Katie Dickison

LBST 200

Sean/Aurelea

December 8, 2017                                          

Final Reflection

Being that this was my first time taking liberal studies I truly didn’t know what it was about. Even when I first signed up for this course I really had no idea what liberal studies entailed and whenever somebody would ask me I really didn’t have an answer for them. Once I stepped into the classroom for the first time I was reassured by the fact that I didn’t have to know exactly what it was in that moment but that I would soon find out. From that point on I continue to have a growing knowledge of what interdisciplinary studies truly is and that it is, in fact, a facet of liberal studies. This course, in particular, opened me up and literally taught me how to compose research properly. How to perform a proper interview so you get exactly what you need out of your participant without compromising it in some way. I had no prior experience in conducting any kind of interview whatsoever and when the assignment was first assigned I have to say I was very nervous about it being that it’s completely out of my comfort zone. I realize now just how important it was to do because I can learn from my mistakes. I made it too much of a casual conversation in which the interview got lost. It made it too hard for me to extract the information which is a vital part of the interview, it’s the whole point, that’s why you do it; you’re looking for answers. This extraction of answers and information is what research is based on and that was a huge part of the semester, not only through interviews but actual research; looking through archives and using scholarly articles to extract information on a certain topic; basically using previous research to further your own. A big lesson that I learned was to try not to put your own bias into it. To see it for what it is, not for what you want it to be because that will ultimately ruin the information depending on the method used. The problem with a bias though is that most times it is unavoidable, like in qualitative research, where it’s all about simply understanding that it’s going to happen. The methods that I learned in this class directly impacted me in that every other course that I was in had a research project. I was able to utilize those skills and end up with a better result in the end. These skills won’t be lost because I know I will continue to do research until the end of my academic career. I will use these skills next semester, when I start my tutorials, and when I get to my grad project. Research again, I know, will be the main focus and now I have the skills to come at it from the best angle.