1-20-11 Annotated Sources

1. Mason Durie, "Whaiora: Maori Health Development." This book is incredibly insightful about the strong correlation between health in New Zealand and education and income. Those individuls with less income and lower levels of education struggled with greater health problems. In most of these cases it is the Maori that have worse health issues.
2. James Belich, "Making Peoples: A History of the New Zealanders from Polynesian Settlement to the End of the Ninteenth century." I haven't read this book completely, however it has already been very insightful about the historical background of my study location.
3. M. Konrad, “From Secrets of Life to the Life of Secrets: Tracing Genetic Knowledge as Geneological Ethics in Biomedical Britain.” I think this article is important when approaching my research because it ties in this idea of how people communicate about taboo subjects. This article specifically deals with IVF in Britain. A woman feels that she should be secretive and hide the truth about her daughter being the product of a donor egg. She wouldn't tell her close family, relatives, or her daughter. Since my research focuses on the communicative process that accompanies abortion, I thought this article was insightful.

1-14-11 Reading and Writing Social Research

I found this article to be very insightful. In fact it answered some of the questions I've had about writing about my own research. I think its not only important to learn this when it comes to writing my senior thesis, but it will also be helpful when I'm writing up my project now. Also the research questions that were posed in this article really made me internalize more about my own research questions. Specifically the article asked a question about what the motivation is behind the research. This made me think more about what my own motivation behind this project is. I really want to do a valuable research project. I think that no time living abroad is wasted, because you learn so much. However, if I'm going to go abroad and study, I want it to be something where the information could be valuable to others as well. I feel that doing research on abortion could be a valuable use of my time in the long run.

1-11-11 Project Question

Will examining discourse styles and modes of communication among women who have undergone abortions in New Zealand contribute to our understanding of it?

1-09-11 Research Questions

1. To what extent has abortion been researched in New Zealand?
2. Is there an adequate transportation system in place in the city I will be researching in?
3. In order to get a good sample size of volunteers will I have to travel outside of Dunedin?
4. Would it be better to extend my project to include the males involved?
5. What other research methods would be beneficial to use in this study aside from interviewing?
6. Is involving the element of time in my study going to overcomplicate my research?
7. How many volunteers woud yield an effective study?
8. Is this project feesible within the 90 day time frame?
9. How do we find host families?
10. What is the eductation provided on abortion in New Zealand?
11. How familiar are people with abortion there?
12. How common are abortions in New Zealand?
13. What is the political background concerning abortion?
14. What are the mother's rights considered to be in comparison to an unborn fetus?
15. Is there a certain race, or age group that this is more common amongst?
16. How much of Professor Fitzgerald's research will be involved with my own?
17. How does New Zealand define personhood?
18. What kind of back up plans do I need to have in place if my research fails?
19. How much time do I need to spend with my volunteers?
20. How often do I need to keep in touch with my Mentor?
21. Will there be computers or internet cafes accessible for me to use?
22. How long should my interviews be?
23. What kind of abortions are legal there?
24. What do doctors tell patients about abortions?
25. What if I can't find people who fit within my project time table?

01/07/11 What Students Don't Learn Abroad

Ben Feinberg's article encompassed much of my own traveling experience. Tho traveling often has an impact and changes perceptions about ourselves, it isn't simply about us. Going abroad to study different cultures is about gaining understanding the culture. The mistake a lot of individuals make when traveling abroad, is going with the mindset of how they can change that culture to fit their own ideals. The reality of what a place is and the reality of what we believe it to be are two very different things.
A few years ago I went abroad to live in England. I went with this image in my head of what it would be like. The image was a very romanticized view, embellished by the media as well as my own imagination. Not only was it my view of England that was misconstrued, but also my view of how my interactions with England would be. I believed that my experience would be similar to what movies and T.V. shows portrayed. These miscontrued perceptions soon dissipated. After living there for several months my vision began to clear. I began to see the raw sarcastic, depressed, romantic, and historical England. It was this fuller view and understanding that led me to really fall in love with England.
It is not totally possible to separate our own life experience from our travel experience. However, I do think that it is important to seek after the truth about a culture and really try to understand it when we go abroad by examining its different sides.