การประชุ
มวิ
ชาการและเสนอผลงานวิ
จั
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ทยาลั
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กษิ
ณ ครั้
งที่
19 ประจำป
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of goods and services across borders by 2020 – the implications of such a policy can rapidly
transcend current concerns if the experience of other border regions is reviewed. The impact
on local communities represents a huge and unconsidered research field that would
logically engage local culturally-literate researchers.
6. To meet all of these changing scenarios and to build a research capacity in the region
it is appropriate to train a generation of researchers that are comfortable with the region, respectful
and knowledgeable of the resident cultures and of the languages of the region. On this assumption,
the next step is to define some of the actions that can be taken from this point onward.
Steps Towards a University-based Research Strategy
Step 1:
Define who conducts research:
Is it university staff or is it graduate students? In the
Thai situation, the longer term need is for well-trained researchers and this is a product
of a sound graduate-research program. Step 1 has two sub-steps, viz:
1 (a):
A university decision to focus future research expenditure and training on a sound
graduate research program focussed in areas in which the university can expect to gain credibility.
1(b)
: Engagement with other regional research bodies to access other literature, experience,
viewpoints and field sites in joint programs.
Step 2:
Define a process for selecting research subjects and select topics:
This requires an understanding
of the social context – gaining that understanding is not research per se – it is the equivalent of
learning how to conduct chemical analyses before conducting laboratory research. In social
science terms, one might say that nationality does not confer an understanding of
traditional viewpoints or aspirations. Thus there are two sub-steps, viz:
2(a):
supervision staff and graduate student sensitization and training in social science research
techniques as if the field is a ‘foreign environment’.
Food for Thought:
Social science informs technological research where regional relevance may vary
from broad programs that ignore the self-organising communities of border
regions in
