Qual 2/Dissertation Fieldnotes

For the purposes of my Qual 2 class and my grad student life (nearing dissertation time) I have to keep field notes of the research I am doing.  Or just fieldnotes of the process of getting ready for research.  And writing this post makes me realize/remember that I need to do that IRB thing at OSU so that none of my efforts are wasted and they can all count toward my dissertation research.

My first field note I will write today, but it is really a reflection of conversations and thoughts I have over the fall semester.  It seems as if everyone that knows me knows that I am working on my doctorate and nearing dissertation.  And that means that when I run into people at work (SNU), ball games or church or the grocery story, they ask me how my course work is going and when I will finish.  The REALLY savvy ones ask me what the topic of my dissertation will be.  While annoying (I am so ready to be a hermit) these Q/A sessions have helped me to define my topic and research question better.  These folks I run into are only slightly interested, so I want to give them the short version and I say, "My dissertation is about courses meeting their stated objectives -- onland and online courses." 

That's all for now.  I'll post another fieldnote later about a conversation I had with my mother-in-law that helped me to explain and define it better.