Monday, April 6, 2009

Thesis change?

Perhaps because I hate it when people don’t update their blog or because I’m bitter that it was mentioned in the Priesthood session and not that general session that we shouldn’t waste our time doing blogs when we have more important things to do, but I have decided to write another blog post. jk. I just thought I'd write.

So can I tell you my new idea for my thesis? My past idea hasn’t been working out so well with logistics. The problem is that I was planning on studying the meaning individuals hold with the home, how they dealt with modernity in how they constructed home. I was planning on spending hour after hour this summer interviewing, transcribing, and analyzing the rich data I would gain from bugging dear kind people. Problems?

· I have become a hermit since my mission and find interviewing people terrifying, especially perfect strangers.

· People would probably feel pressured to clean their houses when I was coming, and I would hate to encourage any of that.

· IT would take FOREVER in sandlot sort of forever way.

· Mormon living rooms all look the same.

Solution?

Do a content analysis of blogs, the new virtual living rooms, which may give me more information than a grand tour of an entire house. Also, I could gage my analysis and findings with a my blogging friends (you guys) and get your reaction to any findings.

· I can do it without talking to anyone, and if I do decide to, it can be through e-mail.

· I am not limited to gathering data from Mormons only because internet allows me to reach all sorts of kinds of blogs.

· An excuse to read people’s blogs.

I haven’t yet passed the idea by my thesis committee, and quite frankly I’m worried if it will fly. I don’t’ know if I should continue to look for effects of modernity such as multiple identities, individualization, or habits of consumption. I could also take a completely different method of analyzing the blogs for hyper-domesticity as a reaction against feminism, or expressions of emerging adulthood.

It’s hard to say, and I’m still not sure if this idea would bore me to death in the end or if I would like it.

I thought I’d throw the idea out there.

The end.

me

4 comments:

Jared said...

So, I happened to go to the priesthood session, and I think you are taking it out of context a little. We were not told not to do blogs. In fact, family history research was included in the same sentence if I'm not mistaken (I would have to look up the talk to be positive), but isn't family history something we are supposed to do? What he said was not to spend all our time doing family history or a blog while neglecting our family. There is nothing wrong with planning time to blog. What he was saying is not to have things out of balance, neglecting our own children because we are spending all our time researching our ancestors or blogging about our family. So, blog away!

Lori said...

Sounds interesting. The tricky part would be deciding what indicators to look for and then deciding what they meant. Is there any precedent for this kind of study (not on blogs, but perhaps in some other medium?)?

Mary said...

I'm not quite sure I understand your thesis change, but we'd be happy to help any way we can.

Anonymous said...

i'm catching up on your past blogs, since after my last post i don't have to *pretend* i'm working on my thesis anymore (the freedom!). this is a cool idea! what's the latest with it? any word from your committee?