I just had my pass meeting with my advisors. There are a couple small tweaks I need to do with my final thesis paper ie. adding a table of contents, yada yada, but for the most part I'm finished with my Division III. My professors asked me if I wanted to ring the bell, which is a tradition at my school. I declined, as the bell has been ringing relentlessly this week and personally, I find it pretty annoying.
Feels good to get this research or whatever I created out of the way. I decided to not take such a scientific angle with what I am working on, and keep it more as a general discussion, since this project relies heavily on social issues. If I were to try and aim my survey at one direct construct it would limit the ability for me to have a more thoughtful discussion behind policy. I can understand why someone would not want to listen to my recommendations (as they are based on general information I collected) but I personally think its better than some economic model that only restricts the conversation into its own parameters.
Probably the best takeaway for myself personally was all the thinking I did of how to organize my study, the flow of the topics etc. All the thinking of this has made me a much better non-fiction writer because I understand time better. It is impossible to sit down and write everything down in one sitting, especially when you haven't done any digging into other crates of information. I learnt how to collect info from other research and my own field research to synthesize a text that could serve as a model for how to conduct ethical social research. This is why I changed the name from "survey" to "report" since survey implies that there is an underlying construct that I am trying to uncover, which was not the case. Instead, I had to adapt my questions to what I was observing so that some kind of numbers could be generated, whether or not they would be used for any specific hypothesis. As my sample increases though, and I ask more questions, come up with better ways to track the natural environment, I will be able to formalize the survey process. I think currently financial data and economic have been mixed inside my head but over time I will untangle these for future study's.
This summer I will be returning to Madagascar with two other researchers, a friend and my brother (maybe) to keep work developing a processing cooperative. I think this blog will turn into more of personal voice of myself, IDK. It's always been challenging to balance active and passive voice in my writing because I really just want to speak from my own context, but then people won't take me as seriously, because I'm just some dumb kid right?
Well I say prove 'em wrong. For all my young readers out there who happened to stumble upon this... Don't be afraid to stick up for your own opinions and beliefs. People will always disagree or debate what you do, but really all that matters is that YOU DO IT. That's the what makes the difference, people discussing what you put out, what you create, all of that in effect can only help you, if of course you are strong enough to take the criticism while still retaining your own core momentum. I started my career without a strong sense of who I was but by this year, I really felt complete. I still care about what people think about what I do (of course) but I also know that these people have their own background and their own motivations, entirely different from my own.
What are my motivations you may ask? I think the best way to summarize my motivation for life is my want to reinvigorate a lifestyle less about the labeling of personal human achievement and more about continuing your ancestry. My family's ties to Madagascar give me a responsibility to the country, especially because of all the different species of animals living their. What kind of project can actually regrow the rainforest though? It's gotta be a creative one, an adaptable one, and a responsible one. It's a tall order but it's what I must do. So there you go, I went with a classic 'destiny' argument to justify my motivation. What's your motivation for what you do?
Feels good to get this research or whatever I created out of the way. I decided to not take such a scientific angle with what I am working on, and keep it more as a general discussion, since this project relies heavily on social issues. If I were to try and aim my survey at one direct construct it would limit the ability for me to have a more thoughtful discussion behind policy. I can understand why someone would not want to listen to my recommendations (as they are based on general information I collected) but I personally think its better than some economic model that only restricts the conversation into its own parameters.
Probably the best takeaway for myself personally was all the thinking I did of how to organize my study, the flow of the topics etc. All the thinking of this has made me a much better non-fiction writer because I understand time better. It is impossible to sit down and write everything down in one sitting, especially when you haven't done any digging into other crates of information. I learnt how to collect info from other research and my own field research to synthesize a text that could serve as a model for how to conduct ethical social research. This is why I changed the name from "survey" to "report" since survey implies that there is an underlying construct that I am trying to uncover, which was not the case. Instead, I had to adapt my questions to what I was observing so that some kind of numbers could be generated, whether or not they would be used for any specific hypothesis. As my sample increases though, and I ask more questions, come up with better ways to track the natural environment, I will be able to formalize the survey process. I think currently financial data and economic have been mixed inside my head but over time I will untangle these for future study's.
This summer I will be returning to Madagascar with two other researchers, a friend and my brother (maybe) to keep work developing a processing cooperative. I think this blog will turn into more of personal voice of myself, IDK. It's always been challenging to balance active and passive voice in my writing because I really just want to speak from my own context, but then people won't take me as seriously, because I'm just some dumb kid right?
Well I say prove 'em wrong. For all my young readers out there who happened to stumble upon this... Don't be afraid to stick up for your own opinions and beliefs. People will always disagree or debate what you do, but really all that matters is that YOU DO IT. That's the what makes the difference, people discussing what you put out, what you create, all of that in effect can only help you, if of course you are strong enough to take the criticism while still retaining your own core momentum. I started my career without a strong sense of who I was but by this year, I really felt complete. I still care about what people think about what I do (of course) but I also know that these people have their own background and their own motivations, entirely different from my own.
What are my motivations you may ask? I think the best way to summarize my motivation for life is my want to reinvigorate a lifestyle less about the labeling of personal human achievement and more about continuing your ancestry. My family's ties to Madagascar give me a responsibility to the country, especially because of all the different species of animals living their. What kind of project can actually regrow the rainforest though? It's gotta be a creative one, an adaptable one, and a responsible one. It's a tall order but it's what I must do. So there you go, I went with a classic 'destiny' argument to justify my motivation. What's your motivation for what you do?
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