i need you, as you say, to stowe your crap

 As you can see from the list on your right, progress is being made. Last night I closed the survey with astonishing 355 responses (which will be a major pain in the arse to analyse):

I also met with my supervisor for the second time, we discussed my literature review and next steps. She approved the review (with some minor corrections) and we set up a time frame for the next bit of the writing to be submitted. I now have until November 22nd to work on methodology [1000 words] and the analysis of the survey [1500 words]. This is probably the worst part, as I hate the theory-banging. But it's not too long, so it shouldn't be that difficult to get through. And once I'm done with it, I'll be half way through the total word count :D

All this means a pretty intense fortnight, as I have to combine the dissertation with my other coursework. What keeps me going is the fact that I'll be done with it soon enough to be able to enjoy my last semester of undergrad without having to deal with the dissertation anymore. It's slightly annoying now, when my flatmate (who has until April to write her thesis) keeps counting the days until the Christmas break and I'm trying to ignore how fast the time flies. But I'll be rewarded later with peace and quiet and her freaking out :)

I'm off to write an essay on death in pop culture (I'm a very pop-cultural creature lately) for one of my classes. Wish me luck!

Until the next time,
Joanna

happy thoughts

Things are looking quite great at the moment, I hope in a few years I will remember this feeling of utter joy and excitement I am feeling now.

First of all, my questionnaire got approved by the Ethics Committee in a record time of two working days (and they said it would take a fortnight). I received their decision on Monday, when I was finishing the literature review, so I couldn't post the survey immediately. I finally did it yesterday, I linked it everywhere I could and I sent out a bunch of emails and private messages asking various bloggers from the fandom to spread the word. I was completely unprepared for the outcome. In a day I have received over 150 completed surveys! I'm not entirely sure how many do I actually need (I'll have to ask my supervisor) but still. It's so incredible and totally unexpected I can't believe it. This just proves I was right to choose something I love and am passionate about as my topic - because I knew other people would be just as invested in it. I guess being in the fandom for nine years does that to you.

I also finished the literature review, I sent it to my mum's friend for proofreading and hopefully by the end of the week I get it back to present it to my supervisor. So far that's 2683 words into the dissertation (it will change after the proofreading, I'm sure, but not by much), which is really helpful in making me less paralysed by the thought of writing something so big and important. Deconstructing it and facing it piece by piece is so much easier.

I guess this is me being extraordinarily optimistic. Enjoy it while it lasts :)

Until the next time,
Joanna

P.S. If you haven't seen the survey already (and frankly, it's everywhere :P), check it out HERE. Remember, you'll helping science become more awesome :D

let me sleep

Bad, bad me. Not posting for almost two weeks? What have I been thinking?

Well, mostly I haven't been doing that much. I was working on the Internet survey which I later had to submit to the Ethics Committee which is going to tell me if I can ask the world to do the survey. 

In the meantime I have been trying to do my literature review, which is basically reading a lot about the series, but also about sociology of religion, and taking notes. My set deadline for it (including writing the bit, which is about 2500 words) is next Friday, but I want to send it over for proofreading, so I need to finish it before Monday. Which is not a lot of time considering how much reading I still have left. But hey, I can do it, right?

I've been feeling a bit down lately, it could be stress coming out, it could be the weather (it's very autumn-y outside, and not in a good way. all the grey :(), I don't really know. My sister's been trying to cheer me up over at facebook, my parents are sending me a parcel with stuff from back home, so I'm hoping it'll get better soon. I really can't concentrate on anything feeling like this and I feel guilty for it.

But anyways. The literature review. What's that about? I've looked for anything about Supernatural that would be connected to religion. I had to battle through one particularly shit book, I had to buy some stuff that I wouldn't normally buy (what is it with the prices of even remotely academic books?), I have pdfs upon pdfs of journal articles saved on my computer. A lot of it is only somewhat useful, but that's always something. Hopefully combined together all the sources will be enough to get the work done.

(I'm struggling, I'm sooooo sleepy and it's not even noon yet. The grey is killing me.)

This has been tragically uneventful and uninformative, but that's the way it is. Sorry. Hopefully in a while I will be able to give you something more exciting and useful. Until then,

Peace out.

Joanna

patience, i has it (not)

In my pursuit of written sources about Supernatural which would at least resemble academic discourse, I came across three seemingly interesting (albeit not particularily sociological) books:

• The Mythology of Supernatural by Nathan Robert Brown
• TV Goes to Hell edited by Stacey Abbott and David Lavery
• Supernatural and Philosophy edited by Galen A. Foresman

While I'm still waiting for the last one (which, by the way, was published by Blackwell, so my expectations are high), the first two reached my already. I began today with The Mythology..., which so far is surprisingly underwhelming. I'm about 20% in and really not impressed. I mean, it's a good read for someone who decided to broaden their religious knowledge because of the show, but for anyone with a tiny bit of previous experience in the field the mistakes he makes are surprisingly easy to spot. I mean, it's one thing that he wrote things wrong, but what happened to his fact-checkers? Did they forget how to google stuff? I know, it's minute details, but they make me so annoyed. The bibliography for the book is ridiculously short, so I guess I could've expected it. But in my humble opinion a person who calls themselves a "mythologist" whose work "has led him to do extensive research" in various fields (that's from the book back cover) should not make cardinal mistakes when they can be easily verified using Wikipedia. I mean, seriously. That's just sloppy.

I have to suffer through it anyway, but venting makes it slightly more bearable.

P.S. Another annoying thing? It's been three days since I emailed my thesis supervisor and there's still no response. I do love her, but her communication skills are debatable.

post of annoyance #1

Quick advice: before you decide on your research topic, make sure your university can provide you with the books you need. Yes, I am currently composing my literature review and yes, out of many books I could potentially use only one is available in our state-of-the-art library. And only because it's an e-book. I do love my university, but there seems to be no money for any kind of research that would be remotely recent (as opposed to grounded in decades of previous study) in the RS department. Shame on them, I will be huge one day and not thanks to them.

I think I might actually email one of my Sociology lecturers stupidly hoping that she might have some of the books. I can only buy so much myself, especially with the prices of academic textbooks (because everybody knows students are filthy reach, duh).

On a happier note, I believe I finished designing the questionnaire (I sent it to my supervisor and I'm waiting to hear back from her if it's any good). You know, coming up with respectful and inclusive questions is hard. But yeah, hopefully I wasn't too bad at it.

It's about time for me to get some sleep (instead of ranting about books), so peace out.

Joanna