Throughout the semester, I have been in contact with my faculty mentor, Professor Esser. The last time we met face to face was for around an hour on October 24. During this meeting we actually covered much of the information that seemed pertinent when thinking about how I should continue my research over winter break an into the spring semester.

Professor Esser has been integral into the formation of my research topic as he helped me focus in on a specific topic that I could measure (variation within metro system operation hours), instead of trying to quantify which metro systems were the best and most looked after–which now that I look back at it, is fairly subjective and really, really, REALLY, hard to determine. We’ve had a great relationship as he has helped me find discipline within my project; furthering me to new heights.

Speaking of those new heights, Professor Esser pointed me towards presenting at an academic conference in New Orleans this upcoming April, and really helped me consider what would need to be done to get to the point where my research is, in fact, presentable. We talked about how my central puzzle really revolved around why some systems are open longer, even though they seemingly do not need that many operational hours, or why some systems close earlier when they might need to be open later. In this case, Professor Esser advocated that I look at using a mixed–methods approach, first by conducting a statistical analysis to find if there is a correlation, and beyond that, if there would be any outliers in the correlation. That is not all however, as if the main reason for conducting the statistical analysis would be to find four cases of metro systems that exhibit Mill’s Methods of Difference, and then conduct interviews to find if there are any significant cause/effect relationships that may determine whether or not a metro system is likely to be open for more or less hours on a given day.

As I continue this research, I have definitely thought about my need to get IRB approval for my interviews later in the research process, but other than that I do not see much more advanced planning besides charting out dates for when I need to have various things done. Over winter break, I expect to continue conducting my research, hopefully completing my statistical analysis so that when I come back in January I can hit the ground running with getting my approval to interview.

As I look ahead to the spring, I do not really have much to worry about or much that I’m unsure of. I’m fairly locked in with my research process, because I really do want to try and present my research at the academic conference in April, and I’m willing to do what it takes to get there. Really my only concern is making sure that I get all of the timing correct, but even with that concern, I am fairly confident that everything will turn out just fine.