Drew M - OUTD 2511

*Disclaimer: This blog was created for OUTD 2511, Lakehead University. The opinions expressed here are my own and not those of Lakehead University. Lakehead University is not responsible for the accuracy of any information supplied by this blog.*

[cfmoutd2511]

I Give Up. Amanda you got me.

These three things I know for certain about outdoor recreation research:

1.    After this course, my main take away that I am certain about is how vital research is within the field of outdoor recreation. Without constant research taking place in this field, the outdoor industry would never grow or expand to be even better or reach out to more people.

2.    However, one thing I did realise is that collecting good accurate research is a lengthy process and requires a lot of patience.

3. How important qualitative and quantitative data is. I learnt about these key terms in school but never realised how central they were to everything research, or that a full textbook could focus on these two words.

Three things I am still confused by:

1.    How you know when research is accurate – no matter how big sample is it will never be able to generalise to everyone as the human population is so vast and complex. 

2.    How far you can take one research question and how many angles you can take it.

3.    Why theses seem unnecessarily long and often confusing. To me it seems like only people that understand the lingo gain knowledge from the thesises. Why don’t they tailor it more so everyone can understand what is being talked about? Also not everyone may have to patience to read through 20 pages of very small words.

Three things I know for certain about me as an outdoor recreation researcher:

1.    I prefer talking to people and gaining qualitative data over quantitative as you learn so much more about a person that way and humans are super intersting to listen to rather than looking at numbers. 

2.    However i understand privileged I am to have access to education here and have the opportunities if I want them to conduct research that is of interest to me.

3. That if i can’t write a simple blog like this one there is no way that i would be able to be anywhere near a good enough researcher. 

Three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

1.    Asking and wording the right questions in the best way (i.e to not appear leading)

2.    Spend more time researching areas by reading articles and books, watching films and having discussions with people to learn everything I can about areas in the field that are of interest to me and gain lots of different perspectives. Most importantly develop my comprehension and analytical skills so I am ready if I do decide in the future that I want to become a researcher.

3.    Finally, work on believing in myself and having confidence in my abilities as a researcher to take action. This i do not have currently. 

I’m just submitting what I have, I know this final blog sucks but I already know I’m going to fail and I can’t do it anymore. I keep reading blogs that others have submitted and comparing myself to those that have 18 references or are really funny and cleverly written and I can’t compete. I know I can do better than this however as of right now I’m burntout, my brain is blank, and the hours and hours of looking at these blogs this past week and staying up till 3 am every night trying to write them has already caused me enough stress. I don’t know why I can’t do it but I feel very stupid, incredibly frustrated with myself and not worthy of being at university so I’m sorry.

[demoutd2511]

Hey Charlotte!

You have a great post here!

It’s very true about research being vital to our field, even if it is long, very patient-testing and sometimes not the most interesting!

It really is crazy how a whole ~400 page textbook could be focused on basically only two words!

It would be nice if thesises were not so long and confusing, full of that field’s jargon and I definitely agree 20 pages of small words to read can be very patient-thinning and not a fun thing to look at for a long time!

Charlotte, I know this might not help you or you might not believe it right now, but you are not stupid, you are one of the smartest people I know! You are someone I trust and feel comfortable coming to when I am confused as I know you will explain and help me understand in a kind and compassionate way, just because that is who you are, a kind, compassionate, and overall amazing person!

And Burnout sucks, I know from experience, so if you need someone to talk to, or need a buddy to go jump in puddles or play in the last remains of the snow, I’m here for you!!

Your friend,

Drew

[ahoutd2511]

Blog Prompt 9/10 (OUTD-2511): Final Blog

Three things I know for certain about outdoor recreation research:

Ethics: Ethics are important in research because they can help to protect the researcher, the research, and the volunteers/test subjects/interviewees. Ethics can include concerns or conflicts that may arise and ethics helps “to define what is or is not legitimate to do, or what ‘moral’ research procedures involve (Neuman, 2017). Ethics must be considered throughout the entire research process and it is really important to never overlook ethics. In this course, we were taught the extreme importance of ethics, so it is cemented in my brain.

Qualitative and Quantitative research: It was fairly easy to remember quantitative and qualitative research because I learned it in high school during chemistry. I only had to learn out to apply it outside of the science lab. Besides the difference between the two are easy to remember: qualitative data is "information in the form of words, pictures, sounds, visual images, or objects," and quantitative data is "information in the form of numbers," (Neuman, 2017). Qualities vs. quantities.

Invisible Backpacks: An invisible backpack I know the concept of invisible backpacks for sure because I also learned about it in another OPRT course with Craig Paiement. For his course we had to create a 'power flower' which included what privileges we had. The inner petals were the advantages/privileges according to social norms, and the outer petals are your results. The green checks show the privileges you have. This is my power flower:

Three things I am still confused by:

How is this new knowledge significant to my future career?

Throughout this course I have been trying to find things that I can apply to my future career. This has been difficult because I am not going into a career in research. However I may not be able to apply the majority of what I have learned in this course, I think I can still apply the concepts of ethics and invisible backpacks. This is due to the fact that these two things should be taken into consideration in every workplace and in life in general. Every person has their own unique story and they each carry different advantages or disadvantages that has effected their lives. Regardless of an individual's invisible backpack, everyone should be treated with equity.

How do I write a research proposal?

I have no idea how a research proposal is supposed to be formatted. I have tried to look at examples of research proposals made by Lakehead University students, and I have searched the web to try and find the correct formatting, but they are all different. Even for the research proposal for our podcast project our group was just guessing the formatting because we couldn't find a template and we were never taught how to create a research proposal.

All of the new terms.

