'The Home Straight'

                            


My final blog is ultimately a reflection of the 'Doing Social Research' module and  how I found the process of creating an academic poster, in regards to any struggles I came across.

Looking back on my first EVER blog, (note that I had never blogged before, in my life) I seemed very apprehensive about it, but I think that it was just 'fear of the unknown.'
       I am quite clued up on how to use twitter, Facebook and Instagram etc, so I thought setting up a blogging account would place me somewhere, where I was clueless, and I think it was this that worried me. In reality, it was a fun process. I enjoyed learning things like how to navigate myself around the blogger site to setting my profile picture on the Google+  page. As for actually blogging though, I'm not sure I really took to it, especially as I was aware each blog was eventually going to be assessed which made blogging seem more like a chore than writing a blog for fun. This tended to only be the case when it came to blogs we were assigned to do though, such as the blog in the auto-ethnographic style as some of my blogs were focused on things I was interested in, like social smoking and mobile phone addictions, which I enjoyed researching and writing (in some cases ranting) about. 
      Extra reading has bought me to understand that blogs and these online programmes, that are growing at an alarming rate, (Alan and Seaman 2007) are actually a learning method. This is something I looked at in a previous blog, on whether blogging was useful for researchers in finding out information, but on a smaller and less academic scale it does help in learning processes and it helped my skills, as blogs can give overviews or different opinions on particular matters.

Of course blogging wasn't the only thing we did in this module - the main focus was of course learning research methods, blogging was just one of them, that had become a major source of research in the last decade. Having done sociology at A Level where my sociology class always used to grumble whenever the phrase 'research methods,' was mentioned, I was a bit skeptical of this module as I was dreading any negativity that other classmates may bring from their previous experiences of research methods, as, although maybe geeky, I quite enjoy this part of sociology. 
      I already had an idea therefore, of each of the research method and ethical issue, which could arise with each method, and this definitely helped, as what we learnt in class time for this module was just an overview and further individual reading was to be needed. This knowledge definitely helped because the module gave us limited time to learn about each method, so I feel I would have struggled without prior knowledge.

                                    

Of course, as previously mentioned in this and other blogs, the other part of the module was in the form of group work and an academic poster presentation. As this entailed doing our own primary and secondary research, it was particularly enjoyable as it gave us independence and experience, which of course will be useful for next year when we have the dreaded dissertations to think about!! 
      The main research process seemed to go rather smoothly, and the only minor issues we encountered were in the form of deciding what day was best of meet to collate results and draw conclusions from them, but inevitably this was a minor issue and was overcome but sharing out the workload and giving each group member a piece of work to do so when we came together, all that was needed to do was put our work onto the poster and have a run through. 
      On the day of the presentation, as someone who worries a lot, I was rather nervous but having others to present with steadied my nerves and the presentation wasn't half as bad as I imagined and I would say we all did well - our preparation and hard work shined through in my eyes. 

Overall though, this module has bought me to learn a particularly useful new skill, in the form of blogging, which who knows, later in life, may be of use for blogging about my future research, but it has also helped me gain confidence in conducting my own primary and secondary research. Obviously, these are valuable skills for a sociologist and so for that, this module has been of great use and I look forward to carrying on learning about research methods in more depth in my last year of university.

                                             

                                    THANKS FOR READING AND BYE FOR NOW! 

Are we being socially, unsociable?

Walking down the street, out of work, to university or just to the shop, I see, without fail, people glued to their mobiles - Tell a lie, that is me as well. As soon as I leave work, I am on my mobile, replying to messages, checking whats going on in the world, through twitter, checking notifications on Facebook and calling anyone back I have missed calls from. To be honest, I'm surprised I get home safely, because the majority of my walk home is spent on my mobile and not paying attention to anything around me, and this forced me to research a bit about about mobile addictions in contemporary society.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                

We live in a postmodern society whose culture, Hall et al, would say is consumed. Every street we walk along  has an advertisement to entice society to buy into an idea or a good and this is what happened in relation to mobile phones. Society has crazes and the mobile phone industry has a smaller version of this. Colour screen phones were once a craze, then camera phones, then BlackBerry's and now everyone seems to have an iPhone, which has crazes in itself through app's, which are downloadable onto individuals phones. For example, the latest most popular iPhone apps are 'SnapChat' and 'Candy Crush.'

