Category Archives: Dissertation

Fall 2012 – Week 10

What I did this week:

  • Scanned 8 chapters.
  • Printed, holepunched + binderized 14 chapters (had to move to a bigger binder… progress!).
  • Filled in book data for 6 books.
  • Completed 12 author bios.
  • Printed updated spreadsheet (time to return to the library).
  • Added to methods section.

Fall 2012 – Week 9

What I did this week:

  • Worked on Scrivener project, adding authors/books, and adding counts to headers so I can quickly see where I’m at.
  • Cleaned up spreadsheet, pared down list further, tried to pin down remaining missing birthyears (dear authors: just put your y.o.b. on your copyright page, ok? xo, me).
  • Updated WorldCat list.
  • Filled in book data for 6 books.
  • Scanned 6 chapters.
  • Made a plan for what I want to have done by the end of the year.

Fall 2012 – Week 8

What I did this week:

  • Researched recent articles. Finding the ‘search within citations’ feature of Google Scholar useful.
  • Filled in book data for 4 books.
  • Started importing research to Scrivener project — I can see how this is going to help with efficiently reading/taking notes/writing.
  • Library book sale (twice). Picked up 24 books, with 9 I think I can add to my list.
  • Also went to library + took 6 more books out. This brings the list to 37 total (more than 1/3 of the way to completion). Added all to Goodreads.
  • Futzed around with spreadsheet a bit (proper update on Monday).

Fall 2012 – Week 7

What I did this week:

  • Partially filled in book data for 9 books. I’ve decided to fill in just the part that requires the whole book to start. Once I get that done for all the books, I’ll do the more detailed chapter analysis. (Benefits: I’ll feel like I’m making more progress, I’ll get a big picture overview of the whole project before getting into the details, and when I’m done with the books themselves, I can go work anywhere.)
  • Figured out a much faster way to do the length-of-chapters section (yay for streamlining). Added this to methods section (which I’m trying to work on as I go).
  • Finally, I’m trying to quash the urge to read all 100 books right. now. I will never finish in a year if I do that :-/ Sorry, books.

Fall 2012 – Week 6

What I did this1 week:

  • Scanned 6 chapters.
  • Printed 6 chapters, holepunched, added to binder.
  • Completed 4 author biographies.
  • Set up templates for all the books I currently have (22) + 2nd books for some of the authors (4).
  • Worked on pruning book list (down to 170 from 220 — aiming for ~100).
  • Partially filled in chapter data for 1 book.

Trying not to feel discouraged about how long it’s going to take to compile all the book data. My plan is to do about 100 books, ~10 for each of the 10 years. That seems like a good sample size, but ack, right now it feels like it’s going to take forever. It won’t, but… Oh well, if I just keep doing a little each day, I’ll get there eventually, right?

Timely post from this morning: Just one thing.

1Technically, last week, I know. Didn’t get around to posting on the weekend.

Fall 2012 – Week 5

What I did this week:

  • Updated Goodreads & Worldcat lists.
  • Completed 10 author bios.
  • Continued refining biography template and dissertation project.
  • Already I can see some variation in level of social media participation, join dates, etc. so that’s good. Means there will be something to compare.
  • I follow Scrivener on Twitter and I happened to see a tweet about displaying images in the corkboard instead of the index card—great tip! Started adding author photos for the author pages + book covers for the book pages.
  • Was thinking about possible differences in m/f use of social media/blogging and that might be an area to explore.

I’m loving using Scrivener for this. I feel so organized because everything is in one project rather than scattered all over the place. Also, I’ve set up my templates for data compilation as appendixes, so when I’m done compiling data, my appendixes will be done. I feel like I’m actually making progress on a daily basis (just do a little bit each day) and thinking of how much work I won’t have to do later makes me happy 🙂

Here’s what it looks like so far:

Dissertation Screenshot 12-10-07

Fall 2012 – Week 4

What I did this week:

  • Fixed up WorldCat lists (here + here), made public, added links to research page.
  • Scanned 1 chapter (I found another book), printed 6 chapters.
  • Hole-punched everything printed so far and put in binder.
  • [redacted]
  • Tidied up Zotero, sorted research by type, added to Scrivener project.
  • Researched Scrivener/Zotero integration.
  • Integrated template into Scrivener file, organized project (so many levels!).
  • Took out 6 books from library.
  • Bought supply printer paper + ink.
  • Am all ready for some power data-gathering!

I think I’ve also successfully reformed my blog-reading habits (it’s been a month). I sorted all my feeds into 3 categories: news & pop culture (skim a couple times a day), books/reading/writing (read once a day) and everything else (aka the fun feeds, which I’ve been saving for the weekend and reading all at once — like reading the Sunday newspaper. love!). So far, so good. Yay for productivity!

Fall 2012 – Week 3

What I did this week:

  • Dissertation is officially started 12/09/17!
  • Figured out how to set up template that will work across multiple platforms (within Scrivener + transfer to spreadsheet to make tables later on).
  • Started creating said template, using first author and book as a prototypes.
  • Filled in author 1’s info.
  • Filled in book 1’s quantitative info.
  • Realized scrap paper will be useful. Math ftw.
  • Scanned 15/~100 chapters (searchable pdf, esp. for analyzing sample page).
  • Printed 10/~100 chapters (paper copy to write on for qualitative analysis). Started binder to keep these in. Found set of alphabet tab dividers. /nerd
  • Downloaded a couple programs to analyze word frequency to try (Reckoning & Text Master). Tested these out.
  • Printed full list of books (to take with me to the library).

Fall 2012 – Week 2

What I did this week:

  • Purchased new (mini) laptop.
  • Purchased corkboard + dry erase board (for inspiration board purposes). 50% off, win.
  • Got new laptop set up (feel like this took an entire day… updates much?)
  • Created dissertation Scrivener project; set up provisional chapters.
  • Downloaded thesis “template” (nitpick: not actually a template! just a document!) + instructions from thesis office. Saved my own copy; started setting up front matter, adjusting fonts, etc.
  • Performed blog maintenance: updated various pages, top menu, widgets, etc.
  • Worked on The List of authors + books. eta: Ok, good enough for now. Will sort out the rest as I go along.