Over this past week we've been working through the epistemology quiz, using it to locate ourselves in relation to major thinkers in social research. Our "epistemological spirit animals" (as Karl described them in his post -- the perfect metaphor!) may or may not have been a surprise to us, or been as unusual as Homer Simpson's memorable spirit guide: a "space coyote" voiced by Johnny Cash.
And it's also been good to see many students thinking critically and questioning the quiz itself. (Though I'll admit that if an animated coyote gave me some advice in Johnny Cash's voice, I'd probably just follow it and hope for the best...) Even so, whether your quiz outcome was a surprise or not, I hope it helped to get us thinking not just about where we might locate our research, but also, and more fundamentally, about how we think. (And how we think we think, which might not be the same thing -- not to get too Rumsfeldian about it.)
This week, with the more practical work of research proposals and literature reviews in mind, let's take on Luker's "bedraggled daisy" exercise as she describes it at the end ofchapter 4 chapter 5, and in more detail beginning on p. 81. No doubt everyone thought
about what their daisy might look like when they reached that point in
the Luker reading, but it's another thing entirely to sit down, work it
through, and draw one (or revise one, for those of you who've already been doing the exercises at the ends of Luker's chapters). This is partly an exercise in using another
medium -- drawing -- to think thoughts that might not come as easily in a
purely textual medium, and partly an exercise in the value of
visualization: the point is not just to make a daisy, but also to step
back and consider what you've done. As with writing things down and
explaining your ideas to others, there are often new things you'll
realize once you externalize and formalize your thoughts.
Part of the exercise, too, is acknowledging the provisionality of what you've just made, so give some thought to Luker's suggestion that you should number your daisy and think of it as an iteration in a series.
Also, in the spirit of Luker's visual exercise, please post an image! You can use whatever medium you like: Adobe Illustrator; a sketch on a napkin snapped with a camera phone; coloured chalk on a sidewalk (no spray paint, please); a pencil sketch complete with crossouts and revisions -- whatever works best for your thought process. Some people's daisies may look more like sunflowers; others' may look more like trilliums (appropriately enough for Ontario). The point is the thought process that this exercise provokes, and the reflections and discussion that arise from it. However, I'd keep it simple for this first exercise -- best to avoid maple leaves or fractal geometries that have subcategories (at least for now).
For what it's worth, I'll be doing the same exercise as I prepare my own paper for a colloquium presentation in a couple of weeks that will span Renaissance studies, book history, and digital visualization. Those are the big areas I can identify, but I need to think about whether the audience will have other ways into the topic -- that is, whether this intersection of topics implies other roads leading to and from it that I haven't yet considered. Those metaphorical roads or daisy leaves translate into actual, identifiable fields with their own scholarly literatures and current projects, which I'll need to take into account. Having done this kind of exercise on a regular basis, I can attest that it's pretty much guaranteed to help not only your literature-reviewing, but also your articulation of that review when it comes time to write it out.
And it's also been good to see many students thinking critically and questioning the quiz itself. (Though I'll admit that if an animated coyote gave me some advice in Johnny Cash's voice, I'd probably just follow it and hope for the best...) Even so, whether your quiz outcome was a surprise or not, I hope it helped to get us thinking not just about where we might locate our research, but also, and more fundamentally, about how we think. (And how we think we think, which might not be the same thing -- not to get too Rumsfeldian about it.)
This week, with the more practical work of research proposals and literature reviews in mind, let's take on Luker's "bedraggled daisy" exercise as she describes it at the end of
Part of the exercise, too, is acknowledging the provisionality of what you've just made, so give some thought to Luker's suggestion that you should number your daisy and think of it as an iteration in a series.
Also, in the spirit of Luker's visual exercise, please post an image! You can use whatever medium you like: Adobe Illustrator; a sketch on a napkin snapped with a camera phone; coloured chalk on a sidewalk (no spray paint, please); a pencil sketch complete with crossouts and revisions -- whatever works best for your thought process. Some people's daisies may look more like sunflowers; others' may look more like trilliums (appropriately enough for Ontario). The point is the thought process that this exercise provokes, and the reflections and discussion that arise from it. However, I'd keep it simple for this first exercise -- best to avoid maple leaves or fractal geometries that have subcategories (at least for now).
For what it's worth, I'll be doing the same exercise as I prepare my own paper for a colloquium presentation in a couple of weeks that will span Renaissance studies, book history, and digital visualization. Those are the big areas I can identify, but I need to think about whether the audience will have other ways into the topic -- that is, whether this intersection of topics implies other roads leading to and from it that I haven't yet considered. Those metaphorical roads or daisy leaves translate into actual, identifiable fields with their own scholarly literatures and current projects, which I'll need to take into account. Having done this kind of exercise on a regular basis, I can attest that it's pretty much guaranteed to help not only your literature-reviewing, but also your articulation of that review when it comes time to write it out.
