The Research Gap

Most of the studies I have found used relatively small sample sizes. They generally focused on one particular area. Given the fact that local food producers deal with very different circumstances depending on their location in the world, I think this leaves a need replication in different areas. I haven't found a pertinent study from Utah or anywhere in the Western United States, for that matter. So possible general questions could be: what online features do local food producers in Utah want? What do they not care for?How do their answers differ from those of local food consumers? There's also potential in using the framework of online customer engagement from the literature review to analyze currently existing local food/farmer websites.

Comments

  1. Autumn NuzmanOctober 10, 2021 at 1:12 PM

    It sounds like you're heading in a good direction with identifying your research gap and translating that into a research proposal. Increasing sample size could definitely be beneficial. When you start working more on carrying your project out, I'd suggest consulting the Undergraduate Research Office at DSU. Obviously, we aren't undergraduates, but they could be a helpful resource for fleshing out research ideas and suggesting further directions to take if you don't already have that covered. It also looks like maybe they aren't just an "undergraduate" research office anymore since the word undergraduate isn't always referenced on their website: https://academics.dixie.edu/uro/

    ReplyDelete
  2. EmmaOctober 10, 2021 at 11:38 PM

    this is a really cool topic and it sounds like your research gap has a good focus and potential. I also think your questions are a great starting point and that you will be able to get some helpful information from them. Are you thinking that your research study might be more along the style of qualitative rather than quantitative? I think doing surveys or interviews using your questions could be possible!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Plans for Revision

My biggest need right now might be to nail down how to select participants. I'm planning on using purposeful sampling, but I still need to define the criteria that I'll be using to decipher which participants truly fit into the study. I've found some farmers' market organizations with lists that will certainly be helpful, but I'm also trying to consider other ways of locating participants. It seems that if I only draw my sample from online sources, I'm likely to find a bias toward using online tools--given the fact that most of that sample would probably be using them already. I would like to find as diverse a population as possible, in terms of current farm-related online-tool use.
Read more

Topics of Interest

My ultimate dream in life is to own and operate a small farmstead. Because of this, I end up spending a fair amount of my free time watching youtube videos of people "living the dream" on their small acreages. It has become a genuine way to learn and practice new skills/competencies. So something along the lines of analyzing how youtube is used as an education tool might be an interesting research project for me. A second, very unrelated, topic I thought might be fun would be to study the usability (or watchability, I guess) of scoreboards and graphics during televised football games. I could ask questions like: What makes them effective among those who like the game already? Are there ways to change them to help light a fire of fandom in the less-than-interested?
Read more

Reviewing the Semester

Designing a sound research study takes patience and creativity. If you'll network and explore the literature, you can find amazing ideas that you hadn't previously considered. Research is ultimately a team sport. This class has opened up my imagination to the possibilities for research that are out there. Coming from different background outside English or technology, it has been interesting to learn what types of things are studied in the field of technical communication. I realize now that nothing is off-limits for research, and that I'll want to stay acquainted with the tech comm journals so I continue to use best practices in my work. Thank you all for your insights and recommendations. You all have great minds and are working hard. It's great to learn from you. It's been an awesome class!
Read more