There are so many terms in the textbook that it is really difficult to remember them all and their meanings. I counted the glossary of the textbook and there are 363 terms and definitions in it (Neuman, 2017). Only in chapter 1 of the textbook there are 32 terms to remember (Neuman, 2017). Due to the fact that there are so many different new terms it is hard to accurately remember most of them.

Things I know for certain about me as an outdoor recreation researcher:

I would not make a good outdoor recreation researcher. I am constantly getting new hobbies and finding new interests that it would be extremely difficult for me to fully complete a research project. It would be very hard for me to stay invested in my research because I can get bored fairly easily, I get easily distracted, and once I feel that I have learned enough of something, I move on to a new challenge.

This is a quote that I often look at:

“None of us are getting out of here alive, so please stop treating yourself like an afterthought. Eat the delicious food. Walk in the sunshine. Jump in the ocean. Say the truth that you’re carrying in your heart like a hidden treasure. Be silly. Be kind. Be weird. There’s no time for anything else.” - Anthony Hopkins (n.d.)

I don't want to be an outdoor recreation researcher. I haven’t had the resources or the opportunities to experience many outdoor activities or new places besides hunting and camping during my lifetime, so I want to spend my time experiencing things before anything else. I feel that I would not be a good researcher because I haven’t even experienced much of life. Also, I feel that I should focus more on my life and the happiness and new experiences I can get instead of dedicating a large portion of my time to a research project that likely won't matter. I know it sounds rude, but there are so many research papers out there already that it is very hard to think of anything new to research, and a lot of those papers don’t even get read or lead to anything significant. I would rather spend my time out in the field making a difference instead of behind a computer analyzing research that likely won't lead to anything important.

Three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

Staying Focused: I have a really hard time staying focused on a task for a long period of time. Research projects are especially difficult for me to do because of how long they can take. The parts of research that are in the field or with people I can become very focused and interested in, but the written portions are extremely hard for me to focus on. I'm honestly not too sure how I can improve on this because I have been trying to improve on it for years and it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Staying Interested in the Research: I can have a very strong passion for something, but that feeling can quickly fizzle out. I struggle with staying interested in something, such as a research project, for the entire duration of time. I get to a certain point where I think I know a lot about the topic and I lose interest because my curiosity has been fulfilled.

Staying motivated to complete the research: Once I lose focus and become uninterested, it is extremely hard for me to stay motivated to complete a task. This can be difficult for completely large projects that require a lot of time because as mentioned before I easily lose focus and can quickly become uninterested. I often have to force myself to complete something that I have no motivation to do, but this can lead to a final product that may not be as good as it should be.

A perfect example of when I have experienced all three of these areas I struggle in is while writing this blog. This blog required sitting at a computer for a long period of time, it required me to write about things I am not interested in writing about, and this led to me having an extremely difficult time staying motivated to write it.

References

Neuman, W. & Robson, K. (2017). Basics of social research (4th edition). Pearson

Quozio. (n.d.). None of us are getting out of here alive . . . Quozio. Retrieved 2022, from https://quozio.com/quote/t2wnxn44v9f4/1133/none-of-us-are-getting-out-of-here-alive-so-please-stop

[demoutd2511]

Hey Ashley!

You have written a fantastic post, just like you always do!

It seems the one thing many people took out of the classes was about ethics, and their importance. I can say you were a very ethical person before; and I bet now with all this new ethic knowledge, you are even more ethical in all your decisions!

That’s really cool that you learned about qualitative and quantitative research in your high school chemistry class! How did they apply these concepts in that class? Was it very different from how we applied them in this class?

I also wrote about invisible backpacks in my post, but forgot about the power flowers from Craig’s class! I like how you included yours in your post, along with how you used different colours for each area; it makes it very clear to read and understand!

I am also having trouble connecting everything we learned in this class to my current future dream career path, which is not research-based at all. You make a very good point about the importance of ethics and invisible backpacks in every career, and in everyone’s lives. Your final statement for your first point you are confused on, is very true, and I agree that “regardless of an individual's invisible backpack, everyone should be treated with equity.”

I also have no idea how to format a research proposal, hopefully if we need it in the future, we can figure it out then, or we can guess and stubble in the dance of creating a research proposal together!

Counting all the terms in the Glossary must have taken you a long time! I didn’t realize that there were so many, and I definitely agree about it being hard to remember all of them! Some also had me very confused which made it harder to understand and remember them, which was not helpful, to say the least.

I would definitely not say you could not be a great outdoor recreation researcher, but I do get your point about constantly changing interests and how that would impact and make researching one thing very difficult and likely boring for you!

That is a beautiful quote you shared! Where did you find it or first hear it?

Ashley, you are one of the kindest people I have ever met, and I know you are going to do fantastic in everything you do in the future, as you are kind-hearted, beyond friendly, and overall a fantastic person! I am so happy and thankful to have met you this year and be able to call you my friend!

~ Drew

[raoutd2511]

#8 Quiz Time!

Prompt:  Find an online survey/questionnaire/quiz that you can participate in (it does not need to be formal) and complete it – the quality and honesty of your responses is up to you… what we want to hear about is the actual quality of the survey. Do not select a formal, credible questionnaire that will actually lead to a diagnosis as those are often very scrupulous in their wording and have already been vetted extensively. Please critically evaluate the survey/questionnaire/quiz (please provide us with the link to the page where you found it). What is the context? How well are the questions written? Might there be variety/ambiguity in the responses that lead to poor results? What are some strengths and weaknesses? How might it be improved (accessibility, wording, length, promotion, etc.). Please reference the course notes, the textbook, and the article itself. Remember, I expect you to be demonstrating a robust understanding of the course material at this point in time!

