Thesis Progress

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! With the amazing crowdsourced title for my project and the final project proposal turned in, things really feel like they are coming together at this point. My next big step is writing the protocol for my research, and submitting it with my IRB form. I just booked my flight to Berlin so there's no turning back now! I am both super excited and super nervous for this adventure, but I am extremely grateful to Dr. Decker and my classmates for all of their support and advice through all of the preparation. 

Thesis: Week 10

 After finishing the lit review, I'm not sure if I feel better or worse. I feel good knowing that I'm actually bringing my research together and am able to write something about it, but I also feel like there is so much I still don't know. There are aspects of my own topic and of information I have that I do not fully understand myself. I feel like I need to read more books or more sources if I'm going to accurately convey certain topics within my thesis, such as the history of Pakistan and the Mughal Empire. I know where I am going from here though and what my next steps are, which will involve interviewing Atia Newman, a primary source. I know this will probably make the biggest difference in my thesis as I'll get an abundance of information from her, but it's also daunting at the same time. I've never interviewed someone as a primary source before, and coming up with the right questions to ask is stressful and nerve-wracking. 

Week 10 update

 Today, the draft of our literature review was due. Writing the literature review was pretty challenging and it felt like a lot of work. What I found challenging was developing the correct tone and I still am not sure if I accomplished that. I also found it challenging to find sources on posters as communication but I think I framed it in a way that works better by focusing specifically on rock posters and how they were communicated instead of posters in general. I feel good now that the bulk of it is done and I can now make final edits and additions to it. I am nervous about the final thesis proposal approaching but also excited to share my work. 

Thesis Progress

 Oh boy! The semester seems to be flying by. Final thesis proposals are creeping ever closer and closer. I feel both good and bad about where my thesis is right now. I feel very supported and like a lot of work is getting done towards the final project, which is good. I also feel like I'm working in an order and method that I'm not very good at working in and haven't ever really done before. I understand that that is due mostly to the large nature of this project, but it is still throwing me a bit. 
In general, I'm learning a lot, both about my topic and about myself as a writer. I am excited to keep moving forward and learn even more!

Thesis progress and stuff

 Hello everyone!

The short summary of my thesis project is that I am visualizing quantitative data collected from the green infrastructure showcase at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, using digital visualization software such as tableau. We're collecting a lot of different data, so recently I've been trying to narrow down what specifically I will be working this. To do this, I had to set up criteria for what I wanted people to learn about green infrastructure, so I've spent a lot of time outlining that and thinking on paper. 

I'm thinking that I can answer a lot of these questions using the new ecosystem services data that we are about to begin collecting in correlation with weather data from the meteorological station. These topics highlight the importance of green infrastructure, and are relevant to the daily lives of your average Rochester citizen. Furthermore, I think they'll be fun to visualize. I've also visited the museum earlier this week to help me think about how these visualizations might be implemented digitally or physically. Soon I would like to start conducting visitor studies, I think that will help me understand what I need to do a lot better. I'm also making a mental note to take more pictures of the things that I'm doing so I can include something fun in these blogs. 

Week 8 Update

Things really feel like they're starting to come together, I am feeling pretty confident about the sources I've found thus far and I'm excited to use them to develop my methods of data collection. The work for creating the letter of inquiry made it feel like everything was finally being tied together and this project is starting to have a focused plan and goal. I think that the most difficult step going forward is going to be contacting the zoos that I will be visiting, just because of the distance and language barriers that may come up, but I am also excited to try to develop a relationship with them and I am hoping they will be excited about the research I am doing! 

Thesis week 8

 Now that we are in week 8, things are starting to come together. I feel that every week we have added a new piece to the puzzle. We've selected our first readers which makes me more excited to start diving deeper into researching. There is still a lot of work to do and I am feeling slightly overwhelmed but I will hopefully use this week to get my thoughts organized. I am excited to select the posters that I want to include in my project soon. 

Thesis Progress

 Now that we are heading into Week 8 of the school year, things are really starting to get underway with our thesis papers and projects. Although I have definitely made progress since I started, I feel like things are still moving slowly for me, as I still am having a hard time seeing how my thoughts and ideas are going to come together with the sources and research I have so that I can have a well-organized and successful paper at the end of this.