Category: Mentor
Research Portfolio Post #9: End of Term Mentor Meeting
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.
Research Portfolio Post #2: Mentor Meeting
This past Wednesday, I met with my mentor for about an hour to discuss my research interests. My mentor, Dr. Hardig, is also a research methodology professor. So, we spent the meeting discussing the different ways he guides his students on finding their research puzzles. While I am still struggling to decide on a particular topic, I have a more clear idea.
After my mentor read my first research progress post, he said that I might be more interested in interpretivist methodologies. My mentor said to still keep an open mind but from what he could discern from my first blog post, my research interests lean towards interpretivism. We discussed how there may be some merit in first deciding what types of knowledge (neo-positivist vs interpretivist) interests me more before settling on a topic. Trying to think of my research interests in this way helped a lot and I was able to cross off some ideas.
Another tip he offered to help me decide on a research project is to consider what is feasible and what is not. When I think of my original research question, I know one major obstacle could be the language of the primary source documents. I also realized how some of the interpretivist questions I want to ask could be better answered with ethnography. As a result of time and limited resources, an ethnography could be difficult.
The way Dr. Hardig explained discourses to me made me realize I am more interested in finding out how people come to understand ideas. From his explanation, I understand discourse analysis to be about finding how people come to understand social reality and how that understanding is influenced or changed overtime. I know a discourse analysis may be more accessible to me but the language barrier could still be an obstacle.
I think our meeting was very productive and I did leave with a few next steps. Dr. Hardig suggested I pay close attention to the articles concerning interpretivist methodology included in the class syllabus. He also proposed that I write down the questions I have for each topic to help decide which puzzle to research. I also decided a good next step would be to do some more preliminary research on feminisms in the middle east to identify which branches of feminist thought I will focus on. Hardig mentioned that there are two main groups of feminists: secular and Islamist.
I am still not sure if I should stick to the topic I originally proposed. I know regardless of topic I am interested in looking at discourses. My major concern is identifying what exactly will I study. I understand that is a major part of the process of research but it can be hard to embrace this level of uncertainty.