a "doc" chronicle

I just finished with the revisions of chapter 3, a new version is on its way. No don’t think this is the end, I know more will come. But at least this is one more step toward the completion of the research project.

I feel good, but most of all I feel tired. Wow, did anybody say writing was easy? If somebody dare to, don’t believe it. It takes time, it takes energy, even if you are sitting down, it takes being immersed in your writing, becoming part of it, even getting tired of it …

I really need a break now! But it will be very short. Tomorrow I will continue with more revisions …

As I continue in my path toward the completion of my degree, I keep working on revisions. Chapter 3 is in and under revisions. The good thing about it is that it will be clear and easily read. I have big problems when it comes to writing, which means I need to be extremely careful! Suggestions will make me work harder and be more precise.

I finished downloading data and organizing the first two months. I even have some ideas of how I might start working with Chapter 4, but first I’ll go back to Chapter 3 and improve what I have done. This could be a painful process, but I want to look at the bright side. I’ll keep working with revisions as long as I need to, until it is ready!

The data set I am analyzing comes from a threaded discussion. For this reason, there is no need to transcribe, although there are other things that need to be made before analyzing the data. After downloaded the messages/posts I draw a tree diagram that shows the flow of conversation. It is possible to identify different sub-conversations within a single thread/topic. These are represented by the branches of the tree diagram -- I call them stories and Gee (1999, 2005) would also call them macrostructures.

Besides, my research question has to do with how knowledge is constructed; therefore the focus of analysis is on the type of activities and connections present in the data. At this moment, the identity of the participants is not relevant. So, the signatures in the messages/posts are deleted, cleaning up the data to facilitate the analysis. Also, intertextuality may result redundant, so this is also deleted from the messages/posts.

Cleaning up the data, leaves me with a story were several participants (2 or more) work together solving a mathematics problem. Sometimes they also share information relevant to the math learner.

Since last Wednesday, I have been downloading and organizing the data set of my research. This step is very methodical and I need to be very careful not to skip a message or misplaced it. For this reason, I am numbering the posts/messages in the same way they are listed in the thread. Later, when comparing the data with the tree diagram, it is easier to create the ‘stories’ corresponding to each tree branch. I have downloaded most of the data set already, but reorganizing it into stories and cleaning it up will take a few more days. After all this, analysis!!!

How good it feels!!! I wonder then how good it will be to complete my dissertation. But lets not get ahead … one step at a time, that’s all we can do.