Final Post

What I learned...

Today I write my final post in summary of the last month and what I have learned throughout this experience. First and foremost, I have learned that research takes much patience and hard work. It is a game of trial an error. I have learned the trickiness of selecting a research topic. This entails seeking balance between wanting a unique topic and selecting a topic with enough information on it. This means, one should seek to have a topic where not many conclusion have been drawn. At the same time, there has to be enough data and information to back up your claim, or else the conclusion becomes abstract and irrelevant. I also learned different ways of searching information such as cross referencing, and looking for relevant authors in the bibliography of useful articles and books. Research involves a component of creativity that I enjoy while seeking information. In my case, this consisted searching articles from a certain time period after a conflict to learn about the repercussions. Learning what different types of research databases exist has been one of the most useful components of this course. After some time of getting familiar with them, I was able to access which ones were most useful to me and why. If I continue to research similar topics, I will certainly have many outlets for information.

My Favorite Part...
I really enjoyed wrapping my head around all that goes into research. While seeking information and skimming and scanning articles, I learned so much on the subject of refugees, immigration, and policies related to all of those topics. My knowledge on the subject has really increased. 


What I Disliked...
At the beginning, I did not realize that sometimes you may not always find what you are looking for. I think this experience would be different the second time, having more realistic expectations. 


What I Hope to Do in the Future...
Having now explored archival research and enjoying it, my desire to involve myself in field research has increased immensely. I would like to try research that requires me to interact with people to get results.