As I conduct research for my thesis, I'm struck by how rather than focusing on one specific topic, my project seems to be overlapping several broad topics. This has caused me to break down my sources into four main categories: touch, facsimile, 3D printing/process, and visitor engagement. All of these topics are crucial to completing my project to the extent that I wish to, and each are giving me important insight into my project. 3D printing/process are helping me to understand what exactly it is I need to do in order to scan and print a successful 3D model of an object, while touch is making me consider why people might want to touch a museum object, and whether a facsimile seems to fulfill those needs. Facsimile is giving me historic insight into the role of object reproductions in museums and the reception they tend to receive, and visitor engagement is making me think about how I can best study if facsimiles fulfill the desire of a visitor to touch the objects. All of this knowledge is important for me to complete my thesis, but the different topics have made it a bit difficult to gather and sort through my sources.
For my thesis, I still need to know a little bit more about how I can best conduct a visitor engagement study. I keep on weighing different methods of collecting visitor feedback, as well as how I can quantitatively measure the impact my object has on their desire to touch. However, I'm not sure if this decision can be made through just research alone, or if I need to talk with other people about their thoughts as well.
 |
| I've found it helpful to physically group my sources into their categories. It helps me keep track of how many sources I have for each, and what the different literature on a specific topic is. |
I like how you've grouped your research: it'll be helpful not only as you read but also as you organize your literature review. I think once you know where your survey will take place (e.g. knowing the layout, the audience type), that might help you determine what kind of visitor engagement study to conduct.
ReplyDeleteI have to echo Kate and say how much I like physically separating your articles by topic. At the moment, I have just put word or small phrases on the front page of mine to summarize the papers but I think I will also adopt your method!
ReplyDeleteI love the piles of papers and categories - I find myself working with paper and binder clips very often, moreso than my computer! For the "how" on the visitor studies, the survey and instrument should be designed to yield a cluster of information that you can interpret to get the kind of result you want. In other words, if you want to know HOW people are using an interactive, a time-based study may not work. If you want to know WHAT people think about an interactive/tactile, then a focus group might be a good source. Let's discuss how to develop your survey after you give some further thought to the kinds of data you will need:)
ReplyDelete