Given the existential crisis that my research question was going through, I was unsure about what next steps to pursue while I marinated on my career choices, given that I want my research to equip me with skills for the workplace, ideally. However, in the interest of being on the lookout of opportunities that would help me iterate on my question, I continued to take steps like scheduling networking chats with potential stakeholders. In the few weeks that it took from initiation to the execution of the networking chats, my research question had evolved so much that I feared sounding too confused about my research interests during networking chats.
I am happy to say that I still went ahead and gained a lot from a networking meeting I that had in June over coffee during which I was referred to certain stakeholders of interest that I will now reach out to. In my humble experience, the process of networking, just like the process of action research, can often be non-linear, where events such as networking chats may either greatly contribute to the final outcome or not at all (at least not directly).
After reflecting on recently done secondary research and recent networking events that forced me to ask myself important questions, I am happy to say that I have finally found my true area of interest. Currently, my research question is:
How can Pakistani handicrafts be better marketed and promoted?