 These advancements in technology though, has created addictions, which like an article in the telegraph stated can be similar to other addictions, particularly drugs, in the way they ruin relationships.
      As ironic as it sounds the addiction of checking your phone for messages, where of course you would be socializing with someone, is ruining real life social skills and making people unsociable because they are used to communicating with others through a mobile. Some sociologists would say therefore that traditional norms and values are fading right in front of our eyes due to the lack of traditional socializing efforts and an advancement of catching up via text or over the phone. This is  inevitably why young adults can spend up to seven hours a day interacting over the phone, over-spilling to become an addiction which can be extremely annoying to those around them, making them seem unsociable. In an article in the telegraph, they make the assumption that mobile phones are therefore ruining relationships and to me personally, it seems this could be likely as in contemporary society although for one is being sociable to the person on the other end of the phone, they are at the same time being unsociable to the one they're with. 

                                        

On reflection, this point of view may not be shared by everyone - what do you think? Are we being socially, unsociable? 

Reflections on Group Work

In my blog on twitter trends, I specifically said I would keep you up to date with how my group work is going, so decided to write a short blog on how far we have got with our research and what still needs to be done! 

As stated in a previous blog, our research question is based around how useful twitter is for tweeters to gain knowledge about current news affairs! Individually, we are looking at literature and other researchers work to see which methods are best at gaining this particular data - This is the the best place to start we thought, as it would inevitably tell us what methods we should avoid. One of the girls in my group, Somia, has found a particularly interesting piece of research, and has already done a literature review on it in one of her recent blogs.
      The second thing we have started on with our research is making our questionnaire to get feedback from our peers, particularly those in our sociology class, to help us with our research. Transcribing this does have its issues though, as we needed to be careful that we don't word the questions in a way that gives rise to sensitive issues or makes the participants think the questions are asking something completely different to what is actually being asked. This is something we are currently checking as we don't want to create any ethical issues. Once we are all agreed that it is OK, we are going to start getting our classmates to fill them out before we analyse the data. 

To keep up to date on any issues that arise with analyzing our data, or anything else for that matter - WATCH THIS SPACE! 


      

BLOGS BLOGS AND MORE BLOGS

A recent sociology lecture bought my attention to the Feminist Movement's recent campaign known as "SLUT WALKS!" We were told that there was no academic writing on this and I wanted to see what had been written about in the form of blogs. After a short search, I found a Blog titled "The Psychology of Victim Blaming and Why I'm taking part in my first Slut Walk" (http://slutwalkcleveland.wordpress.com/). This is a blog on the Slut Walks from a personal perspective, which personally I feel is refreshing, as too many sources I read today are looking at others work and opinions (a bit contradictory I know, but this Blog will become clear, all in good time)! Inevitably, this blog marks out why taking part in this campaign is important for this young lady which is useful for assessing the reasons behind why she, and others like her, decided to take part in such an event. 

More researchers these days are using blogs as a form of secondary research due to the technological society we live in, where we have access to the internet etc, more or less everywhere we go. Technology, in the past decade, therefore, has become useful for researchers to record and analyse data, as well as searching the web for statistics and the like. Technology has become an essential part of the research process and now blogs are becoming a crucial piece of data for researchers. In 2011, Nielsen/McKinsey company tracked over 180 million blogs worldwide, which was up from the 36 million tracked five years before, (Newswire 2012) reiterating the fact that they are a growing phenomenon. Essentially a Blog is 'a web site containing the writers' own experiences, observations, opinions...' (Dictionary.com 2013) and it is because of this, that it enables a researcher to find out meanings, a characteristic of qualitative research methods, that makes Blogs so much more popular today for researchers. 

Dunleavy and Gilson (2012) state that 'Blogging is quite simply, one of the most important things an academic should be doing right now,' but even if a blog has not been written by an academic, like the blog on slut walks it can still be used as a form of secondary data, since it gives the ability to collect substantial amounts of data, (Hookway, 2008) on opinions and meanings, which inevitably will be useful for the researcher. This is just one of the advantages blogs have for researchers! As stated, I found my blog after 'a short search,' implying it was easy to get hold of, and most blogs are! The majority of blogging sites are free, enabling low cost and easy access to blogs worldwide, allowing for the researcher to gain access to a very large population because they are GLOBAL. Just like this technological society has enabled us to create a smaller world, by bringing countries closer together, (21st Century Challenges, ND) through globalization  blogs have enabled this too, obviously sparking another positive of this research (Hookway, 2008). Although, there are filters on blogging sites if a researcher is not looking to gain data about a global population, and other filters also have their advantages.
      Due to the fact that technology is involved though, many people are led to believe that those with limited knowledge of computers or the internet will find it difficult to gain access to these types of research, but this is a misunderstanding! Blogs are easy to access and so available to users of low technological competence, (Hookway, 2008) meaning these types of researchers do not need to waste time using what may be coming to be known as, 'old fashioned,' methods of using tape recordings and conducting vast amounts of interviews. 

