Was it worth doing a PhD? Part 2: Asking interesting questions

This week has been filled with nostalgia. I’ve been cleaning up my apartment and sorting out papers, business cards, etc. Every time I do this, I remember the time when I was nearing the completion of my MBA/MEng degree. A handwritten letter from my Mom (yes, there was e-mail back then but my parents have managed to maintain the long lost art of writing letters, as have I) asked me the question “why don’t you go straight for your PhD?” At the time, Mom was referring to issues of funding (supporting Masters’ degrees in Business Administration or Technology Management was not a priority in national research councils’ budgets). But I could recognize why I didn’t want to go straight into a doctoral program: I wasn’t sure if I could ask the right questions. I knew that I loved doing research, but I didn’t know if I had enough work experience to move forward in that direction, one that I had never explored.

Which brings me to the second installment of my series on whether it was worth it for me to do a PhD. This post briefly explores the issue of asking interesting questions. As a disclaimer, it’s not my intention to provide guidance to anyone who wants to undertake doctoral research. In many ways (as many of my posts are) it is just a reminder of why is it that I put myself through. Doing a PhD is NOT a walk in the park (I have other 3 PhD-holders in my family in addition to myself so I can attest to the fact).

When I was beginning to work with my former PhD advisor, he suggested that I look at a problem first, looked at what the data was telling me (yes, storytelling!) and then apply various techniques to analyze the data and discern which theoretical frameworks would be valuable. Lucky for me, my advisor’s approach is very much like mine. I’ve never been one for using just ONE theoretical framework. I like integrating knowledge and insights from various realms to inform my research. I’ve borrowed concepts from anthropology, sociology, economics, geography, planning and political sciences in most of my research work.

So, in answering the question – was it worth doing a PhD? The answer again is yes, as my PhD training was rigorous and led me to dig deeper into the ways in which I had been using theoretical and analytical frameworks to examine problems. Doing a PhD honed my research skills and gave me additional tools to analyze problems. But more importantly, it gave me the opportunity to ask the right questions. I’m no longer interested in water per se. I’m interested in how we can make water more accessible to people who otherwise would not have access. I’m interested in examining issues of water poverty that place the debate right at the intersection of social justice, equity and water management. I’m interested in many other questions, but more importantly, I believe that now I’m much better at asking (and more interest in) the right (and more importantly, interesting) questions.

Related posts:

1. Getting paid what you are worth
2. 7 Questions with Mojave
3. Was it worth it doing a PhD? Part 1: On essay mills
4. Interview Me – 5 Questions
5. Hybrid cars – Are they worth it?