Advising JVEC participants

Many of the JVEC participants ask me for various advice. I am happy to help you on academic matters or future research plans whenever I can, because assisting young Vietnamese people is one of the important purposes of JVEC and VDF. However, I receive a large number of such requests not only from Vietnamese students but also students of other nationalities. Obviously my time and ability is not unlimited, so I cannot reply to all these inquiries.

The following types of inquires are most common:

   --Can you guide me in my research (choosing topics and methodologies)?
   --Can you tell me which papers/books I should read?
   --Can you help me get the data?
   --I would like to enter GRIPS (master or PhD program).

To those who ask such questions, I would like to say the following.

1. You must select the topic and methodology yourself.

Research at the MA level and above should not be passive. It is you, not the professor, who choose the topic. You should decide not just the broad area (FDI, trade, poverty, exchange rate...) but also subtopics within that area. For academic research, it is better to study narrowly and deeply rather than covering a broad issue superficially. You should also know what methodology you would like to use: time-series analysis, international comparison, case studies, field survey, mathematical modelling etc. You should know what models are available for the chosen field.

To do this, you should not think by yourself. Instead, you must widely read the existing literature on the chosen topic. Textbooks are not enough. You should read a large number of journal articles, working/discussion papers and official reports which are usually downloadable. After reading 50-100 papers, you will slowly begin to understand what professional people are discussing at present. Then choose the sub-issue that interests you most. Always relate your study to the existing studies, and be able to explain how your study is new, innovative, and different from them.

Before approaching any professor, therefore, you need to do some homework. Don't say, "I am interested in trade. Which topic should I choose?" Say, "I would like to use the gravity model to estimate East Asia's FTA dynamics empirically. Frenkel's NBER working paper in June 2002 is my starting point but I would like to add such-and-such assumptions. Here is my research plan. Can you comment?" Before you come to me, you must have an (even very preliminary) idea. I can discuss your research proposal, but I cannot write up the proposal for you.

2. Use email to submit the research proposal

It is always a good idea to send me an email explaining your research proposal. It should be a few to several pages long, containing (1) title of research (choose the words carefully); (2) your name; (3) purpose and motivation (include review of existing studies); (4) methodology; (5) proposed chapters; (6) time schedule. If you have a model or a hypothesis, explain that also.

It is not very effective to discuss the research proposal verbally. It is much better to send a written proposal first, then meet the professor. If you have any specific question, again use email.

Asking the right question is extremely important in determining the quality of your research. If you can formulate the question properly, I believe 50% of your research is completed. The other 50% is for answering that question. Asking the right question requires a lot of prior knowledge and experience in the subject. I can usually tell whether you are prepared or not by listening to your research proposal.

3. Send me your draft

If you have already started to work on your paper, send me your draft at any time. Again, you need something written to receive a useful evaluation. Just talking is no good. If you can put your ideas on paper and express them systematically, you have made much progress. I can accept a paper at any stage, including incomplete first draft, intermediate draft and final draft. But make sure the draft has the minimum academic format (title, table of contents, chapters/sections, footnotes, quotes, references, etc).

4. Be patient

You must please understand that, like many other professors, I am sometimes very busy. At times, I cannot answer any emails. Other times I am out of country (usually in Vietnam). If you send me email but do not receive an answer immediately, I ask you to be patient and not discouraged. JVEC and VDF are high on my agenda (after the teaching obligation at GRIPS).

Needless to say, I am not almighty. I am interested in all aspects of Vietnam's development from street children to agriculture and from pension reform to steel production. But naturally, I am not an expert on everything so I cannot answer many of your questions. The important thing in research is networking: to know who to ask and which documents to read when a specific question arises. If you have an extensive network of people and organizations, your research will become deeper and broader.

5. GRIPS admission

Many people want to see me before applying to GRIPS. I can describe my lectures and my students, but I cannot give you any practical advice on how to pass the GRIPS entrance exam. Whenever I receive procedural questions (When is the deadline? When will I know the result? etc) I pass them to GRIPS admissions office to answer. I have no authority to decide who will pass and I am not involved in the selection process. Admission should of course be determined by merit only and not through personal connection.

I suppose GRIPS one-year master courses are attractive to officials who cannot get a leave of absence beyond one year. But GRIPS is not the only graduate university in Japan. Competition to enter GRIPS is very high among Vietnamese. You should choose the most appropriate institution to study, not just GRIPS. Even if you are at Waseda, Todai, Yokokoku, Hitotsubashi, IUJ, Nagoya, etc. I can still help you at JVEC in Tokyo and VDF in Hanoi.

Tokyo, January 2004

Prof. K Ohno