Due to the fact that blogs contain opinions and the like, it overcomes the barriers and awkwardness of asking sensitive questions. This is similar to diaries, also used by researchers, as they are not contaminated by researchers probing or questions, which could change a participants answer or mind on a certain matter. Therefore, the participant in blogs, just like diaries are 'masked,' (Hookway, 2008) which gives them the freedom to write honestly and they are less self-conscious because they are hidden from view. Just like this blog, the third person, is used to write a number of blogs and this is useful for sociologists and other researchers to investigate the dynamics of the participants experiences from an unadulterated first-person perspective, like interviews are. Don't get me wrong though, blogs written in the first person are just as useful, even if they are not telling the full truth, as even fabrications tell researchers something about the social and cultural ideas a participant and others may have (Hookway, 2008).

Blogs are NOT entirely positive though. Just like with everything, they have their downfalls and disadvantages too, particularly with ethical issues which will be considered in this blog.
      Some individuals are led to believe that all blogs are written in a truthful manner because researchers or general readers do not know who is writing the blog, yet this is not the case for all blogs, and it s questionable whether we can trust what people write, if we cannot see them. Goffman (1969) uses a dramaturgical model to prove that bloggers can stage themselves. This is done by putting on a front when blogging, where they strategically select episodes they blog about, to make them seem moral, (Hookway, 2008) yet Goffman notices that this can change when they are not blogging for example. Goffman (1969) uses the example of a restaurant, he says that an individual is on stage when they are in the restaurant serving customers and they put on a front, so customers interpret their behavior as attentive and generally a good person. As soon as the waiter goes back stage, into the kitchen, their behavior changes and they tend to be themselves. Putting this in the context of blogging then, it appears that what Goffman is saying, is that there may be potential deception from the blogger to make themselves look good. 

Another issue of blogging is informed consent. When a blogger publishes a blog, although they know that it can be viewed worldwide they do not consent to researchers using it as data (Hookway, 2008). Most individuals are generally not aware that their blog could be interpreted or analysed. BUT this is where there is a debate as bloggers are aware of the fact that anyone can view it, so it this blog just fair game? Hookway (2008) found that this is potentially an ethical issue, as if the blog was used as a piece of data, should one credit the blogger for their work or preserve anonymity. Also, there are always issues around whether the researcher is able to interpret the data correctly, as they are not able to speak to the blogger to get a deeper understanding, they are limited to the material in the blog, which may not actually be directly complimentary of the question the researcher is trying to answer! 

Blogs as a research method is still growing though, and these issues are yet to be worked through but this is not stopping researchers from trying out this new technique, as with millions of blogs on the internet, regarding millions of topics, it is a new phenomenon worth trying out in my eyes!

The 'Qualitative/Quantitative' WAR!

This has been a methodological issue in social research for years, numerous debates have taken place regarding this topic and I have decided to join this debate by reflecting on the two main types of research myself.

Qualitative Research = observes things by looking at the deeper meanings of them rather than figures. It is strictly subjective and portrays an interpretive approach. Methods include looking at diaries, interviewing and observing (Faruque 2010).

Quantitative Research = analysed in terms of numbers and measurements which can generate cause and effect, creating trends/correlations. Looks at things from an objective approach and is positivistic (Faruque 2010).

