I’m presently losing track of which week I’m up to with regards to thesis study, and it looks like I may have miscounted. According to my spreadsheet where I keep track of the hours I spend on the thesis, I started my intensive journey on the 13th of January, and that makes today the end of the 6th week of work on the thesis.
The last two weeks can be described as fairly bipolar. I feel like I’ve worked fairly hard at getting my primary source work out of the way, however am aware that I haven’t even got close to scratching the surface of the material, with regards to the amount that is available. I’m a research junkie, and have to occasionally punch myself in the face to get myself to actually write anything. Probably because research is fairly passive - you are simply re-recording ideas that have undergone the process of more active thought requiring them to be actually put on paper (or microfilm, or the web, or whatever medium appropriate). In the past, I’ve fallen victim to the trap of research up until the 11th hour, then sitting down to write which usually ends up resulting in one or two things, but usually both 1. I never get time to write a draft 2. The writing is rushed and in dire need of good editing. While occasionally undergraduates can get away with this, it is not the case in more prestigious academic pursuits. You have to be organised and most of all, willing to do the hard yards. For me, this means sitting at a microfilm machine for up to eight hours a day.
Last Tuesday (the 20th of February), I sat down to complete fairly detailed abstracts on the journal collections I’ve reviewed so far. This is around about four to five sets of journals with between five to fifteen relevant articles apiece. My “abstracts” basically had the idea of identifying the unifying moral themes and objectives of the journals and analysing the content as well as category of articles placed inside the journals. The context of the content is supremely important here.
I submitted it to my supervisor (all 6,000 words of it) thinking I might have committed overkill, but in the interest of trying to demonstrate that I had been doing a lot of word (hard work as well), I thought I might as well. In conclusion, she was fairly positive about the direction I was taking. Finally, I had demonstrated that the primary sources did contain a myriad of fascinating information.
However, I have the feeling that I’m taking to long to go through the mountain of articles that I have. I’ve spent the past week and a half on one journal and am only up to issue 3 of the first volume, and there is four to go. Must increase rate of being able to absorb information, as well as ability to determine what is relevant or not. I think these are the two greatest skills one must learn in dealing with primary source periodicals. I have noticed a marginally increased ability to scan articles and books to extract meaning without necessarily reading every single word. Its almost as if the words jump out at you.
I was also disappointed to come across a journal article published mid last year regarding an aspect of my thesis. It seems I’m not unique in my subject, and others are participating in uncovering American phrenological facts. However, a brief look through the paper in question reveals that they have not totally covered the area I’m attempting to add some scholarly credence too. This only spurs me on.
This week (week 7) will be a tough one. I have a small work contract to start, and some other festivities planned for the weekend. Thus, hitting 25 hours this week might be fairly hard. However, I must try my hardest. Wish me luck.
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