Answer: 

For this week’s blog post I came across a quiz from my TikTok, and I was curious because it seemed to be a trend that was going around. I decided to take the quiz: Psychopathy Spectrum Test by IDRLABS.com (Individual Differences Research). It is “Based on the work of associate professor Michael R. Levenson, the Psychopath Test is a scientifically-validated instrument for measuring a person’s degree of psychopathy. It is widely used to assess psychopathic traits in non-institutionalized people” (Psychopathy, 2022). It is available in 15 languages and the cite gives a lot of information on how this is used to determine if people have psychopathic tendencies. It is worth the read and it does state that although it is based on the work of professor Levenson, it is not associated with him. I am not entirely sure how credible this test is as it says it is used professionally but I am having a hard time believing this to be true.

The test is made up of 27 questions, each of which you rank on a small scale of Disagree on the left and Agree on the right. You can place the slider at what I assume to be (although not labeled) Disagree, Somewhat Disagree, Neutral, Somewhat agree and Agree. I think the test could have benefited by labeling the options on the slider so they are clearly marked and the individuals who choose to take the quiz are fully informed. The questions are more statement-like and walk you through a series of feelings and prompts that question morals, critical thinking and personal judgment. The quiz takes about 3 minutes maximum to complete as the statements are all reality worded. Some example statements are: I enjoy manipulating other people’s feelings, I have never been in trouble with the law, making a lot of money is one of my most important goals, what’s right is whatever I can get away with, etc. 

I took the quiz a few times with different answers every time. The picture is the results from the first time I took the quiz and I ranked 15.12% more psychopathic than the average population. I found that if you leave the slider in the middle for every question, the dot is placed right in the middle of the graph. 

How could this test have been improved? I think this test has some leading questions, especially if you know going into it that it is about psychopathic tendencies. It would be easy to manipulate the answers you give based on what is seen as morally right by society and not your personal feelings about the statement. I also think using the internet as a mode of delivery for a free quiz like this could lead this to landing in the wrong peoples hands. I think it would be more reliable as a face to face conversation with a psychiatrist (Neuman, 2018). 

Regardless it was a fun survey to take. Whenever I think about a psychopath, I think about the time I watched the Hannibal Lector movie and I think looking at how people’s brains work is incredibly interesting. 

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 8 Survey Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 161- 191). Pearson.

Psychopathy spectrum test. IDRlabs. (2022), from https://www.idrlabs.com/psychopathy-spectrum/test.php

[demoutd2511]

Hey Rachel!

Great post! I like how you started with a picture, although I was slightly confused why you chose one of Hannibal Lecter, till I saw the quiz you took and then it made a lot more sense!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the quiz, as I’m writing this reply in the Centennial Building on campus, which doesn’t have the best WIFI connections; Although, as a side note it does have some great, very sunny study spots, one which has plants too (Thanks for the recommendation, Sarah [@sjwoutd2511]!!!!)

I do agree with your point about not really believing it is being used professionally and that there are better options, such as a face-to-face conservation with a licensed psychiatrist like you said in your post.

The quiz I did also didn’t label all the answer choices; that’s really weird that two quizzes didn’t label their answer choices. I think labeling would have definitely helped both of our quizzes, and as you said in your post, would have made the individuals who did the quiz fully informed.

Why did you choose to do the quiz multiple times? Was it just to see what combinations of answers would put you in the different quadrants? Also, it is interesting that answering all neutrals puts you in the exact middle, though that does make sense.

My first thought, when I saw the picture at the top of your post and the quiz you did, I also thought of Hannibal Lector, and the movie about him, The Silence of the Lambs. Was that the movie you were also thinking of? I have watched it once when I was 15 or 16, and it was very creepy.

Another Fantastic Post, Rachel!!!!

~ Drew

[demoutd2511]

My final takeaways from this course

Three Things I know for certain about outdoor recreation research:

The Importance of Ethics and Protecting the Confidentiality of Participants

From this course, I learned about the importance of ethics and being an ethical researcher. Ethical researchers might not get many rewards and little praise, but that is better than the long list of consequences an unethical researcher can face when caught (Neuman, 2018). The best preparation for ethical behaviour is to internalize a sensitivity to ethical concerns, to adopt a serious professional role, and to interact regularly with other researchers. Moveover, the scientific community demands ethical behaviour without exceptions” (Neuman, 2018). The ethics tutorial by TCPS-2 also taught me a lot about ethics, such as the level of confidentiality needed with participants of many age-ranges, mostly children. The textbook explains what scientific misconduct is, and two forms of it, research fraud and plagiarism. I had heard of plagiarism before, from my other University classes and that blurb in all the syllabuses, but also from an Academic Integrity Matters (AIM) course I did last year.

Invisible Backpacks in Research

Every person has an invisible backpack that affects their life. A person’s invisible backpack can affect, not only other people’s opinions and views of them, but also their own ideals, ideas, and opinions about the world around them, including any research they partake in (Hooykaas, 2022).

My invisible backpack affects and impacts my views and opinions on the things around me.

My Invisible Backpack Photo Credit: Drew Miller, made on Canva

Bad Science: How to spot it

Another thing I learned from this class was Bad Science and how to spot it.

Photo Credits: Hooykaas, 2022

The 12 tips to spotting bad science are:

Sensationalized Headlines

Misinterpreted Results

Conflict of Interests

Correlation & Causation

Speculative Language

Sample Size Too Small

Unrepresentative Samples

No Control Group Used

No Blind Testing Used

‘Cherry-picked’ Results

Unreplicable Results

Journals & Citations

I used these tips for spotting bad articles when writing my final paper for a different class this semester. I searched for keywords and read the abstracts for each one that came up, along with also avoiding the ones with “sensationalized headlines [and titles].”

Three Things I’m still confused about are:

How I will use this knowledge I have gained from this class in my future, as right now I am not planning on going into a career in the research field; I’m leaning more towards the outdoor education field.