                          

As I am a sociology student, I am looking at this debate from a sociological viewpoint. I found that although quantitative research is coming back as popular in sociology, qualitative research has been considered the most popular, so I intended on finding out why this is the case.
      The first and most obvious advantage of this type of research is that it aims to achieve 'breadth,' and 'depth,' (Blaxter et al, 1996) in the data is gains which of course is beneficial as there is a likelihood that the researcher will get a better understanding of the participants answers. However, for a deep analysis to occur, the research is usually done on a small scale, (Everitt and Hay, 1992) meaning that the data received will not be particularly generalisable. As Quantitative research does not rely on meanings and depth and so is therefore, quicker and easier to conduct and interpret, larger scale analysis is conducted which is representative of the wider population. So which is the better research method then? Although qualitative research is more time consuming and stressful, (Delamont, 1992) it gains rich data, fleshing out research because it asks deeper questions. Quantitative research though, of course produces data which is representative of the wider population and is easier to analyse, meaning it can be replicated, but are statistics trustworthy? Some participants may not report situations or open up if the researcher does not build up a rapport with them, which would be done using the qualitative research. Building a relationship with the participant though, could be an issue but at the same time not telling the participant they are being researched, therefore conducting covert research, could be seen as even worse. Quantitative researchers would come into less contact with ethical issues, but is this a risk worth taking for empirical research (Punch, 1998)?

It is obvious from the fact that the debate on which research type is better, has been going on for years, that neither is superior to another. It is for this reason that Mixed Methods, a mixture of both types of research, has become more popular, as the positives of qualitative research for example can outweigh the negatives of quantitative research.
       This will not stop the debate however, and I'm sure for years to come, this will still be in research textbooks and a debate which has not come to a conclusion!



References

Faruque, S (2010) Qualitative Vs. Quantitative Research methods in Sociology. Available at; http://suite101.com/article/quantitative-vs-qualitative-research-methods-in-sociology-a320362 accessed on 14/03/2013

'Social Smoking' to Smoking Socially

I'm a non-smoker, and although the smell of smoke, being one of the things you either like or you don't, just like petrol, doesn't bother me, I hate smokers who are inconsiderate, either when breathing out smoke or just simply where they smoke, for example right outside a public building. These, amongst other things, I think, would only be noticed by a non-smoker and it is these things I am going to share my views on in this blog. I will in particular indicate how I've noticed smoking becoming much more of a social activity in postmodern society and how it is dealt with. 

In the past, particularly before the smoking ban in 2007, smoking was an activity taken part in, because of an addiction or for young people, it could be because it looked 'cool,' although I feel that nowadays it is taken part in because it has a social element to it. Ever since individuals were not allowed to smoke in public places, people have had to stand outside pubs, clubs and workplaces to smoke and find themselves interacting with others doing the same. For me, standing outside smoking  is undesirable, especially in winter months, but I have noticed that it has largely become a social activity and some people have even taken it up for this reason. Social smokers used to be defined as people who only smoke in social settings, such as pubs and rarely smoke when they are alone (Curry Health Centre, ND). These smokers, do still exist by my point is that smoking has become a social habit, whereby people smoke for the enjoyment of the social interactions that now come with it.

                                            

This social aspect of smoking has become a 'pro' for smoking as it has become an 'ice-breaker,' (SJB 2011) and enabled individuals to meet people through an activity which because of the substance and consequences is regarded as deviant. Before the smoking ban, smokers could stay inside, sat at their table in a pub, and this is largely what people did and so social interactions stayed within friendship groups, but nowadays smokers will go outside to smoke, leaving friends, and this is where new social interactions occur. Being a university student, I have observed this and noticed how some of my friends who smoke have gained, maybe not so much friends, but acquaintances from going out to the smoking areas in clubs or pubs, as especially when people are under the influence of alcohol, socializing in smoking areas isn't uncommon. 

Another thing, as a non-smoker, I have noticed is that since more people have been forced to go outside to smoke these days, smoking areas have been made more comfortable, with outdoor heaters and umbrellas in pub gardens. I personally question this. Surely we shouldn't be making smoking areas a desirable place to go to take part in an activity which could inevitably create lung cancer. Because of the bad affects smoking can cause and governments therefore wanting to reduce the amount of smokers, is making smoking areas more comfortable right? SJB (2011) stated that some smoking areas are the nicest areas of the public area, as on a cruise ship he had recently been on, SJB found that smokers were not just given 'any old corner,' to smoke in but given an area with the best views etc. Of course, as a non-smoker writing this, it may sound like it comes across as jealousy, even though smoking areas can be used by non smokers also, but I do wonder why non smokers should have to get a breathe full of smoke when wanting to go outside in a club or pub, or simply just outside a public building, when the main reason for this is to get a breathe of fresh air. In my university, outside some of the buildings now there is a drawn out white line which smokers have to pass over before they can smoke, but this is still not particularly pleasurable for others, as one would still have to walk through this area to enter the building! 
                                                                                              


