Been so long since I blogged I think I've forgotten how to write!
as per the title of this post the purpose of this essay is to analyse theoretically the process involved in the act of researching and writing an undergraduate dissertation which at the present moment is a corpus of nothing!
hahah ok jokes apart I believe that while all of us winge and moan about writing a dissertation it is actually quite an experience not only in terms of its academic value but also in terms of general lessons in life.
I have a grand total of 4 months left before I submit my final draft and while right now the path seems very unclear I'm assuming it'll all fall into place. For the past month I have struggled with initial research problems and got many a stern emails from D (My supervisor-perfectionist supervisor) and now finally I feel like I'm getting somewhere with it. Along the way I've learnt two very important lessons which I want to share here as a gentle reminder to myself whenever I may tend to forget.
THERE'S ALWAYS A SOLUTION:
However mind baffling your problem maybe remember there's always a solution and you can find it if you only look hard enough.
I was struggling with designing my questionnaire and even though I had got it done I knew there was still something lacking...and I just didn't know what to do about that. All it took at the end of the day was a few good hours of research and I found exactly what I was looking for. I'm finally happy with it.
Looking back I realize that while it took much time and effort for me to find my solution it was never a solution that was beyond my reach. To be really honest the solution was always there, right in front of my eyes..I just hadn't looked hard enough! And I guess in life this is always the case too...too often we spend time mulling over problems, searching for answers not knowing that most often the answer is right before us. It's just a matter of opening your eyes and seeing what is already there.
ASK FOR HELP:
I'm not someone who generally relies on people for help, I never have unless of course I really have no other option. I prefer to do my own work and get by on my own. I guess it's good that way but sometimes asking for help is not going to hurt you.
I spent two weeks trying to sort out a problem that D brought up regarding my research methodology and at the end of those 2 weeks I was at my wits end not knowing how to defend my own study. Out of sheer desperation I decided to turn to the one friend who I knew might possibly be able to help me out: Shaz. I'm so glad I did. 10 minutes later she gave me my solution and the very next day we started working on it. I was somewhat hesitant when I wrote to D about it knowing her perfectionist ways but she liked it. Problem solved:)
Of course Shaz is a smart ass linguist in the making but the bottom line is never be afraid to ask for help, specially from your friends. They may not always have answers but they can always give you a fresh perspective on things and that can really help.
For now these are the wise lessons my dissertation has taught me and I'm looking forward to many more. In a way I'm grateful to have a supervisor like D who's basically a nit picker and will, much to your annoyance pin point in no uncertain terms all the gaps, the stupidities and the faults. Sometimes (esp in the case of academic research) it actually helps to be a perfectionist:)
My next problem is whether my research will actually yield any positive results...but I guess I'll leave that to time:)