Some of the research-related terms and phrases. I have learned many terms from this course, through the textbook and the slides. An example of a phrase I’m confused with is ‘Axial Coding’, which from the textbook is defined as “a second coding of qualitative data after open coding. The researcher organizes the codes, develops linkages among them, and discovers key analytic categories” (Neuman, 2018). Another phrase is ‘Alternative Hypothesis’, and when I looked up the definition in the textbook, I didn’t know one of the words, ‘null hypothesis’, that was part of the definition, so I had to learn what that term meant to figure out what my original confusing term meant. This occurred many times throughout the assigned textbook readings for me.

How to use Tumblr. Before this class, I had never used Tumblr or any blogging platform. I have learned how to post, and repost and reply to other’s posts. One thing that still confuses me about Tumblr is how sometimes when I click on someone’s post or repost to read it, it pops up on the side in a smaller area; I’m not sure why, but it only happens randomly, so it is not too bad.

Three things I know for certain about me as an outdoor recreation researcher:

I prefer to analyze and use qualitative research over quantitative when researching. I don’t mind analyzing numbers and more concrete data, but qualitative data, with its information in words, pictures, sounds, visual images or objects (Neuman, 2018) is more my style.

I currently plan to not go into a career in the research field, more aiming for the outdoor education field. But I have learned that if I am interested in and like the topic I’m researching, whether outdoor-related or not, I will be more excited and passionate about it. For example, when I was writing the script for my podcast group, I was much more excited about writing the sections about ghost towns and shipwrecks over the rest of it.

Three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills:

Taking time and having more practice with writing research/survey questions, whether the questions are quantitative or qualitative. I don’t have much practice writing either type of questions, or really any survey research questions before this class.

Organizing my research notes better. I need to spend some time improving my note collecting method, which right now is to put everything in one doc, under general headings and with a certain note to remember which one of my references it came from. This works for some assignments and projects, but for others, that have a lot of research and notes, it is a little confusing.

More confident in myself, in my researching skills and in general. I’m not the most confident person, with my skills and knowledge, or sharing them with others. I have gained some confidence over the last year and a half, as I am still often very quiet, but now I will sometimes offer my opinions and thoughts, more than just when I have to, like after being called on in class.

References:

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 2 Theory and Social Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 21 - 40). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 4 Reviewing the Scholarly Literature and Planning a Study. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 62 - 79). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 5 Designing a Study. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 79 – 102). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 14 Nonreactive Qualitative Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 305 - 327). essay, Pearson.

[demoutd2511]

Personality Test

Blog Prompt #8 (Provided by Dr. Amanda Hooykaas): Find an online survey/questionnaire/quiz that you can participate in (it does not need to be formal) and complete it – the quality and honesty of your responses is up to you... what we want to hear about is the actual quality of the survey. Do not select a formal, credible questionnaire that will actually lead to a diagnosis as those are often very scrupulous in their wording and have already been vetted extensively. Please critically evaluate the survey/questionnaire/quiz (please provide us with the link to the page where you found it). What is the context? How well are the questions written? Might there be variety/ambiguity in the responses that lead to poor results? What are some strengths and weaknesses? How might it be improved (accessibility, wording, length, promotion, etc.). Please reference the course notes, the textbook, and the article itself. Remember, I expect you to be demonstrating a robust understanding of the course material at this point in time!

Context:

For this week’s post, I chose to do the 16personalities.com test. This test reveals which personality of the 16 best fits who you are. The 16 personalities include:

The Analysts

Architect (INTJ)

Logician (INTP)

Commander (ENTJ)

Debater (ENTP)

The Diplomats

Advocate (INFJ)

Mediator (INFP)

Protagonist (ENFJ)

Campaigner (ENFP)

The Sentinels

Logistician (ISTJ)

Defender (ISFJ)

Executive (ESTJ)

Consul (ESFJ)

Question Quality:

The questions are more statements you agree or disagree with, but they are very well-written. They are clear and easy to understand. “You regularly make new friends” and “Seeing other people cry can easily make you feel like you want to cry too” are two examples of questions from this test.

Variety and Ambiguity:

I think there is likely to be no variety or ambiguity in the responses that lead to poor results, as the questions are well-written and clear, which will not confuse test-takers. Also all the results are good results, as they are personality types, and one is not better than the other.

Strengths:

A few questions on each page, not overwhelming

Progress bar at the top

Clear wording and well-written questions

Results are very clear at the end, easy to see and understand

Weaknesses:

Long, as lots of questions

Not all the answer choices being labeled

Possible Improvements:

The accessibility of this test is good. It can easily be found by searching ‘personality test’ on Google and it will be one of the first few search results.

Google Search webpage. Photo credit: Google

One way this test could be improved is by labeling all the answer choices. Right now, only the first and last circles are labeled, with ‘Agree’ and ‘Disagree’ respectively. Not labeling the only circles or choices can lead to mixed interpretation of what those choices mean. As one person could think the second choice means often agree (3-4 times out of 5), well another person could think it means sometimes agree (2 times out of 5). These different interpretations could lead to people picking different circles, and possibly lead them to getting a personality that doesn’t fully fit them.

Answer choices for this test. Photo Credit: 16Personalities. com

I don’t know if this test has any promotion, but I do know a lot of people know about this test, as they will mention it when talking about personality tests.

Also, fun little thing, but I did the test this past week and got Defender, which is what I got a year ago when I also did this test. There were only slight changes in my percentages for each of the 5 categories (extraverted-introverted, intuitive-observant, thinking-feeling, judging-prospecting, and assertive-turbulent) all increased ranging from 5-10%, minus judging which decreased by 5%. I just thought it was neat as over the last year, I have felt like I’ve grown and figured out who I’m more, which is reflected in those slight changes.

