Week 12 Blogging Question: The Long And Winding Road

To be honest, my research question hasn't quite "evolved" since my first SSHRC Outline Assignment (oops). What the rest of the course material and blog posts did provide however, were various opportunities for me to prepare for the five sections of my Final Research Proposal. It really helped in this final stretch when I had to hammer everything down and make sure I met all the requirements, that some of my blog posts and comments had all the answers I needed and something of a roadmap for the rest of paper.

I also found myself enjoying the idea of using the participant observation approach  - really embedding yourself into a culture in order to find the answers you're looking for. It feels like such an honest research method which really gets to the heart of things. You're not simply a passive observer or reading various papers to figure out what's going on, you're actually in the "line of fire" so to speak (especially in relation to my research topic). I am grateful that this course has given me the opportunity to explore this method further.

Unfortunately, I decided to stop wrestling with my research question a while back, in an effort to get a jump start on the final assignment. But my blogmates should know, that our blog was truly treasure trove of useful information and ideas that really helped pave the way to the finish line. Thanks guys! 

Week 12

My research question has remained more or less the same since the beginning of the course, but it's final incarnation was: "I am interested in exploring the ways that girls and young women are now publishing, sharing, and remixing content on the Internet, and using these outlets as a means of creative self-expression and sociopolitical engagement comparable to feminist zinemaking
practices from the early 1990s to the present."

I have found myself becoming more and more interested in arts informed research and visual methodologies. Because I am hoping to study zine-making by young women and its relation to content creation on the internet, my methodology is largely textual based. However, in a larger scope I think it would be really interesting to study the imagery from both of these mediums, the use of collage principles. I'm still unsure of the best way to do this, especially since I feel like I would be better qualified to this with a Fine Arts background, but mine is in English Literature. 

At the present, however, I am also fairly interested in finding more about this study: http://the-toast.net/2016/03/28/grant-proposal-i-would-like-to-study-the-effects-of-extreme-chill-on-my-body/

Week 12

My research question(s) have not changed since my SSHRC proposal.  Because of my background in social work, I am hardwired to recognize inequalities and work towards social justice.  I felt that if I were to move forward with this research proposal in real life, it would have to sit comfortably with the same values and practices I hold as a (former) social worker.

What became more obvious as I worked through this proposal are the many similarities between librarianship and social work.  This realization led me to grounding my research within the social work paradigm of Anti-Oppressive theory even though I could not find any literature applying this framework to librarianship.  This led me to proposing the fairly unorthodox method of participatory research as a layer to the qualitative survey and questionnaire design of my SSHRC proposal.
While participatory research is uncommon (possibly non-existent) in information science, my literature review as well as the principles of Anti-Oppressive social work research both pointed to the need for ground up involvement of people living with autism and other disabilities.

Although I have no intention of moving forward with research in my professional career, the importance of research is not lost on me.  Research shapes our lives in seemingly invisible ways and I'm confident that my classmates who move forward with research professionally will find new ways to expand our knowledge and improve the world around us.

Cheers INF1240!  It's been a slice :)

Week 12: The Long and Winding Road (Althea)

My research question has mostly stayed the same from when I did the outline. It's only been modified to include a focus on the kinds of information sources that my research will be studying. I feel like the idea of narrowing and focusing my scope but also bringing in more details was what I found most difficult during the process. I realized that more research directions/questions sprung up as I dug deeper and I had to keep telling myself to keep to the research topic and not deviate from the original.

I also realized writing out my research methodology really helped me think through my research methodology and identify little details that I would not have otherwise. For example, it would be quite difficult to narrow my scope to focus only on individual travelers because they would not be alone if I were around to participate.

Week 12

I've broadened my research question in order to better understand the library as a whole before I try and move in to look at any single sub group. I've also learned more about different methods of mapping, including the idea of mental mapping (asking participants to draw an area, or their pathway through an area, by memory). I’ve also thought more about the ethics process, and I’ve realized that I find research ethics very interesting (as sad as that may seem). I’m also more interested in the research that is happening at the library I work at, and I’m thinking about getting involved.

Week 12

I find that my research question has become a lot more focussed. I am interested in what barrier (invisible or otherwise) exist to keep vulnerable populations, particularly "Newcomers" to Canada, from using the sources available to them. The more I read up on it, the deeper the understanding was. For instance, TPL does not do much in the way of public advertising. If resources are not advertised, then how will they be known? TPL relies on word-of-mouth, so it's not what you know, but rather whom.

Can any of you think of any barriers that keep those who need social programs the most from getting the assistance readily available to them?

Week 12

Generally, I have a hard time narrowing my focus. I appreciate knowing the big picture, the grand scheme of things, the overarching goal. However, sometimes it gets difficult to focus on the smaller individual tasks that are needed to achieve the larger goal. I would argue that as a society, we all share in this problem. At the intersection of social media and social justice, you'll often find folks pointing out large systemic issues (racism, ableism, sexism). Yet I find it much less common to see posts about the smaller tasks that need to be taken to try and combat these issues.

My tendency to make my focus too broad is one that was apparent in my original research question. I want to know about information seeking behaviour in university students - I want to know why they look for answers in certain places, why websites are hard to use, and I want to know how to fix it. What I've realized over the course of this semester is that I can't answer all of these questions with one study. As a result, my research question has become increasingly narrow. I've chosen less methods to use, I've specified a location for the study to be conducted (at a specific university campus), and I've limited what data I'm hoping to collect from the study. For this preliminary study, I'm focusing on figuring out why students under-utilize official university websites when they're looking for academic information. And even though this scope feels too small, I know that it has to be done this way - one step at a time.