Friday, June 5, 2009

Draft .5 is in!

Sometime in the early evening on Wedneday night, I sent in the first draft of my Introduction, Literature Review, and Methodology sections. They add up to about 18 pages... I was aiming for 20, but I hate stretching things out for the sake of filling pages. I like to be succinct.

I also interviewed my boss, Dave Collier, who summed up a thought nicely by saying that this Net-Genertation is "conditioned for a constant evolution of technology." While I completely believe that, it's still a generalization, and perhaps, my research will prove that the generation you grew up in is NOT the primary factor in how you use computers...

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

And the results are in...

After 10 days, 3 reminder emails, and a few calls to various colleagues for help, my survey closed with 142 responses, a number I'm quite pleased with. I started glancing at the data, comparing some numbers, and planning on which numbers my analysis will be based. I have a plan, and will institute it shortly, but first I'm trying to get some of my introduction and methodology sections done for the actual paper part.

It feels great to finally get moving on this after so many months of dreading it. Now I'm just itching to fight through it and get it done.

Of course, at the same time, everything else in my life has gotten super busy. So that's wonderful.

Friday, May 15, 2009

And so it begins...

After several weeks, and a few attempts, my ethics application was finally approved. It took longer than expected, so I'm a few weeks behind where I wanted to be, but still in good shape to finish this whole thing on time. I ran everything by my boss, and got the OK that I could send it out, and fired my survey out to almost 4,000 people last night.

Realistically, I don't think 2,000+ will even read it. The nature of our newsroom would lead me to believe that most employees in our radio departments won't even know it's there, because they use the system differently. Of the 2,000 that DO read it, I doubt 1,000 will give it more than a look, meaning that roughly 1,000 people will read it and consider doing it. If 1 in 10, or 2 in 10 take it, I'll have between 100-200 reponses, which will make me happy. Any more than that, and I'll be thrilled.

The good news is that less than 16 hours in, I already have 39 responses, which pleases me. Let's hope this pace keeps up.

Friday, April 24, 2009

508 - Enemy at the Gates

After several months and several drafts, I've finally received the go-ahead from my advisor, and am currently awaiting the results of my ethics application. Considering the banal nature of my survey, I don't expect ethics to take too long, and imagine that I should get that one back within a few days. As soon as that happens, however, the actual study must begin... as soon as I return from Las Vegas. Actually, I'll hopefully send out the survey BEFORE I leave, and have some results by the time I return.

Over the few drafts, the study has evolved slightly. Before it was essentially asking if young people and old people have different comfort levels with technology. While the answer to that would likely prove to be an obvious "yes," we dont' really learn much other than what we already know. Instead, I'm looking at what factors actually influence the different levels of technology acceptance in different age groups. What I expect to find is that other factors are more influential than age... many of them just happen to correlate to age.

Anyway, I'm excited to get started. But also dreading the mountain of work at awaits.

So... it's almost time to put my head down and start hammering. But first... VEGAS!