The same but different

I can think of a couple of main changes to my research question that I think are kind of fun to look at now that I'm done. Specifically, in the beginning, my research question was extremely broad in that I was looking at where, when, why, and how audiobook listeners use audiobooks. I knew that there was something interesting about how these aspects of audiobook listening fit together but I could not figure out how exactly and to what end. After I got feedback from my first proposal, I started to narrow the goal of my research to helping with marketing efforts and adoption issues. Also, I tried to narrow the where, when, why, and how down to the profiling of audiobook listeners, but something felt off. Then, as a really started to focus on the research method--interviewing--I would use, I realized that there are different ways to interview people. As I made choices about how I would want to interview people, mainly I want to interview using a narrative style, I realized that I wouldn't really be profiling people by hearing their stories. At last I had an ahha! moment, where my knowledge from information system and design (IS&D) intersected with my library and information science (LIS) knowledge: what I want to look at in my research is the use cases of audiobook listeners.

In retrospect, this history is probably only fun to me but I think it is interesting that my main idea from the beginning stuck, but it took me almost four months to articulate that idea in a succinct and effective way.

References

Heaberlin, P. (2009). Day 110/365[Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/lobsterboy1980/ 

Does anyone know how to leave lines between paragraphs on the blog? I put them in on the draft but when I publish it, my writing formats as one big blog blob with no paragraphs. Please let me know, someone, if you know. Maybe my computer is part of the problem. Thanks, Cynthia

Twists, turns and tangents By Cynthia Dempster

Last fall, the term seemed like an eternity. I was like Paul, I kept changing my research question. I liked doing this. Each change was exciting, like going on an intellectual picnic. When I finally decided on a topic, I kept changing methods(please don’t tell Prof. Galey or Glenn). I have danced the methodological tangent dance and enjoyed it immensely. I did finally determine a method. However, I found the tangents assisted me. The topical tangent helped me because I saw my chosen topic in the context of my multiple interests. I also found ways that my concerns overlapped. Luker describes salsa dancing research as a “conundrum:-“you don’t really know what it’s about until the very end”(2008, p. 130). The methodological tangent helped me. I came to see that the different methods can overlap and contain aspects of each other. The method that I chose was the in person interview method. There is an aspect of ethnography to conducting an in person interview.

My research is qualitative. However, it is impossible to avoid quantitative concerns. Quantitative questions, surmises and interests do influence qualitative studies even if they aren’t directly expressed. I think numbers are always present as an inference, even when they aren’t applied. For example, here are some questions that lurk behind my interview questions. Does this question get to the core of the matter? Does it potentially expose something that could be counted or compared? Is the response typical? How many archivists would respond in a similar way?

Part way through my work, I discovered I was trying to do something impossible. I am studying blind spots in archives. I am studying ways that archives are unconscious. I became aware that it is impossible to be conscious of the unconscious. It is impossible to see a blind spot. I then asked myself: is it possible to conduct a study of something that is impossible? Can an attempt to do something impossible yield results that are valuable and knowable? I decided ‘yes’. If I’m right, I’ll be happy. If I’m wrong there will still be an ancillary benefit to my attempt. Prof. Galey and Glenn will have a good laugh.

Luker, K.(2008). Salsa dancing into the social sciences. Harvard University Press.

Reflections on Research Development

I've found that I haven't made a lot of changes to my research question over the course of the semester. I think a lot of that is because this is a topic I've been thinking about researching for a couple of years. As I discussed in a previous post, I spent a lot of time at the beginning of the course thinking about how to make the topic more practical and adapting my research question to suit what I've learned at the iSchool.

However, my topic is a relatively exploratory one, and my research question is a little broad. My methodology, unstructured interviews, allows for some adaption during the course of the study to suit whatever I encounter at the time. So, perhaps, in the end I've left myself room to make last minute changes. As a fairly indecisive person I do have a tendency to try to keep my options open as long as possible, and I think it's interesting to consider how that aspect of my personality might have influenced the design of my research plan. Now that you've reflected back on the way your research developed, have any of you noticed a similar trend?

A Case to Consider

This is somewhat of an oddball post, as I am making up for a missed one over the reading week. I'm actually not sure why I didn't catch onto the fact that we would be posting over the reading week, as looking back, Professor Galey put up plenty of notices on both Blackboard and the course blog!

Anyway, these are some musings about research methods. For my research proposal, my chosen methodology is the case study, and reading about case studies has been a surprisingly inspiring experience! Before beginning the course, I knew very little about case studies (as a research method), but had heard the term often before, as it is used in a number of contexts, including education. Cases are useful teaching methods (especially in law, psychology, medicine, business, and more), in order to provide more contextual examples for students, setting theories and ideas into action.

