I met with my mentor for a final meeting on Wednesday for roughly an hour. We wrapped up a few things regarding my research design and things to consider for SISU 306. Mainly we went over my research design and research question. Moreover we also discussed what my next steps would be regarding my literature review and acquiring primary source documents.
I will be doing an interpretivist discourse analysis and revising essentially what I wrote for my third research design sketch. My biggest concerns going into my meeting was refining my question and getting feedback on how to organize my literature review. I think I got some valuable feedback on my literature review process. My mentor mentioned that I can use the literature review to provide some methodological background to my paper. Questions like mine have been most famously answered using ethnography or case study, not discourse analysis. So, I think that I will be using my literature review to provide context for my choice in discourse analysis. I also will be using my literature review to feature work that has provided theoretical frameworks for understanding why governments and international development organizations respond to global issues the way they do.
Lastly we went over some next steps. I mentioned that I was struggling to find two primary source documents that were in direct response to some of the legislation I cited in my research design. My mentor reminded me not to forget about reaching out to the library for help. So one major next step would be to book consistent appointments with the library. That is because accumulating primary source documents is essentially the first step to discourse analysis. So, I do not want there to be gaps in my analysis, simply because I could not find documents using the library databases. I may or may not need access to archives so, that is a conversation I would need to have with Clement Ho and Professor Esser. Another step I identified is scheduling time during the semester to have check ins about discourse analysis specifically. My mentor mentioned that he is not as much of an expert in discourse analysis as other professors may be and that it might make sense to stay in touch with Professor Boesenecker.
Another step that I decided might be best for me to do is review my notes on interpretivism and do the supplementary course readings on discourse analysis listed in the syllabus. I know that the knowledge I am after can only be acquired through an interpretivist methodology. However, I know that the terms of the methodology are very new. Also, I think my research will be more sound with a deeper and richer understanding of the topic.
Overall it sounds like you had a good conversation with your mentor and that you’ve received some good advice. Be sure to keep all of the resources available to you (including our research librarians) in mind as you continue your research process!