Bending my way through new research...

 Yesterday I posted about prisms.  I forgot to mention that prisms even came up during a recent research workshop.  

Last week I participated with my cohort from 11am to 6pm on Thursday and Friday and from 11am to 3pm on Saturday in a virtual research seminar.  I felt like I was back at the start of my doctoral program as we progressed through different possible research designs, traded ideas, and sought possible collaborative relationships with one another in exploring first year experiences of our college students at faith-based institutions.  By the end of the workshop, my head was spinning, and I was frantically trying to narrow down from the SIX ideas of research projects I had in mind.  I feel like I'm trying to figure out my dissertation topic all over again.  I'm excited by the possibilities but definitely need to pray and think about these ideas more before I make a decision in terms of which direction to go with this research.  I still have a month before I need to get down on paper what I plan to do but I'm itching to know NOW....which is typical of me.  ;)

So, where do prisms come into play?

Well, they emerged during a conversation about qualitative research.  The presenter talked about the work of Richardson and St. Pierre (2008) when it comes to triangulation and crystallization of ideas in research.  The presenter explained as ideas take shape and form, the information is distilled and refracted much like how light bounces off and through a prism.  

I'm excited to see what is going to come out of this cohort over the next couple of years.  A lot of exciting ideas were shared as we worked our way through the three day workshop and I look forward to seeing everyone's projects come to fruition!