The Question of Research

First of all, I apologize for the summer hiatus. There were some more pressing issues that I had to attend to, which took priority over blogging. I apologize. However, this did not stop my reading and research and I have a stack of books just waiting to be read, so the next few months should be very exciting.

Now, I want to talk about research. Specifically, what type of qualitative or quantitative research I could personally gather to put into my paper. I have begun my classwork as a graduate student and have listened to a couple lectures on research and statistics and how it will apply to my work. That is all well and good for those trying to observe and draw conclusions from trends seen in a specific audience, but what about me? How can I conduct more hands-on research for my project?

This raises some problems for me because the project would most likely require classroom testing, which would come after the proposal. Or, could I, as a new graduate student, find the resources and time to test my product? Would developing a program proposal based on educational theory be enough? Can I simply prove that there is nothing like this available to young students?

These are all questions I will have to address with my advisor and thesis committee. I suppose I could try to get access to a group of young students at the nearby elementary school and see if I can conduct at least one successful lesson. Or, I could conduct a survey displaying the lack of Shakespeare education and appreciation in today’s system.

Do you have any ideas? Let me know! I am always looking for extra help.