Alas, we have arrived to the time where it is now time to research information on my topic of choice. However, it can be difficult to commence research when there is no topic of choice to be had…
The same reaction I had.
Upon concluding my survey analysis on how satisfied or not people are with our school’s dining service, I was left with a bit of a debacle in terms of what I wanted to really write about. I had hoped to amass more research about as how our dining system affects the communal aspect of our university, however I was not able to accomplish this goal through a survey. It turns out, all I ended up finding out was that people are generally content with their current meal plan, but I looking back I did not write any questions that specifically inquired as to how they feel our cafeteria is or is not an opportunity for sociability. The good news is the survey was fun, I learned about how to write a survey, and feel better equipped if I ever have to perform a similar task ever again.
Agreed Seth Meyers, agreed
Now, back to what I was originally talking about: topic of choice. I have concluded that my topic of choice still remains to be how different dining systems affect the cohesiveness of a school community, and thus I have begun said research process on a journey through the online databases in our school library.
The other day for one of our classes, one of our librarians gave us a tutorial on how to search the online databases. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as Google to where I can type in a series of words and articles will pop up. Instead, I have to include a asteroids, quotation marks, the word “or” and this process can be exhausting let me tell you. I feel that this process like most things, will take some adjustment and getting used to, but for the first few times, I wanted nothing more than to just slam my computer screen for only giving me four results.
How to database: Not google
After my tutorial session, I went home and tried to find a few articles on my topic in specific. I found this one in particular https://login.libproxy.scu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=505244229&site=ehost-live while using the keywords “meal plan” and university. My searches consisted of interior design plans that unfortunately did not lead me to what I was originally looking for. This particular article at first had me excited because although it was about the architecture of the space, it did offer a bit of insight about how people do take into account how significant a dining space is. Within this article, the cafeteria of school in Germany was evaluated and renovated for better seating design as well as a new paint job because they wanted to provide a space that people desired going to, and that was accessible from all angles. It was interesting to see the author acknowledge how significant a dining space can be and how people do take into account how dining halls are centers for collaboration.
Within my next few searches, I hope to narrow down my searches more by finding more articles about the space and how it is used for social mobility. I am interested in discovering how dining halls can foster conversation, and how that hub is affected by an ability to take away food. Its looking more and more as if this may just be a topic of conversation, and not something that may have been particularly reproached, but my next step is to try a different approach: maybe instead of data bases, I can look up some ethnographers. Take an anthropological stab at this topic from a new angle. Maybe this will work, maybe it won’t, more to come in next week’s episode.
♥ Little Kelli