FAITH CHAN SAO YENG

Executive summary/Abstract:

I was attached to Dr. Lim Wee Kiat and researched on the project, “What are the trends that GEN Z born in 2004 to 2005 popularize on social media in 2019? Why these trends?”

Background Information about organisation:

Dr. Lim Wee Kiat is an organization sociologist. Prior to his doctoral training, Wee Kiat worked six years in Singapore, holding research and planning positions in national telecommunications and defense sectors. His research interests lie at the intersections of organizational change, technology, and risks, focusing on crises and disasters.

Wee Kiat has published in top peer-reviewed journals, such as MIS Quarterly, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and in a practitioner-oriented journal, MIS Quarterly Executive. Over the years, Wee Kiat has either presented or have his papers accepted at top refereed and flagship conferences in sociology, management, and technology management, including the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Academy of Management Meeting, and International Conference on Information Systems. He has also received several accolades, including best papers awards in two consecutive years (2007 and 2008) and an outstanding reviewer award from a cross-cultural management journal (2013).

Wee Kiat received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He also holds a Bachelor of Communication Studies (Second Upper Honors) from Nanyang Technological University.

Background information of the projects / tasks which you were involved in:

The aim of the project is to expose students to the social science approach to studying social and cultural behaviour and to apply it to an area identified by the students.

I researched on the project “What are the trends that GEN Z born in 2004 to 2005 popularize on social media in 2019? Why these trends?” along with my group mates Prathibaa and Natalie.

This project gave me exposure to sociology and a new perspective on how to use a social science approach to studying social and cultural behaviour. I am also now more well equipped in crafting specific and unbiased surveys and interviews.

3 content knowledge/skills learnt:

1. This project taught me tips and guides I learnt about data collection. I learnt how to structure and disseminate my surveys and interviews in a specific and unbiased way in order to gather accurate and fair data. One example would be how the use of examples during an open-ended question in a survey or interview would actually limit the respondents view and unknowingly form an answer related to the example given, hence providing biased data.
2. This project taught me the importance of time management. I needed to manage my time well to ensure that I would finish tasks that were allocated to me by, or before, the deadline. Since this project allowed me quite a lot of freedom, I had to make my own timeline and keep track of my own and my teammates pace to ensure that work is always done on time so that the project will run smoothly and that there will be no hiccups due to uncompleted work.
3. I learnt that foresight is an essential skill required for projects as it is important to be able to identify the bigger picture, the end goal, so that the team has a clear direction and shared vision of what the final product should be. With the end goal in mind, it is easier for the team to make decisions that are necessary and beneficial to achieve the end goal, hence raising the team’s efficiency.

2 interesting aspects of your learning:

1. I learnt that refining and specifying a research question is one of the most gruelling parts of a research as one has to keep questioning themselves if their question addresses their topic/issue as best as it can.

2. Dr Lim would constantly give lengthy and specific comments on our report and survey and interview questions and would go a step further by providing us external readings to help guide us. By directly pointing out our mistakes, giving us suggestions for improvements and constantly checking up on us, we were able to stay on track and improve our project a lot better, greatly increasing our efficiency.

1 takeaway for life:

Being able to work in a team is extremely important, especially in larger organizations in the future workforce with heavy workloads. Through division of labour and good communication, projects will be completed more efficiently. Teamwork also ensures harmony within the team, which will help boost morale and productivity, and make working on the project an enjoyable experience. Teamwork not only applies to projects, but our daily lives as well. By uniting and working together with others, we are able to achieve greater success.