The session looked into some of the fundamentals of designing a research study. Dr Mukherjee interacted with the faculty members to know about how they are approaching their respective research areas. He stated that it was important to identify how the research could address lacunae in existing literature, mentioning that it was necessary to ensure that the work was actually needed. For this purpose, it was more worthwhile to deal in theories rather than simple references of past work. He also explained that it was important to understand the context of the respondents in order to properly evaluate their responses. Last but not the least, Dr Mukherjee provided a roundup of different classes of bias that could creep into the research and the means of addressing them.

It was a very engrossing session which left the participants looking forward to more such interactions. In the end everybody came back with a clearer view of the path ahead and the methods to be adopted.