References:

Anonymous. (n.d.). 16Personalities test. 16Personalities. Retrieved March 23, 2022, from https://www.16personalities.com/

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 8: Survey research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 161- 191). Pearson.

[justplainrec]

07. Rehabilitative Exercise in Stroke Recovery in Thunder Bay

I attended a live session during Research and Innovation Week and did not understand a word of it. I decided to review a 3 Minute Research presentation after the fact instead. 

I chose to review Nicole Lee’s presentation entitled: Exploring the rehabilitative and exercise experience in stroke recovery among adults living in Thunder Bay. The research is a pilot project for Lee’s masters thesis and focuses on exercise as a form of rehabilitation for stroke survivors in Thunder Bay. 

Lee used semi-structured interviews and surveys to gather her data. Both of the research techniques that Lee used to acquire her data are qualitative techniques that we have discussed in class. Lee did not go into detail about her survey or interview questions, but I am curious as to how she designed each and whether the type of questions asked and their structure affected the outcomes of her study. 

Results concluded that barriers to rehabilitation revolved around the participants’ own perceived ability and lack of motivation. While they experienced barriers, participants also experienced facilitators. Surveys confirmed these results, but also showed low quality of life scores. More research needs to be done in order to gain a comprehensive summary of one’s rehabilitation experiences; Lee could not conclude why participants were experiencing such barriers and facilitators. She intends to continue the research with semi-structured interviews, giving researchers a more in depth understanding of the experiences of participants. (Lee, 2022)

According to the text, surveys can be beneficial in that they are cost-effective and can be conducted by a single researcher. However, the largest con with surveys is that they often have a low response rate. Surveys are also not filled out under controlled conditions, nor can the researcher clarify responses or probe for more information (Neuman & Robson, 2018). 

While surveys provide a more fixed data set, qualitative interviews allow the researcher to see the world through the interviewee’s eyes: “the types of responses possible in qualitative interviewing are much more varied and allow the ‘voice’ of the interviewee to be heard” (Neuman & Robson, 2018). Interviews provide insights that simply cannot be captured through statistics and graphs. A con of interviewing is that the sample sizes are generally small in comparison to those used in qualitative research, bringing into question the validity and reliability of the research and its application to a wider population beyond those in the interview sample. Since Lee’s research is about stroke survivors in Thunder Bay and the findings aim to help the sample group, I think that semi-structured interviews is an appropriate research method. The findings do not need to extend to groups beyond the sample. 

I think that Lee’s renewed approach of using only semi-structured interviews will certainly provide her with more in-depth perspectives on her participants, although it will lower her sample size.

References

Lee, N. (2022). Exploring the rehabilitative and exercise experience in stroke recovery among adults living in Thunder Bay. Presentation, Lakehead University Research and Innovation Week.

Neuman, L., & Robson, K. (2018). Basics of Social Research (Canadian Edition) (4th ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc.

[demoutd2511]

Hey Jill!

Great post! And agree about the live sessions being confusing. I wish I had done what you did, as some aspects stayed confusing throughout the entire presentation I attended!

You picked a very interesting presentation to look at; did the topic stick out to you for some reason?

During the presentation, did Lee define what she meant by facilitators? Did they mean personal care workers or physical therapists, or something else? I’m asking as when I hear the word facilitators, I think of the ones Craig talked about in Foundations.

Do you think she should change her info gathering style to answer those new questions?

You make good points using info from the textbook, about interviews, and I agree with you and them that semi-structured interviews are an appropriate research method for this project.

Which do you think is more important: more in-depth perspectives or a larger participant group?

- Drew

[demoutd2511]

Engineering Research Presentations

Of all the events at the Research and Innovation Week Conference, I attended the Undergraduate Student Conference Oral Presentations - Session 3. The hour-long session was composed of 4 presentations and was focused on Engineering projects.

The first presentation was about the structure of a two-story building and how it handles different loads. In their research, the loads they considered included snow, wind, and crane load. Wind is one of the only horizontal loads they had to consider. Wind also is a large factor for all buildings, not just tall buildings like the CN tower or the ATAC. They explain how all these different loads would affect the building they were designing. They used something called Etabs to create their design.

The second presentation started with statistics about car-bridge collisions and the fatality rates. Their project was about designing bridge support that would not collapse if it was hit by a car or truck. They explained their research process and all the factors they had to consider. One cool thing they shared was how the car creates vibrations after hitting the supports, similar to earthquakes, and that is what causes all the damage. They also explained the method and systems they used in their design and process. I think this was a good idea, as many people watching might not have known what they were talking about.

The third presentation was on the Slope Stability of the Nipigon River. They started their presentation by defining what a landslide is and then talked about the landslide that occurred along the Nipigon River in the 1990s. They explained the possible causes for that landslide and provided recommendations for each. They think if there had been a Cantilever Retaining Wall that that landslide would haven't occurred. For their project, they designed a retaining wall and picked a good spot farther up the river to place it.

The fourth and final presentation was about a sensor system that could detect when someone had fallen or had a fever. I knew one of the speakers in this presentation; Chris Silver is another RA. Their sensor is located in a room, such as a hospital or nursing home room, or something similar to that size; they programmed the sensor for a room around that size.

One challenge they had to overcome was the technology they were using. Their sensor would send the data to a PSW or nurse, but there was a time delay; so, they are hoping with a better sensor they could get real-time data to help the fallen people faster. They also think with a better sensor, they could program it to ID faces, which would provide better fever readings, along with not signaling on a warm cup of tea, for example. They also showed a video where they demonstrated how their current sensor works and the information the PSWs and nurses would be emailed.

The four projects I saw and learned about were very interesting, but very confusing at points, as I don’t know a lot about engineering. I think all the groups had amazing ideas, designs, and clearly showed their research methods and the time they put into their projects.

