Researching Research Methods

This week in class we were given a past successful SSHRC application to examine for formatting. I found this exercise quite interesting as I applied to SSRHC last year and was successful in my application. The format of the application that my group was reviewing was significantly different than my own, which confirms that the three different structures presented in class are all valid and possible options. The main complaint that I had about the application that my group was reviewing (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), is that the applicant jumped right into their research interest and question and left any personal information until the very end. I found it difficult to connect with the applicant and the research proposal as I had no idea where this idea had come from – not even their program of study. This is not vital information to understand the topic at hand, but in an application where you are trying to demonstrate why you are the best candidate to conduct this research, it seems that a little bio at the start would provide that hook.

For my own proposal I had sub-headings (Program of Study, Research Context, Research Objectives, Research Methodology and Importance to the Advancement of Knowledge).  I find personally that these helped me to think through the various aspects of my proposal to ensure that I was able to say as much as possible in a limited space.

I looked over my proposal this week as I am planning on reviewing and editing it for this course. The part that I found relevant and also slightly sad was my section on Research Methodology, which was admittedly quite vague and, as I can already tell from the readings this week, misguided. Having never taken a research methods course, I admit I “faked” this section with the rough knowledge that I had… apparently convincingly! I had planned to use telephone interviews with small community museums across the country to assist in my research on fundraising in rural museums. After reading Knight this week I can now see that this method of interviewing might not be my best option. Knight says that phone interviews are best for “fixed-response”  surveys which is not ideal for the questions that I would be asking. Hopefully a different method will reveal itself in the coming weeks! (Suggestions welcome!)