Perhaps because the term "case study" is used as an umbrella concept to describe a number of different research and teaching approaches, that it is difficult to pin down the word in an easily definable definition. However, this is somewhat appropriate, as case studies are often detailed and complex narratives about microcosms of the world, and can be fascinating to read about.

Back to the inspirational moment! When thinking of research methods, the "aha!" moment often comes to mind, in which the intrepid researcher reveals an amazing fact about human existence, or whichever field their research focuses on. Not that I believed research was always about facts, but that it was about finding some sort specific result, which could be packaged into a sentence and shared with the world. So, essentially I always though more about the end, rather than the process. However, reading more and more about case studies and other forms of qualititative research, I have learned about the value in research in which the aim is not necessarily generalizability, and that this fact does not detract from its worth and relevance. Within the context of case studies, the case study itself is often the most important part, and not necessarily a clearly defined conclusion. Flyvbjerg's article regarding myths about case-study research (2006) is a really engaging read, revealing the intricacies of a misunderstood research method, and developing a detailed insight into what he believes (with the support of other scholars) research can be all about.

                                                                       Reference

 

Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219-245. doi: 10.1177/1077800405284363

Questioning Research…

My research question has definitely changed over the course of the semester.  I have changed and re-changed subjects so often that it has been difficult to keep track.  I have had to be a little more introspective about my interests in order to decide on a research topic.  Taking a deep look at your interests and thinking how to undertake a detailed exploration of them is actually a more difficult task than you would expect.

I have definitely learned how to take a new approach to research, as I have had to think of new approaches and methods to tackle different subject areas.  Not having any research background, I had a fairly stereotypical view of research (labcoats and scientists), so it took some time for me to adjust to the different types of research that can be done with different methods.

I am still wrestling with my research question in that I am not sure where to place my focus on my topic.  I can think of broad questions like "how does this work?" or "where did this come from?", but it is difficult to focus a research question to a specific issue or interest in my topic area.  And though I might come up with some sub-questions for my topic, but I am never confident that each question is as interesting as the topic as a whole.  You want to really explore the entirety of a subject and a feasible research question can sometimes feel limiting.

Gettin' the ol' discussion ball rolling

As part of this week’s blog question asks us to incite some inter-blogger commentary, I was struck with the realization that I haven’t really been commenting on other people’s blog posts.  I then began to wonder whether anyone had been commenting on mine.  As a newcomer to blogging, I figured that I would be somehow notified if someone commented on one of my postings, but I just went back and looked over all of my entries, only to realize that I had received some comments that I’d been unaware of!  To correct this lack of response, I will put in some time this week to respond to some of the comments on my posts, but for now I’ll speak to the portion of the question that asks how our research has evolved.

I have struggled throughout this course, as my research project methodology (oral history) wasn’t covered in class.  I found it difficult to articulate a research question, as oral history isn’t generally used as a method through which hypotheses are tested, or through which quantitative research is performed.  Rather, it seeks to identify, record and preserve people’s personal accounts for their own value.  I believe that this still qualifies as a kind of research, however I found it difficult to position this particular research methodology within the context of the class and the proposal paper. 

Nevertheless, I’ve been able to get through a first draft of my research proposal, and I thought I would use this opportunity to ask the members of the group a couple of questions about parts of my proposal that I’m still unsure about.  So here goes:

What are your general thoughts about the length of an introduction?  The examples of proposals from last year that Prof. Galey provided all tended to have brief and very concise introductions, but mine has turned out to be two pages long.  I figured that it was important to frame my research project within the context of current discussions in geography (because my project involves recording stories about locations in Toronto), so that the reader would be able to understand that there exists a gap in knowledge that my project would fill.  It didn’t feel right to launch into a sort of thesis statement before introducing the discourse within which I want to contextualize my project.  But I worry that it’s wound up too long. 

I’m also interested in asking the other group members how much detail they’ve gone into in their methodology sections.  Again, as oral history methodology isn’t particularly rigorous, I mostly just described the general principles of oral history, how I would locate the interview subjects, what equipment I will use in the recording and editing of the interviews, the kinds of questions I will ask, how I will present the interviews on a website, and the precautions I will take to ensure the preservation of the recordings.  If anyone else has a project whose methodology lies outside of the general methods we’ve discussed in class, I would love to hear a bit about how you tackled your methodology section. 

Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated J