On a large scale, my primary research interest is environmental sustainability. Initially, my proposed research topic focused on plastic pollution and the economic and political implications that would result if the world made a dramatic shift to an environmentally friendly alternative. The main factors that would be affected is the job market and oil industry (considering oil is a major component in plastic production).
When choosing this topic I originally began by thinking that I needed to find an aspect of environmental concerns that I was passionate about (pollution) and make it appeal to those who do not prioritize the environmental, but rather, economic and political implications of this industry. I may consider why environmental concerns are less valuable than economic and political issues, however, after class today I realized that I am not sure if this is a puzzle that has a strong foundation for continued research.
I believe I need to take a step back and find other puzzles of environmental concern. Prince Ea´s video ¨Dear Future Generations: Sorry¨ sparks my inner passion for environmental issues, but there are MANY to consider. This topic is extremely significant because if immediate actions are not taken on a global scale, there will be little value in worrying about other national and international problems because there will be no safe and healthy environment for people to live. Today´s class discussion is motivating me to re-think my research and find the ¨puzzles.¨
¨Dear Future Generations: Sorry” (YouTube, 2015), accessed September 1, 2017, web, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M
You’re off to a good start here Zainab, and I like the inclusion of a video here to help highlight some of the things that you are thinking about as you work on identifying a research puzzle. You are correct that there is quite a lot going on in your broad topic area, and many questions or directions that you could go within this topic area. As you think about puzzles, I would recommend meeting with your mentor, reading some scholarship to figure out where the debates among scholars in this topic area are (there are sure to be many), and then thinking about what you want to *explain* with your research. A good puzzle is built upon solid empirical observation, so that you can point to something concrete — a trend, an outcome, a state of affairs, an event, etc. — that simply demands explanation (and with that explanation, you can then start to address implications, interventions, etc.). What is that for you?
With some more digging — and this is an ongoing process — we’re going to work towards some “why…?” or “what explains…?” type questions that get us towards the idea of *understanding* as discussed by Booth et al. (p. 23). Keep up the reading and research — I’m very interested to see how the project develops in the next few weeks!
I think that looking at climate change from an economic perspective is incredibely needed and interesting research! There are so many places to take the research and I’m sure you’ll find one that includes all the aspects you mentioned in your post. A puzzle that maybe feeds into what you are thinking about would be why do people not care about climate change or what explains the global community’s inability to have productive discussions about climate change. I’m really excited for your project!