So much data


Module 2 went by so fast. I was actually really looking forward to writing the research article, because it felt like it would be a good experience of what research writing was like, and a good way to test my own abilities as opposed to writing with a group. When I was actually writing the article, I found myself struggling with various aspects of the writing process. There was so much data. Analyzing all of the data and then deciding what parts of it were most important to include in my results section took me so long. I agonized over analyzing data and making figures for the large part of the weekend, and even though I knew that I still had to write a discussion and abstract after writing the results section, I just could not find it in me to speed up the analysis process. I think this aspect is where visiting the BE CommLab would have been helpful to me, as I could have asked them for feedback about how I was deciding to emphasize certain results over others. Unfortunately, the few days after we got our data were really busy for me, and I wasn’t able to meet anyone from the CommLab during that time. I was able to go to office hours over the weekend, though, which was really helpful! I’m definitely going to keep in mind for the future that I apparently need a lot of time to digest data and make decisions, so I can plan things better.

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