References:

LU Engineering Students (2022). Undergraduate Student Conference Oral Presentations - Session 3. Presentation, Lakehead University Research and Innovation Week.

[sick-not-tired]

Expert Interview

As a part of group 5, my field of inquiry is the role and influences of identity, specifically in the field of outdoor recreation within Thunder Bay. In this field, someone I would value interviewing would be Dr. Mirella Stroink, a professor right here at Lakehead University. Dr. Stroink teaches courses in cultural psychology, community psychology, and social cognition, as well as conducting frequent research into human behaviour within linked social and ecological systems (Lakehead, 2021). More specifically, I want to talk to Dr. Stroink because she has published several studies and papers on identity and self-construal, as well as one study working with ORPT students in 2011 (Lakehead, 2021). Clearly, Stroink has extensive knowledge on human identity that would prove very useful; she also has an existing relationship with the ORPT program that might make it easier to connect with her to ask her some questions.

To start off the interview, I would ask the primary question: “I see that the environment is an aspect of much of your research, would you consider yourself a part of the Outdoor Recreational community in Thunder Bay?” From this question I would be hoping to ascertain if Dr. Stroink is a casual, habitual, or non-user of outdoor recreation opportunities in Thunder Bay. This information is helpful because, from Stroink’s staff profile, I already know her level of expertise on the topic of identity and social and cultural influence, but I cannot tell if she is an outside observer or an active participant in outdoor recreation (Lakehead, 2021). Figuring that out will help contextualize Dr. Stroink’s responses going forward.

Shifting more toward our podcast question, I would ask Dr. Stroink how representation in advertising affects a person’s feelings of belonging in a certain community or activity. This will tie in with our marketing and advertisement research and give more context into how the lack or abundance of similar people in a space, shapes how someone feels in that space. I would follow that up with a more subjective question of: “In your opinion, would this make it harder for people in marginalized groups to feel welcome in the Outdoor Recreation Community?”. This question allows Dr. Stroink to examine how well (or poorly) members of different communities are represented in specifically the outdoor space; it also allows her to apply that examination to our podcast concept of identity and belonging, and I hope she would provide insight into how that lack of perceived belonging could affect someone long term.

My final two questions would center around social media. We did social media research for this project, and I would like to see if her expectations matched the realities of the data we collected. I would ask: “What group of people do you think was the most highly represented in our research?”, then I would share our findings. I would ask how, if at all, the findings surprised her. Many questions could branch off of this primary one for me, because I was the member of our group doing the social media research. I found a few elements of the results so far were surprising to me, and I wondered if an expert in social psychology would also have the same initial biases that I did.

Question List:

1.       “Would you consider yourself a part of the Outdoor Recreational community in Thunder Bay?”

2.       “How does representation in advertising affect a person’s feelings of belonging in a certain community or activity?”

a)       “In your opinion, would this make it harder for people in marginalized groups to feel welcome in the Outdoor Recreation Community specifically?”

3.       “What group of people do you think was the most highly represented in our social media research?”

a)       “How, if at all, did the findings of our research surprise you?”

Reference List:

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson Canada Inc.

University, L. (2021). Publications. Lakehead University. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/S/mstroink/publications

University, L. (2021). Stroink, Mirella. Lakehead University. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.lakeheadu.ca/users/S/mstroink

[demoutd2511]

Hey Morgan!

Great post!

I like how you chose to interview a Lakehead professor. I agree that making a connection with them would be easier because of their previous work with ORPT. Also, what were their previous studies and papers on? Did any of them relate to your topic?

Your first question is great, and it provides you with a good base for their knowledge and could possibly help explain any confusion with their answers later on in the interview! I wish I had thought to include a question like that in my questions!

I don’t know if her answers to your second and third questions would provide you with insights on the long-term effects on a person who has a lack of perceived belonging, like you hope they do. Depending on the depth of their answers, they might not provide info on the long-term effects or info you can use to identify the long-term effects from what they said!

What does social media research mean? Did you scroll through Instagram or Tiktok and record what you saw? Also, what was the answer to the group of people you found to be the most highly represented? Would you share your other findings and research with them as well?

You have great questions, I’m just not sure you would be able to get answers to all of them in the 5-minute timeframe, but if you had a longer time period, you could definitely gain a lot of good information and insights from them.

Again, fantastic post Morgan!

~ Drew

[demoutd2511]

Who I would Interview...

Blog Prompt #6 (Provided by Dr. Amanda Hooykaas): You have five minutes to interview a key thinker who represents your field of inquiry (for the podcast project). To do this you must:

1) Identify who you are interviewing and why

2) List five clear interview questions (and what insight you hope to get out of each)

3) Provide a brief overview/summary that discusses how you decided on these questions (referencing the textbook would be helpful here!).

In your response to a peer, please provide feedback on how effective these questions might be at addressing the aims of the interviewer. How might they be improved? On what basis?

If I had 5 minutes to interview a key thinker who represents and has experience with the allures of Thunder Bay, I would interview my old Pathfinder/Ranger leader, Richella.

Here is Richella and I skiing at Kamview on this past Reading Week! Photo Credit: Richella

I would interview Richella as not only is she a grad of the ORPT program and knows about tourism, but she has worked with organizations, such as Outward Bound, The Girls and Boys Club of Canada, and at the Girl Guides of Canada's(GGC) Ontario Head Office and multiple GGC camps. Richella is currently back up here in Thunder Bay doing her Education Degree, and that is part of the reason I picked to “interview” her. I think “interviewing” Richella would be beneficial to my podcast group and our topic, as I would have thought she might have picked to do her degree somewhere closer to Toronto, as that is currently where she and her family live; and finding out her reasons for coming up here, what stuck and drew her back up her after so long, would be very beneficial to my podcast group’s project.

The 5 questions I would ask Richella are:

What drew you to come to Lakehead for your undergrad/the ORPT program?

