This spring break can go down in history as one of the most burdensome ones. I was multi-tasking on so many different fronts. It then climaxed with a visit to the hospital to obtain not so good news.
I foolishly assumed that research was some how limited to those geeks in the lab coats. And I just some how benefited from their heavy lifting in my searches for the best car. Be it in the form of JD Power and associates or Consumer Reports. I never for once linked research to academia . Maybe only from a medical perspective or perhaps mental health. Now I am becoming one of those geeks with my research paper. More interestingly it is the way my question keeps changing until I finally get the right niche or point of origin from which to launch. As Badke states in chapter ten needing a “cross-sectional approach.”
I have tweaked “ERIC” and “EBSCO” sufficiently enough to get some of the more relevant information that I am seeking for my topic. However the challenge lies in arranging it in such a manner that it presents for me, the arguments I need for my thesis and the new knowledge I intend to arrive and conclude. So as I plod on diligently in a path that my lab coat counterparts have carved for me to follow. I exit on this note from Douglas North.”I would be remiss if I left the impression that my life has been totally preoccupied with scholarly research.” So peers don’t forget to live while researching…….
First, I wish you well and strength for your visit to the hospital. I agree that spring break was one of the most stressful and burdensome weeks throughout the whole semester. With too much to do in so little time, spring break didn’t feel like a break at all. I too once thought as you did towards research, though I was aware of what can be achieved. I never thought how much I’d use research for my classes and how crucial it is to find the perfect information. And I believe that the only way to find better information is by tweaking, such as you mentioned you do to improve your paper.
Thanks for your concern. With time I will be fine. On my way to yet another proceedure today. We are getting down to final approach and indeed things have and are becoming more hectic.
I came accross a website that is worth sharing with you all. It is a wealth of information and affords you the luxury of countless genuine scholarly articles with out the proverbial head banging of a “pay wall” good luck hope it is as benificial to you as it was to me.
Please forgive me. I am a little disoriented this morning, I forgot to mention the site that I suggested. It is called Diva and here is a direct link to the home page……http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/search.jsf .. Hope it is as helpful to you all.
Researching can be an engrossing activity and searching those databases is not an easy task. Although I don’t feel a bit geekish, I think along the lines more of bookish when it comes to research. Dusty tomes and ancient documents so yellowed with age as to become brittle and stale. There is a smell that old books well taken care of give off. Then again a moldy old book is by far worse. When dealing with the Lab coat crowd I think more along the lines of High domes men and women surrounded by beakers and microscopes, whereas our data mining for research is more a tech librarian style.
Also I hope the visit to the hospital and the news will not hinder you and that the situation will have a good outcome.