I was advised that for all our studies, we should always ask ourselves the so-what question. If we don’t, someone will. It’s not unusual at all. In fact, scholars, especially from different areas of study, are asking each other the SO WHAT questions all the time. It’s probably not a bad thing, even though it creates tensions on that moment. But after the argumentation, we tend to think more about the issue and the real meaning and implications of our research findings. This might help to push us think a little bit harder and try to makes our research more meaningful to the society and the world we live in.
If, on the other hand, we could not answer the SO WHAT question ourselves, then we probably don’t really understand what we’re trying to do. And our time and efforts probably won’t be justified as well.
So, ask the SO WHAT question ourselves, to make sense of our study and also to save some embarrassment somewhere down time line.