Changes: Embodying the Life of a Researcher

In the time since I last blogged, I felt that I have truly embodied a researcher. The instance was when I switched from researching Ghana to Australia, due to logistics. This change left me mildly disoriented because I was forced to abandon the work that I had become so invested in over the past few weeks.

This must be a common problem in the field of research. The cause of my change was simple: someone in my research group dropped the class, leaving the project up to two of us, was not doable. However, for professional who research as a part of their job, there are many logistical changes that can interfere with their work, forcing them to abandon their work at much more developed stages. This could include: ethics, immeasurability of data, the emergence of new research contradicting or affecting the research, and much more! Just like that, the field of research got much more frightening. However, I am very excited to begin researching the role sports in elite institutions with Everdeen as the case study. Sports have been a large part of my life, starting from when I began at an elite private school for high school, The Agnes Irwin School. The trend of sports culture in elite schools definitely did not skip Colby. It will be interesting to see the parallels between Everdeen, Agnes Irwin and Colby as research begins.

There has been a lot of adjusting since switching research groups. I had to do a brief reading of all of the Australia data, get caught up with all of the group members and navigate integrating while not stepping on anyone’s toes. The initial research question was analyzing the gender divide in elite institutions, specifically Everdeen. My group divided up the data evenly and began coding. Once we came back together after coding, we ran into a problem. The initial, brief reading of the data supported the 

initial research question. However, after an in-depth reading, this was not the case. There was not enough evidence in the interviews and other data to support what we wanted to research. We felt defeated and like we were back at square one. However, there was not much time to complain and sulk. We needed to adjust our research topic. This, also, meant we needed to change our codes and do another reading of the data. While it is frustrating, I can not imagine having research as part of my profession and finding out information that invalidates my initial claim, leaving me to either adjust my research and abandon it. I admire anyone that does research regularly. They are actively navigating the unknown, in the hopes of discovering new and meaningful information. This is brave.