I Always Have The Best of Intentions...

...but, let's be honest: I'm a terrible blogger. All my life, I've been a mediocre journalist, and now, in the advent of online journaling known as blogging, I've carried forth my inability to write on a consistent basis. I know I should have stated this in the first blog, but allow me to state my disclaimer that regular posts are unlikely, so do not expect anything of the sort. I've been sick for the majority of January, which hasn't helped my cause. On that note, let's try to catch up a bit.

So what have I been up to, aside from battling the Goliath of all head colds? Very little, to be honest. I was hoping to do more reading for my thesis methodology this month, but I've spent most of my thesis-related time trying to work my way through a mountain of StatsCan data for my practicum (and ultimately, my thesis literature review). I was lucky to have made connections at NSCC during my last meeting with my mentor, and was able to schedule a meeting with NSCC's Business and Planning Consultant who has extensive experience and knowledge about navigating the StatsCan site. She provided me with an hour and a half of her time, walking me through the site and offering tips on where to find relevant data for my project, not to mention a plethora of materials and documents to peruse. Since that's given me a bit of a head start, I'm hoping to use my days off next week to focus a bit more on the qualitative side of things.

In my recent SSHRC proposal, I noted that I intended to use a phenomenological approach for my research, citing that it would allow me to ascertain an in-depth understanding of the current situation in Port Hawkesbury from the perspective of local community and business leaders. Luckily, the application was short and I did not have to go into great detail about my justifications for the methodology...but perhaps that's something I should do? Probably, yes. My partner recently completed her Masters thesis which utilized a phenomenological approach, so I've had some exposure to the concept and a basic understanding of the methodology. I'm hoping to read  her copy of Moustakas' text entitled Phenomenological Research Methods to aid in my understanding of the approach to ensure it is the right fit for my research questions.

It's my goal to have my methodology complete by the end of the semester (and I use the term complete quite loosely, as I know it's bound to change or, at the very least, may need to be tweaked as my research progresses); this will make defending my proposal in the spring much more feasible. My current timeline involves defending the proposal before the summer, collecting data over the summer, a month-long vacation in September to visit New Zealand/Australia/Fiji/Tazmania, then analysis and writing throughout the fall. I'm really hoping to defend by this time next year, but I'm alright if it takes a bit longer to complete - as long as I graduate in 2013, I'll be happy.

So that's where I'm at. Hopefully my immune system has resumed it's normal functioning and will stay intact until the semester is over...wishful thinking, I know. Stay tuned for more updates, which will hopefully happen sooner rather than later.