Mondo Elvis...

I've been meaning to write a bit about Mondo Elvis, the little feature we discussed in class. I'm always a little bit squeamish when I view docs or shows that focus on fans and fan behaviour, what with my past dabblings in the music industry (and my first-hand interaction with pretty creepy, often dangerous fans). Doing research for a project like that would be quite problematic, I would think, because the filmmaker would be going into the project with a very specific bias on fans. If it were me, with my negative views on fan behaviour, there is no way that the short could portray fans in a positive light. I haven't yet seen a work that portrays fans as anything other than gushing, overly-dedicated human novelties. Perhaps I'm a little too close to the subject material at hand to be objective about the usefulness of such a film as Mondo Elvis. it makes me question how one can effectively do research on such a subject, especially if it were me with the bias I have.

Research isn't so scary...

I'm really beginning to understand that researching at the Master's level, while challenging, is entirely doable and NOT as intimidating as I thought it might be. Once you learn where to look, how to structure a viable research question and develop a effective working process, it's rather easy. Maybe easy isn't the right word, but definitely something we CAN do. Learning how to ask questions or to seek help from the faculty is a must; often, we're scared of what we don't know, and when speaking to my classmates, it seems most are afraid of having to write at this level. Rather than worrying, it's best to ask for help or direction, and to read as many scholarly articles as possible in order to get a feel for what is expected of Master's students.

Library orientation and essay writing...

Tonight, I will *finally* finish typing out my written journal entries; essays, projects and applying for Ph.D funding has kept me off the computer! One thing I've learned from this journal project is that, even though I consider myself an online fiend, keeping a handwritten journal would have been the smart thing for me to do from the start; I find myself writing down thoughts either on the 45-minute ride home or during idle moments at work. And here I thought blogging would be easier for me. ;)

This morning, we had a VERY helpful library orientation - including a presentation on doing research, using RefWorks, etc - followed by an essay writing workshop. With every Research Methods session, it's being driven home: research isn't child's play! Plus, there are so many resources available to us...we can schedule appointments at the Writing Centre, as I learned today! There is no reason for any of us to feel lost or confused now (though a bunch of us still feel somewhat intimidated, haha).

Researching for a seminar...

I soon have a Seminar to give in my Topics in Cross-Cultural Communications class, and it's got me anxious. Once again, in doing research, I'm finding a real lack of literature on my proposed study. My topic concerns exchange students in our Radio and Television Arts program, and the challenges and difficulties they face while studying with us. Not only do communication problems come into play, there is the issue of technical knowledge - a lot of our equipment takes years on which to become proficient, and these students visit us for a maximum of 3 months - and the clique-ish nature of RTA. Anyhow, literature abounds where foreign exchange programs are concerned, but nothing related to foreign exchange programs in hands-on, practical degrees. Have I truly stumbled upon a void that needs to be filled? The thought of contributing original research to my field is so exciting. I hope I'm looking in all the right places, since I really am finding nothing in the way of secondary sources. Therefore, primary research will be a must in preparing for this seminar, so I'd better apply to the Ethics Review Board!

Time to catch up...

...by typing in the hand-written journal entries I kept when genius struck! I'll reiterate: I'm so glad Marusya suggested that we have a journal on hand, for just that reason! Older entries will be posted according to the date on which they were originally written, assuming Blogger will allow me to do that. (Update - Seems that is indeed possible. Nice.)

Researching my MA thesis in scholarly journals...

Wow, and now I've confirmed that there is a distinct lack of material relating to production education. And by distinct lack of material, I mean none at all. Dana had me look in a number of journals for material and, while I found several interesting articles on processes in journalism education at the post secondary level, there was not one focused on the challenges related to hands-on, television or audio production. Has no one seriously ever considered studying this area before? I'm a little shocked. I'm not sure if the void in literature is caused by the fact that people would rather work in television than study it. I've had the chance to observe a wealth of interesting behaviour on undergraduate student productions, and it goes without saying that the inner workings of a TV degree ar different than those in an English or Geography degree. The group dynamic is fascinating and worthy of study, but am I the only person who thinks so? And if so, what does that mean for my research and how it'll be received? Lots to think on as I proceed...

My first meeting with Dana...

Dana and I met Monday afternoon, and he was really enthusiastic about my proposal! He asked all of his charges to write out a (rough) two page proposal, and we'd go from there in the meeting. My proposal listed my three ideas, the project and two papers, and my idea was to combine the project with a smaller paper. So, it's a go. I will be doing the half-hour show - either in studio or in the field - and an accompanying paper examining the challenges and difficulties involved with undergrad production exercises.

The research begins! Dana gave me a copy of the (4th year RTA) Practicum and Human Dynamics Handbook to read through. He also asked that I begin looking into the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media" for articles related to production education, to get an idea of what has been written on the subject. There are a number of other media-focused journals that I'll also check.

Something tells me I will be conducting a great deal of primary research in this project, so I'm thankful to have the people and the resources at my fingertips.

Once I start my initial look into the journals, I will report back!