also necessary to sit down and think. It makes it easier to understand complex structures as it provides visualized results.
Anyway, let's get back to our topic. The article I am busy with is based on a survey of a student who graduated two years ago. She made the survey for her master's thesis. It examines the perceptions of people living in the Moda district of Istanbul for the products offered with green marketing and their purchasing behavior. I systematically prepared the techniques in SPSS training to analyze the Likert scale questionnaire. So, from now on, when I applied a Likert scale survey, I have a well-structured decision tree about what to do step by step. This information is nowhere to be found. I hope to share the accuracy of the steps with everyone after I publish my articles. I can say that the survey analysis techniques that seem very complicated are actually very easy. Since it is not systematically presented anywhere, researchers are forced to work with statisticians or there are significant deficiencies in their analysis. However, it is quite easy to make basic analyzes through statistical programs.
For these reasons, I will try to make the questionnaire I will use in my project Likert-scale. The survey questions I have are not yet in this form. Therefore, long working hours are waiting for me :)
See you in my next article.