What is one thing you remember about your time in the city? Something that has stuck with you?

Is that what also drew you to come back to LU for your Education Degree? Or was it something else entirely?

Did you consider any other schools for your education degree? Possibly ones closer to your family?

What is one place you have been to that you would recommend for potential and/or current Lakehead University students to check out?

I decided to ask these questions as I feel they would provide more information on the allures of certain places, and what Thunder Bay’s might be, for some people. Most of the questions are open-ended, as I think open-ended questions and the wide range of answers they can have, are better and more beneficial to my group’s podcast project, as we are planning on using more qualitative research methods over quantitative ones.

[demoutd2511]

Canada's Canoe Museum!

The article I chose to critically analyze for this week’s blog post is Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough prepares to move world’s largest canoe and kayak collection by Caley Bedore, a Global News reporter. (Link to the article is below in my references.)

Canadian Canoe Museum. Photo Credit: kawarthaNOW.com

This article focuses on Peterborough’s Canadian Canoe Museum and their preparations to move their 600+ piece collection to their new location. Currently the museum is located at 910 Monaghan Rd, and is moving to 2077 Ashburnham Drive (Bedore, 2022). They are moving buildings as they would like to showcase more of their collection, as right now the current building can only house and show less than 20% of their collection (Bedore). The new building will not only showcase more canoes, but also “…have a full outdoor campus, a full new suite of exhibitions, [and] a café” (Bedore). Some staff members are also interviewed and asked about the move and their work, such as how they are carefully cleaning each canoe and making sure it will be safe on its journey across the city to the new building. The museum is also “…working with many Indigenous, First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities to also support the exhibit development” (Bedore). The museum is currently open to the public on weekends from 10am-4pm, and plans to close their doors in September of this year to finish their prep work for the move (CCM, 2021). The new building is set to open in the summer of 2023 (Bedore).

Model Picture of the inside of the new building. Photo Credit: kawarthaNOW.com

The article does not directly list their sources, but some sources they might have used could included the following:

The Canadian Canoe Museum website, and their page on their new building

https://canoemuseum.ca/

https://canoemuseum.ca/new-museum/the-building/

Other Global News articles about the museum, that were linked on the page as ‘Read More’ options

https://globalnews.ca/news/7607438/canadian-canoe-museum-purchases-land-johnson-park/

https://globalnews.ca/news/4910464/canadian-canoe-museum-hires-director-to-develop-relations-collaborate-with-indigenous-communities/

https://globalnews.ca/video/7821252/canadian-canoe-museum-unveils-new-details-on-new-museum

Museum Staff Members

Carolyn Hyslop, Executive Director

Jeremy Ward, Curator

Dane Allendorf, Staff member cleaning the canoes

The information gathered from the museum staff interviews are primary sources of information, and the information from the other Global News articles are secondary sources.

References:

Bedore, C. (2022, February 17). Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough prepares to move world's largest canoe and kayak collection . Global News. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/8627255/canoe-museum-move-collection-new-location/

CCM. (2022, January 31). Home Page. Canadian Canoe Museum. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://canoemuseum.ca/

[lfoutd2511]

Do You Have a Peacock?

Do you have your woof-er?

Caption: Picture of dog "woofing".

Okay…. I know what you are thinking. Why am I choosing to write about dogs barking and peacocks this week? What does this have to do with research design in outdoor recreation?

Outdoor professionals are so notorious for acronyms and jargon that to an outsider, or even someone who does not teach certain outdoor skills, it can quickly become a puzzling mess. For those interested in researching outdoor recreation it is important to be able to understand the common phrases that are used within the field so that you can then apply and define them within your research.

Here are five ‘catch phrases’ that outdoor recreation researchers need to know:

1) PCOC – Pleasure Craft Operators Card: Often pronounced ‘peacock’ in the field. It’s a boating license that is required by Transport Canada to drive any motorized watercraft.

2) WFR/WAFA/WFA – Wilderness First Responder/Wilderness Advanced First Aid/Wilderness First Aid:These are the acronyms used to state the level of wilderness first aid that a person has. Wilderness first aid is a practice that includes wilderness protocols that allow individuals to be set up to give first aid in the backcountry that takes into consideration special specifics of the environment such as risk to first aider, evacuation, and distance from emergency services. The first level of wilderness first aid is WFA, pronounced W-F-A. It is equivalent to Standard First Aid. Then you have WAFA, pronounced wa-fa, that is an advanced first aid typically 40 hours in certification length. WFR is pronounced woof-er and is an 80-hour first aid certification.

3) Challenge By Choice: Most ORPT students should already know this phrase. This is a common phrase used in outdoor education that encompasses the ideal learning environment for participants. I like to think of the Challenge by Choice framework as a set of three circles inside of each other. The inner most circle is your comfort zone; the middle circle is your growth zone, and the outermost circle is your panic zone. Ideal learning occurs when participants are in disequilibrium but still in a healthy environment for their physical and mental health. This is known as your growth zone.

4) ACCT – Association for Challenge Course Technology: This is the certification body for any type of challenge course in Canada. Instructors can obtain their level 1, level 2, or Challenge Course Manager certification through accrediting bodies. The accreditation companies in Canada are Challenges Unlimited (CUI) and Adventureworks!. Pronounced using each of the individual letters: A-C-C-T.

5) CANSI - Canadian Association for Nordic Ski Instructors: This is one of two certification pathways for cross country ski certification in Canada. The acronym is pronounced can-si.

What phrases do you use as an outdoor professional that not everyone will recognize?

