This week I wish I did much more than I actually did! I got a good amount done, but it always feels like there’s infinitely more to do. I got on a great workflow and completed a lot of the qualitative analysis for my posts based on Afzalan et al. (2015)’s article that has a very similar methodology, and have begun the long process of creating a series of infographics.
Afzalan et al. (2015)’s article looked at a number of closed neighborhood Facebook groups by analyzing post content, and additionally they distributed a survey (exactly what I did!!!). The post content analysis was particularly helpful since there is so much information about how to categorize posts, and also different sub-themes to explore. Initially I was displaying all this information in graphs or paragraphs, but Afzalan provided a great example of how to organize it in tables and in theme headings and subheadings. It’s amazing how much organization of information can help move the process along.
I’m in the process of creating infographics, which is a slow process for me since I spend a lot of time researching color schemes and usable images for it. I’m currently thinking of making at least three infographics, so I don’t try to squish too much information into one. First, I’ll make an infographic describing the Cascadia earthquake, so people are somewhat situated and convinced that this is important. Next, I’ll make one on social capital, describing bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. The final one will be about building trust online, and it will describe what kinds of post tend to build community, and perhaps some DON’Ts as well. I could see this accompanied by a reflection or written manual, but I really want this information to be communicated quickly and visually so it can reach a wide variety of people.
In order to accomplish all this, I have a weekend full of thesis bootcamps planned with my thesis buddy. It has been immensely helpful to have someone doing a (somewhat) similar project to work with. We are able to bounce ideas off of each other and recommend articles, which is so helpful. Bring it on, final week!!