Friday, October 15, 2010

From Waterskiing to Research

I begin today’s post by telling a story. When I was a teenager I learned to waterski. Now, I caution you against thinking this led to a level of proficiency of a professional waterskier. It was more along the lines of Twiggy, the waterskiing squirrel!

I did eventually get up (on two skis) and manage to enjoy it. However, the process from going from bobbing up and down in the water, life-vest hunched up over my ears, clinging for dear life to the rope handle, to feeling the exhilaration of the wind and the spray on my face was arduous at best! The worst part was all the “help” coming from well-meaning teachers in the boat--”keep your skis together...lean back...don’t lean back too far...don’t stand up too early...sit back on your skis, point your toes” and one of my personal favorites, “let the rope do the work”...yeah, right! It was all “good” advice! But when clinging to a rope attached to a boat that soon will propel me forward at speeds of up to 20 to 30 mph, executing such instructions was a challenge, to say the least.
I might have waterskied about three or four times after that. Each time it got a bit easier and I didn’t have to think about the “exactness” of each and every muscle and movement of my body in relation to the skis, rope, and boat. Well, here I am again, bobbing up and down, life-vest hunched up over my ears, clinging to the handle. Only this time I’m treading the lake of research. They’re all there...those “teachers” yelling from the boat. My teachers, some literal, some through books (I’m currently reading 4 books on research), all want me to succeed. They have lots of advice that I am thankful for. However, I can’t help but feel a little frustrated as I am bombarded with instructions of how to do this thing...research. Here are just a few instructions I’m hearing:
Know that uncertainty and anxiety are natural and inevitable... (Booth et al., 1995)
Get control over your topic...
Break the task into manageable steps...
Recognize the struggle for what it is...
Plan your search...
Take full notes...
Know when to quote, paraphrase, summarize...
Get the context right...
Just to name a few!
At this point, the only part of performing research that I am somewhat comfortable doing is the literature review. Even that I’m worried about in finding the time to conduct it with all the other reading and work I need to get completed. All other portions...identifying, or rather articulating the research problem...creating a purpose statement...laying down the research questions...finding research participants...approaching the participants...creating and using an interview guide...conducting an interview...conducting a thorough observation...writing a “thick” description of the interviews and/or observations...positioning myself as the researcher...identifying my subjectivities...writing about my subjectivities in an academic manner...analyzing data...reporting data...these are all areas that I’m petrified of!
In reading “The Craft of Research” I literally burst in laughter at the following “Quick Tip”:
“As you get deeper into your project, you may experience a moment when everything seems to run together into a hopeless muddle...The bad news is that you can’t avoid all such moments; the good news is that eventually they pass” (p. 101).
I’m waiting for this one to pass....
Reference
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., Williams, J.M. (1995) The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

1 comment:

  1. This, too, shall pass... I am feeling a little muddled these days as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It's nice to not be alone on this journey.

    ReplyDelete