One final thing I have noticed in regards to smoking, and I have found is quite a large debate especially online is the fact that smokers seem to be getting more breaks, whilst at work than non smokers. Teo (2012) even says that 'Smokers have it easy these days,' because they seem to have an excuse to break away from their work to have a cigarette, which they would need to go outside for. Avello (2012) said that this can create division from work groups because the workplace could divide into smokers, who will obviously socialise when out smoking and non smokers, who would continue working. Obviously, this creates tensions, as smokers are getting more time to socialise and can take up to ten minute breaks, up to four times a day, creating lower productivity, which the non smokers have no control over, as they are continually working until an 'official break.' 
      The fact that smokers have the ability to interact with others whilst outside smoking is one of my main observations, and it is this, that has got me wondering whether more people have taken on smoking because of this benefit. At universities now smokers are getting the freedom of having breaks and I have especially noticed this in workshops where the lecturer is not necessarily preaching at the class. BUT, I wonder that because smokers are getting more freedom and lenience, are people taking on smoking, to get the chance to socialise or just abusing these freedoms smokers now seem to be getting, even if a non smoker, for the chance to socialise. Of course, this is not the case for all work places and universities, but those workplaces with no set breaks do find that smokers take more regular breaks. 

      These are obviously just my personal views on the matter and of course from a non smokers point of view and inevitably the reason, I have come to question whether 'Social Smoking,' has turned from being something which is taken part in when in a social atmosphere to something that is now taken part in because it is attached to being social. Do we now 'smoke socially' rather than 'socially smoke?' 

Twitter Trends

Until last Easter, twitter was something I wanted nothing to do with. As a frequent 'facebooker,' I felt that I didn't need an account for other networks, and on top of this I wasted a lot of time, nosing around on Facebook, that I could have spend doing things that were much for beneficial, so I generally had the idea that it would just be another distraction. I did get peer pressured into getting Twitter though, and to my friends that made me get it - THANK YOU - as I am now a regular tweeter!!

I hadn't heard of the term 'micro blogging' until my lecture on Monday, but I guess I now need to go back to my first blog and update it, as it turns out I am a frequent blogger and frequently check blogs, as Twitter is a type of micro-blogging which it allows you to write up to 140 characters in a single 'tweet' about anything you like. Tweets can therefore range from what you had for dinner, or what one gets up to in the day, which is what my tweets are generally about, to global news events. The latter is actually what has made me more socially aware recently and kept me up to date with news events, as well as what my friends and celebrities are up to.

It is the accessibility and speed at which individuals are able to find things out that has made social networking sites so popular, and since Twitter was launched in 2006, it has gained MILLIONS of registered users. Cohl (2012) states this is because networking and interacting increases happiness and fulfillment. Interacting creates discussions, some of which can become heated and some of which influence others. This is the same of twitter. Because twitter uses hash tags it enables users to see what is most talked about and therefore what is 'trending,' and this is what the majority of discussions are regarding on twitter.

One of the first major news events that I became aware of through twitter, and that became discussed both offline and online, was the Kony 2012 movement which was trending on twitter because of the 30 minute viral sensation. Hash tags like 'STOPKONY' and 'KONY2012' were trending and through research are still being hash tagged for more awareness.

                                              

      Having recently done a presentation on this social movement for another of my sociology modules, I feel I have quite an understanding about how it being shared on social networking sites has influenced social net workers but was also classed as a scam. Due to Kony 2012 trending on twitter, a lot of people suddenly became aware of this social movement that was not well known previous to this. I think the reason for it being a trend was through the 30 minute YouTube video that was shared, and became a viral sensation through facebook and twitter, because over 100 million people viewed it in the first 6 days of it being released. This viral sensation allowed people to become aware of things that although weren't occurring in our country, were still important issues that should be spoken about. I think this is an extreme case of something trending and being talked about possibly because of it was more of a campaign and maybe a plea to get people on board, but nevertheless, it definitely was a worldwide trend on twitter that got people talking.
      Some people did think that this trend was a scam to get people to spend money etc and this is a downfall of trends, and possible social networking generally, because it could be the common view of trends. For my group presentation though, we have decided to look at how important twitter is in relation to current affairs and this is something that we will consider, as well as looking at how important twitter/micro blogging is in relation to current affairs and seeing how trends were useful for ultimately finding out about them. This is something I will relate a lot of my blogs too - so WATCH THIS SPACE!

