Since my last post lots has been happening.
I graduated in May!
I am now absolutely officially Dr. Nicole!
My mum came to visit, we spent some time up at the in-law’s farm, and we had fun sightseeing in the Coromandel.
Then, she went home, and I went back to work for a busy week before heading to Samoa to spend 4 weeks doing research on information behaviour.
It was so beautiful and I had such an amazing time.
I really enjoyed meeting some of the Peace Corps Samoa volunteers. It brought me right back to my days in Benin, despite that being about 10 years ago!
Since returning it’s been full on with teaching and research. Trimester 2 has just started and I am teaching User Education & Reference Skills, a course I really enjoy. I managed to finish off an article and have submitted it to Information Research for publication. Fingers crossed it turns into a A ranked output!! I am also finishing up work on another article I hope to get submitted by the end of August. Then, I can really dive into analysis of my Samoan data.
However, whilst writing up the current paper that looks at my research methodology I have managed to get side tracked thinking about a lot of subjective factors that can really influence the successful outcomes of research projects. In particular I have been considering the role of a researcher’s personality and “emotional intelligence” in interviewing, as well as research ethics and working with different cultures. It’s really quite fascinating but could also be an entire paper on its own, so how do I squeeze it into my methodology paper? Despite these challenges I think it’s important to consider the role these kinds of factors play. I can’t recommend a research methodology for others to use if the methodology doesn’t work if you don’t have the same personality as me, right?
So, some things I am considering while trying to stay focussed.
And tonight I am looking forward to seeing Florian Habicht’s documentary about Pulp as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival. I think they are even going to Skype in Jarvis Cocker after the film!
SO exciting!!!
Oh and I can I recommend What We Do In The Shadows for those of you able to get hold of a copy?
quaking blog 