Researching Research

Hi all! The day is 2-9-18 and it is thankfully a Friday. My day has had a less than perfect start with a daunting quiz followed by the Starbucks library baristas botching up my over priced drink.

Despite these minor first world disappointments, I sat down and began writing my paper that is due this fast approaching Monday for our class. I have been accumulating sources for a week now but I haven’t started constructing my paper until today. In less than two hours I have managed to write three full pages. However, I feel uneasy about my understanding of the topic. I don’t believe my paper truly shows that I’ve learned anything about research or critical thinking. My paragraphs are unorganized and I am stressed about the “two sources per page” rule. I didn’t realize that simple rule would be so hard to follow. But as I read and analyzed some of my sources I realized that some were more beneficial to my paper than others; therefore, I wanted to discuss those sources more than my weaker picks. Personally, I don’t see the issue with maybe focusing thoroughly on a lengthier source for an entire page and then squeezing in the ideas accumulated through three different sources on the following page. I just have more to say about one source than I do some of the others. In short, the ratios of sources to pages is not something that I am used to following.

I also suffered from writer’s block when it came to starting this paper. I have plenty of things I’d like to mention about my sources, but I’m finding it difficult to sort and place these thoughts in an organized manner that matches a thesis statement that (thanks to the writer’s block) was thrown together just to put something on the page. I am not very proud of the work I’ve done thus far, but I’m hoping that perhaps writing this post now will help warm me up to fixing my paper and getting my brain out of its fog.

In researching research using the library databases I found a super interesting article that discusses differences between conventional research methods and philosophical research methods. I didn’t even realize there was more than one method to conducting research! I found another source regarding critical thinking and social media usage. I thought the author’s ideas are solid in that he encourages internet/social media use for students so they can understand bias and practice thinking critically about every posting that they see on their social media accounts. Technology advancements are coming, they won’t be stopped, so we must embrace them one way or another.

My father celebrated his 60th birthday this past Monday. My mom and I bought him the newest Kindle Fire on the market. He loves to read and he had mentioned that ebooks are a lot cheaper than real books and then having those books shipped to our home. When he unwrapped the present he was less than thrilled, he didn’t even smile. I was disheartened to say the least. Two days later my dad started me asking questions about the Kindle “So I can do wifi on there?” and “Can I look at my stock charts on there?”. After I answered his questions and showed him how to access specific things on his device he started to appreciate it. When I told him he could log into the wifi at the Elks and access his stock charts on his Kindle from there he was ecstatic, “You mean I don’t have to print out the charts and take them down there anymore? Wow, this will save me thousands of dollars worth of  ink!” He was being sarcastic as usual, but I couldn’t help but notice that he took his Kindle on the way out the door.

The moral of this digressive story is, people dislike/fear what they don’t know. My dad doesn’t like to concern himself with technology, but he understands its benefits. He couldn’t trade stocks with a pencil and paper, so he had to get his first computer. He couldn’t share his stock charts with his friends until he bought his first printer. He couldn’t buy any of the specific books that he wanted without developing an understanding of Amazon’s interface. At first my dad feared the Kindle, but now I find him falling asleep with it just like he does with his books (trust me this is a sign of his affection).

In this class we have discussed technology, research, social media, and a great number of other relevant things. I hope to continue to learn more about the benefits of multiple media so that I can  better learn to defend the unavoidable rise of technology and to share with others that they shouldn’t be afraid of these changes.

-Anna J.