Eating Habits - Autoethnogrpahy

Eating habits vary between different cultures, and from talking to peers, I've realised that it is meat which is the main food type creating these cultural and individual differences. Some cultures or religions would regard certain meats as dirty or generally don't believe a certain animal should be killed for their enjoyment, and so would never consider eating it. Individualistic differences would simply be whether meat should be killed and eaten, and this is why vegetarians are present in today's society.

From a personal perspective, I consider meat eating acceptable and, maybe unsympathetically, I would eat a variety of meats, some which only a minority of society would consider being acceptable. I think this is generally because I have been bought up to try different foods, as from childhood I have been lucky enough to have travelled a fair few times, experiencing new cultures and have tried some of their traditional foods. This means that I am generally not fussy with regards to food and I actually enjoy trying different things. Becoming vegetarian is therefore, not an option for me as I find that I enjoy meat too much. Thinking back on the meals I have eaten in the past week, I cannot think of one that has not contained meat, obviously showing how drastic it would be if I ever considered becoming a vegetarian. This shows how much I rely on meat as my main food source and this is obviously unsympathetic, since I rely on the killing of animals for food.
      Thinking about it this way, is why I think some individuals become vegetarians. Although some people, I think, are just ignorant about where the chicken in their chicken nuggets comes from or where the meat from their burgers is sourced, for example. For many people eating meat just becomes a habit and I think that if they were forced to watch how a chicken was killed to get the stage they are used to seeing it, they may become vegetarians. Some individuals are aware of where their meat is sourced but try to overlook this because they want to eat meat anyway. I therefore think that we live in a society with people whom are truly ignorant, for their own enjoyment. Personally, I understand the process yet still eat meat because I think it's just how society functions.

The recent up roar about horsemeat in Tesco beef burgers though has made me think that although this is, of course an issue which needs to be sorted because, some individuals, who would not have wanted to eat horsemeat have ultimately been forced to eat it, through the false advertising of Tesco beef burgers. I personally would be happy to try a horsemeat burger though, due to my inquisitive side of wanting to know what things taste like. To some of course this is a strange thought, yet what is so different about eating horse meat than eating beef from a cow? Because horse-riding is a popular sport in Europe though, the perception of a horse for some may be that it is an animal which should be looked after, just like cats and dogs who people see as pets rather than meat for eating. In China though, dog is a common meat found on restaurant menus, yet Chinese restaurants in the UK do not have this on the menu because it is not allowed to be sold in the UK, of course posing a cultural difference and potentially a cultural clash. If I found myself in China though, I would be happy to try dog, this might be because I do not like dogs, but this is a meat I haven't tried but would be happy to. It is things like liver and heart though which I may not be quite so happy to try because the texture of these is something I don't think I would enjoy.

Personally then, I feel that the reason there are different habits regarding meat is due to what is normal in different cultures or countries. In France it is normal to go into a restaurant and eat a snail or frogs legs but in other countries this is not the case and this is why when someone visits another country and they are faced with a food that is different to their normal diet they are reluctant to try it. Therefore as Sahlins (1976) stated 'it is culture which constitutes utility.'

Introductory Blog

Module interests and challenges
The purpose of this blog is to highlight what my aims, expectations and worries are regarding the 'Doing Social Research,' module. Having studied social science research methods before in A Level, I am hoping to expand and build on the limited knowledge I already have of research methods. The fact I have got basic understanding of some of the most used research methods, I think, will help me to grasp a deeper knowledge of these methods I will learn whilst on this module and this is something that I am looking forward to doing, as my previous experience of research methods has been enjoyable.
    The module will of course though, make me try and learn things I havent before though. Currently by blogging here and now, I am learning something new as this is the first time I have blogged before. This is one of my worries for this particular module, as by trying something new, which I have not done before can pose issues as I currently do not know how I will get on with it and so my attempts at blogging may not be successful.
   
Research interests
By learning these social research methods will of course help me when gathering data for my dissertation next year. Currently I am unaware of what I want to reserach and write my dissertation on although I do have some key sociological interests which will help me decide the specific title and area of my dissertation.
     My interests largely include education and children since I have already taken the module on childhood inequalities and have some knowledge of the sociology of education which of course will be helpful in gathering research and starting my dissertation.