Being able to pick a project we are passionate about made this a fun report to write! And I don’t say that lightly. Above all, I learned that the research process varies depending on your project, and being flexible is key. The following are further reflections on the researching, organizing and writing of my report. Observations on the peer review process for the formal report are discussed throughout the reflection.
Researching
Surprisingly, I found the research process relatively seamless. Developing a strong relationship with the Vancouver Police Museum’s curator, who is also the reader of the report, was crucial in simplifying the process. The curator, whose name is Elizabeth, connected me with the volunteers. She also provided me with the secondary data which I analysed in the report.
One element that I struggled with was finding commonalities amongst the qualitative exit interview data. The exit interviews were completed when the volunteers finished working at the museum. I also completed my own primary research in the form of informational interviews. It was beneficial to create my own questions for the informational interviews, as this allowed me to compare answers more easily.
My peer review partner Krystina used surveys rather than interviews in her report. I noticed that her surveys sometimes provide inconclusive results. She did an excellent job of recognizing this and delving into further research to reach definitive results. I learned about the difficulties of different research methods through the peer review process, which will help me in my future research.
A few qualms I had throughout included whether I needed to append the entire informational interview transcript or not. Similarly, I wasn’t sure if it was accurate to include additional questions which came up with each respondent in my report. Dr. Paterson’s expertise came in very handy when facing these doubts!
Organizing
The report writing process taught me that the way you choose to organize your paper has a lot to do with the way your mind works. For example, I felt there was a large jump between Krystina’s ‘Attracting New Members’ subsection and her subsection of ‘Retaining Past and Current Members’. The first section seemed to be merely the data, while the second section analysed the data and provided recommendations. Yet both sections were under the ‘Data’ heading. Krystina also had trouble understanding my paper’s organization! I would like to learn how to best organize my paper before submitting the final draft of my report.
In my report, I learned that I should have explained the problem in detail to illustrate the report’s significance. I should include this in my introduction. This is valuable feedback to receive for future revisions to the report.
Writing
I believe I was too ambitious in using a radar diagram in my report. I intended to use a variety of visuals to creatively display my data. Krystina suggested a bar diagram as a better way to visualize the findings. While I felt this is an overused graph type, I soon found out that sometimes you must prioritize the findings over diversifying your graph types.
It was easier than I imagined to include the “you-attitude” throughout my report. Keeping your reader in mind means you provide only new and useful information. This trims down the report significantly, and increases the chances the reader will act on your suggestions. At times I felt I was euphemising in order to keep in line with the “you-attitude”. Writing without emotion is, however, part of remaining objective and professional. I can already see the benefits of using the “you-attitude” in my other coursework and future professional writing.
I certainly learned a lot from writing the draft and both writing and receiving a peer review. By defining the original problem, changing my visuals, and organizing my paper better, I hope to submit an excellent final report.
You can view the first draft of my report here.