that a structure or framework helps them
in the early stages. It helps them to make a
start, and they will then discard it later as
writing reflectively becomes easier. Mantell
and Scragg (2019) offer a helpful structure for
writing a reflective journal, which is based on
three stages. Each stage has accompanying
questions to encourage a deeper reflective
approach, and I have adapted them for
application to research.
Stage 1 – Reflecting
Here you focus on an issue or a concern
that you have in relation to your research.
Like Bolton and Delderfield (2018) Mantell
and Scragg advocate free and spontaneous
writing in order to capture your thoughts
and feelings.
Stage 2 – Analyse
This is the most complex of the stages and
involves responding to key questions:
• What is happening here?
• What assumptions am I making in relation
to my research?
• What does this show about my beliefs
(for example, my belief in my ability to carry
out research, how the research process
should run or what a good outcome would
look like)?
Stage 3 – Action
The focus here is on the action you take
following the analysis. Again, the authors
suggest considering some key questions:
• What action can I take to move my
research forward?
• How can I learn from what has happened
so far in my research project?
• Would I do anything different if similar
things occurred again?
• What does this experience tell me about
my beliefs about myself, and my research
capabilities?
While a model like this can be useful, there is no
single correct way to write in a research journal.
Here are two examples of extracts about
reflective writing to illustrate this.
21
Remember, there are no rights and wrongs;
do what comes most easily and go from there.
Write your next journal entry and try
using Mantell and Scragg’s framework.
Did it help? If so, why, and if not, why
not?
Try this
My supervisor says I need to keep a
journal. What a pain! Some people seem
to find this easy and I can see they’ve
already written pages and pages of
handwritten notes. It’s early days but I’ve
tried, and I just can’t get the hang of it.
I seem to get completely stuck and can’t
think of anything to write. Why is this so
difficult? Today I’m going to try something
different and use the notes app in my
phone to see if that works any better.
What would I do without my notebook?
I love it! I think I’ve always loved writing.
It’s such a great way to offload and de-
stress. This project is definitely going to be
stressful, so this journal will be like my best
friend – listening to me, supporting me
and never criticising or answering back!
But hopefully it will help me to organise
my thoughts too and give me a way of
keeping on track.
Now think about the story of your
research project. How did it start? How
far have you come now? Why not start
writing your story here.
More food for thought
22
So, it looks like I need to give this reflective writing thing a
go. I’ve never done it before but seems like it’s worth a try.
Some people say it’s helped them a lot; others say they can’t
be bothered with the extra work. I’d love to do well and make
everybody proud, so here goes.
It’s early days and I’m going to try some different things to see
what might work. That brilliant notebook I was given at a fair
could come in handy. These notes are on my tablet, so that’s a
