Searching: Revisions & Context

It quickly becomes evident when a pair of eyes other than your own are set on your work, what is clear and what is not. It is easy to assume that something you know or are passionate about is universally understood by your peers. I also find that in sharing my own interests with my peers, I am clearly more enthusiastic about certain ones, as opposed to others. Last week, I posed the three questions:

“What effects on a community could certain pedestrian-friendly infrastructure improvements have?”

“How can good design promote athletic activities, and even foster competitive advantage?”

“Could traditional woodworking craftsmanship techniques make a return in an industry focused on speed, cost, and sustainability?”

All of these questions have their merits and ambiguities, but at this stage I feel as though I am already ready to eliminate one from contention. The first question above, while interesting, does not inspire me as much as the others, nor do I feel like it is a very novel question in the first place. As I refine these questions, I will focus on the latter two, and maybe split one up to make three again down the road.

The remaining questions were written ambiguously with intention, as I feel like making them more specific as I go is easier than trying to refocus them, or make them more broad. parts like the phrase “good design” are completely unspecific on purpose because I don’t yet know what would qualify as good design in the context of my question! Nor do I know what woodworking techniques would be best suited for a return, if they have not already. These are issues as pointed out by my peers, which helped me recognize what parts of these questions need more context. Looking to revise these questions, then, it is tough to see what more specific direction to take them in, as I am not aware of what research already exists. It is at this point we introduce the literature review, a component of this project I will begin here and continue to expand as I go. Look forward to a preliminary sample in next week’s update, which will inform further revisions of my questions!