I feel like I learned a lot from writing the Literature Reviews. And it was one of those processes that now that it is mostly finalized I feel like it wasn't that bad, but we all know it was a tough assignment. I am relieved that it is done though because I feel like it helped me focus my research a lot more. Making all the connections in the lit review, made the goal of my research a lot more clear.
My first draft of the literature review was rough, mostly because I focused on getting everything in it, but not enough on making it clear. I found the critiques and comments extremely helpful in order to improve. I focused a lot on making more connections between the claims and levels of my argument throughout my literature review, which made me really think about the direction my research is going. Now, I really can see how the steps of researching are so connected because I would have to add research and think about my methods and there is still a ways to go.
Overall I am excited about my project. I already have a majority of the sources I need for the methods assignment since I looked at different content analyses to understand the academic conversation. I think the analysis of these will be more straightforward for my project. I already have some critiques of each study but will have to go through them again specifically looking at the methods part.
The main thing I am worried about for this assignment is trying to figure out my plan especially since I have two layers going on in my project: authority and gender. So, my struggle will be defining these two and making the connection and analysis clear. I am thinking of doing two separate sections for these “variables,” but I also want to see how gender plays into authoritative roles. But, I have time (and more reading) to figure the specifics out.
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Hi Grace! I am happy to hear that you learned a lot from writing the lit review and are feeling good going forward. It is great that you already have sources to look at for your methods section as well! As far as your concern with connecting gender and authority, maybe in your content analysis you can see where these ideas appear in tandem. Are you trying to decipher whether or not males have more authority than females in modern Disney movies, which would indicate that Marxist portrayals of capitalist society are still present in Disney films? Maybe you can see where the ideas of authority and gender come up together in the films and then analyze those specific instances for trends. That being said, I think you will gain a better understanding of what you could potentially do to link those two ideas when you are analyzing the specific methods in your methods assignment. Good luck with the tasks ahead and know that you are doing great!! :)
ReplyDeleteGrace, it is amazing to see you at such a wonderful place now compared to where you were at a month ago. You have made tremulous strides and I am so excited to see where your research takes you. For your concerns about authority and gender, How do you plan to connect authority and gender? Are you going to look at the two separately and then connect them or keep them intertwined throughout? I think you need to figure out which way you are going to look at these subjects (such as disconnect and then connected or connected throughout) before you will be able to decide which route to take for your research. Again, great job and I wish you luck in your ventures.
ReplyDeleteI think that Audrey and Catherine each bring up important points: that it'll be likely that you'll need to treat authority and gender both separately and in conversation. As in, it's likely that you'll find interesting conclusions from looking at those two categories independently; however, it's also likely that they are NOT mutually exclusive and therefore inform each other.
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