In order to move from general to specific, I started using databases that were more tailored to my topic. For example, I wouldn’t use a research database that focused on politics. Instead, I would use a database that focused on perhaps gender studies or sexuality in general. I think a huge mistake I made was relying on google originally. It comes up with way too many articles and it’s hard to sift through which ones are truly relevant to the topic. My advice for future researchers is to research the database itself first. Make sure the database you’re using is truly meant to help search for articles within your topic. Also, use more than one database because even when I used the same search terms, each database came up with different results.
GenderWatch, which is a branch of Proquest, gave me the most search results. This particular branch of this database looks for articles directly related to gender issues, which my topic was centralized around. Proquest is also a massive database so I was able to get most of my research from them or their counter part GenderWatch.
The research process is a lot more in depth then just typing some words into Google and hoping what it spits back at you is relevant to your topic. You have to not only look at google several times and adjust your search terms, but also use different databases entirely. I don’t think I’ve ever used more than one database for a research project ever, but now I see just how important it is. You truly do get a much broader search and get access to articles you might not have thought about by using multiple search engines and databases.
I personally struggled with the speaking portion in general. I have horrible anxiety and I struggle with public speaking. The research portion, while lengthy, was not as difficult for me. I struggled with how exactly I was going to pull the assignment off. I wasn’t sure how my presentation would look and what I would say. I ended up watching several more Ted Talks in addition to the ones we already watched in order to get a feel for how their presentations looked. I then decided it would be easiest for me if I wrote myself a ‘script’, so that I could memorize it and have an easier time speaking to the class without losing my train of thought or getting overly anxious.
Exigency refers to the urgency of my topic and kairos refers to the timeliness. My topic has both because this problem is currently happening today and we’re seeing more and more of it within the news every week. With schools tightening dress codes and the increase in the ‘she was asking for it based on what she was wearing’ excuse, I figured it was time to speak up.
I think my comfort level is about an 8. I feel pretty comfortable using them but I struggle with how narrow I can make my research results before I don’t end up with any articles at all. I also struggle with finding databases I can use other than the ones Patrick showed us. I wish he would have shown us how to navigate the databases a bit more and how to find one that is better suited for each of our topics.
I think the expectations for the Ted Talk was to be thought provoking yet simplified. I kept my Ted Talk simple my keeping the slides I used as minimalist and ‘non wordy’ as possible. I kept it thought provoking while speaking in a question answer format. Each slide had a question about the topic and why it was important, and then I would answer it. I also think the Ted Talk, while it’s about a serious topic, was intended to be fairly light hearted. I tried to add a bit of humor as well as pointing out how ridiculous this issue is while remaining straight forward.
As we shift into Unit 3, I think I’ll still use the articles I found from the database research. I don’t think I’ll end up using as many opinions based pieces since I don’t think they’ll be as useful to me. I’m hoping to find more articles to connect my main idea which is that dress codes help lead to sexual assaults later down the line. I need to do more research on this to make my point. I also need to find more articles that are less biased. Ones that aren’t influenced by their own experiences because I felt like most articles were one side or the other rather than remaining neutral and stating the facts.
I think having us watch the two Ted Talks and then write things we noticed about them was really helpful for me in deciding how I was going to do my presentation. I think all the research workshops were helpful as well because I don’t think I would have put in as much time into the research otherwise.