The Final Cut
With only a couple days left in the middle of this state, I’ve been narrowing some things down and making decisions which will effect me for at least the next year. After actually opening the books that I selected for my thesis paper (and seeing one of them for the first time today) I’m at the same time clearer about my topic and also more confused.
It’s clear to me that I have picked an area that I’m interested in for my paper, ubiquitous technology and how it relates to people somehow. What’s not as clear to me is how I’ll be able to talk about it in a way that makes sense and isn’t just rehashing what is already known. One of the most useful books I’ve looked at is The Craft of Research by Wayne Booth and others. I’ve only had time to skim through some of the sections, it is really well written and has comforting words of wisdom:
“Doing research is not like strolling along a well-marked path to a familiar destination; it’s more like struggling through overgrown woods, searching for something you won’t know until you find it. But no matter how indirect your path, you can feel confident that you are steadily getting closer to an answer if you manage each step of the way to anticipate predictable problems.”
Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that you don’t always need to have everything figured out…
