Indonesia
Faculty members from Master in Management (MM) and Master in Public Administration (MIA) programs at Universitas Islam Malang recently held a workshop on Research Methods and Data Analysis, attended by approximately 20 participants at the 3rd Floor of Ali Bin Abi Thalib Building, East Java Study Center (PSJ) room over two days, specifically on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
The second session is scheduled for Monday, May 22, 2023, with each session running from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM WIB. The workshop will span two days: the first day will cover explanations of research methods, and the second day will feature practical exercises using specialized software for research purposes.
The speaker for this event is Mr. Ainur Rofiq, M.Com, Ph.D., who is a tenured lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and also serves as the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at Brawijaya University in Malang. Mr. Ainur Rofiq himself is a PhD alumnus of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, specializing in E-Commerce.
Workshop Opening by University Leadership
The workshop was opened by the First Deputy Director, Dr. Nur Fajar Arief, M.Pd., who represented the Director of Postgraduate Programs, Prof. Drs. H. M. Mas’ud Said, M.M., Ph.D. who was unable to attend, accompanied by the Head of Management Master’s Program, Dr. Pardiman, MM. In his remarks, Dr. Fajar expressed gratitude for Mr. Rofiq’s visit to Unisma’s Postgraduate Program.
“On behalf of the Director, I would like to thank you for coming. May your presence enrich our knowledge and bring blessings to us all,” said the First Deputy Director in his opening remarks.
Meanwhile, Dr. Pardiman stated that the expected outcome of this workshop is that at least one proposal will be developed after the workshop concludes. “What we are doing here aligns with the Rector’s guidance; our hope is that the university’s objectives can be achieved following the conclusion of this workshop,” concluded Dr. Pardiman.
Issues in Economic Research
In his explanation, Mr. Ainur Rofiq stood while presenting a diagram displayed on the TV screen. He also touched on several issues frequently faced by economics faculty members, one of which is the concept of “not significant.”
“If, for example, the results of the analysis are not significant (ns), that doesn’t mean the data is bad; usually, that’s because the results aren’t actually significant, or because the factors selected may not be appropriate,” explained the man wearing glasses.
During the workshop, the focus was on teaching faculty members the procedures of qualitative research methods rather than quantitative research. He noted that qualitative research yields more varied results and offers broader potential for new scientific discoveries.
“Perhaps regarding quantitative methods, I think the lecturers are already experts; therefore, here we will focus more on learning how to analyze samples using qualitative methods,” he added. The workshop was quite lively until the end, as participants were actively asking questions to the speaker, particularly regarding common research challenges they face. Occasionally, Mr. Rofiq would throw in a joke or two to keep the atmosphere from feeling too stiff.
(AAFR/PPS/Expert Team of the East Java Studies Center).