References:

Chill Foundation. (n.d.). What is Chill? Chill Foundation. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.chill.org/programbreakdown

Horwitz, D. (n.d.). Barking in Dogs: VCA Animal Hospitals. VCA Animal Hospitals. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/barking-in-dogs

Staughton, J. (2022, January 6). Can Peacocks Fly? Science ABC. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from https://www.scienceabc.com/nature/animals/can-peacocks-fly.html

[demoutd2511]

Hey Laura!

I like how you chose to still relate your post for this week to the course! Also, I think starting your post with pictures of animals and then connecting them was a great idea, plus it also adds a fun aspect to your post!

You are very correct in your point about outdoor professionals having many acronyms and other jargon for things in this field, and that being confusing for people; I am one of those confused people! I have my PCOC because a job required me to, but I didn’t know it was also called 'peacock', which is much easier to say the Pleasure Craft Operator Card. Where did you learn that?

As I said earlier in this reply, I like your post’s topic, and how you shared some very helpful information, like common phrases, and great tips on which certifications are helpful in the outdoors!

As I was reading your section about Challenge by Choice and the 3 zones, I was reminded about OSAT 1 and that fun activity Alexa did! You explained it very well, and you also picked a great picture to show the zones! The design inside the comfort zone reminds me of sand dunes or mountains, which is really cool!

What counts as a challenge course for ACCT? Also, how many of the certifications that you mentioned do you have?

Another great post, Laura!

- Drew

[demoutd2511]

A Mini Rant on my Thinking

Typically, my mind is thinking about multiple ideas or tasks I have to do at the same time, even when I was planning out what I was going to write about for this blog post, I was also thinking about my family, how I need to clean my room, my next bulletin board and program, etc. And this past week has been the same, with focusing and planning out times to do my assignments and other school work, along with activities I enjoy, such as colouring, listening to podcasts, and being outside.

For my Visual Arts course, I had to submit my essay proposal this past weekend, so I have been thinking about that assignment and my topic a lot lately. My topic is Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, focusing on Mona Lisa, who is “…Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini, the wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo” (Stokstad, 2018, pg. 645), and her life. I found a very interesting article on this art piece about how Mona Lisa could have had Bell’s palsy, and that was the reason for her famous smile, which is one of my key research points in the essay. (Article link is included below in my references, if anyone is interested in reading it!)

Leonardo da Vinci MONA LISA c. 1503–1506. Oil on wood panel, 301⁄4 × 21′′ (77 × 53 cm). Musée du Louvre, Paris. (INV. 779). Credit: Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre)/Michel Urtado

Another assignment I have been thinking about is the podcast for this class. Along with thinking and working on a podcast, I have been listening to podcasts over music lately, as I do other school work. I listen to mostly true crime podcasts, like Crime Junkie, Anatomy of Murder, and Canadian True Crime. I’m currently listening to an Anatomy of Murder episode as I write this blog post! I typically listen to them during the day, as I am someone who gets scared very easily, and the combination of it being nighttime and listening to crimes (like murder) I cannot do. For anyone who wants to start to listen to or find more true crime podcasts, I have included the links to the websites of the 3 I mentioned earlier below!

Some more fun (and non-school) things I have been thinking about are reading week and how it will hopefully be a nice little break after writing my midterms. I have also been thinking about colouring, mostly when I am doing schoolwork, but don’t fully want to be. I have also been thinking about possibly making another art piece similar to the one I made in high school. For that piece, (which there is a picture of below), I coloured a full book of mandalas and then cut them out and glued them to a canvas. I really enjoyed making that piece then, and I think it would be nice to do another one, as it was fun and very calming.

Photo Credit: Drew Miller, 2018

Podcast links:

Crime Junkie - https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/

Anatomy of Murder - https://anatomyofmurder.com/

Canadian True Crime - https://canadiantruecrime.ca/

References: Maloney. (2011). Bell’s Palsy: The Answer to the Riddle of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Mona Lisa. Journal of Dental Research, 90(5), 580–582. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022034510384629 Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M., Art History. Volume II, 6th edition, pg. 645, 2018 (Pearson Education).

[lfoutd2511]

Embracing Autism in the Forest School Setting

Topic of Inquiry

     Ensuring the success of students with disabilities in the mainstream classroom is important to me. I have noticed that the hands-on and therapeutic features of outdoor settings provide many benefits to those with developmental and cognitive disabilities. As someone that believes that “the greatest classrooms and richest cupboards are those that are roofed only by the sky (McMillian)”, it is my goal to use the forest school environment to help students that struggle in the regular classroom setting.

     As the usage of forest schools for autistic individuals is under-utilized, research in this area would provide opportunities to advance the supports for students living with Autism. Therefore, if I had the opportunity to complete a research study as a PhD candidate, I would want to focus on the benefits of the usage of forest schools for Autistic youth. This topic does require further narrowing and specification.

Photo Description: This is my absolute favourite quote. It highlights the importance of using the outdoors as a classroom for learning.

Qualitative or Quantitative?

           I think it would be hard to decide as to whether my research would be a better fit for qualitative or quantitative methods.

     Qualitative methods would allow me to focus on individual testimonies to highlight successes of forest school programs for Autistics. Qualitative research would also allow me to shine a light on problems and solutions that could then be implemented by educators to support their own work.

   One limit of qualitative methods would be the ability to look for depth of impact of forest school programs due to the limited amount of case studies that could be utilized for the study. This is important because the quantitative method of statistics may be vital in gaining funding for supporting forest school programs for Autistic youth.

      In recognizing the limitations of qualitative and quantitative methods in this study, I would want to examine the pros and cons of different research frameworks more deeply with a focus on choosing a research framework that reflects the importance of equitable opportunities for Autistic individuals.

Why Autism?

           Autism has become known as a disability that faces chronic unemployment and a lack of educational institutional successes. Features such as social and communication deficits, sensory integration problems, and chronic anxiety are common features of autism. Forest school practices provide a safe outlet to practice weak skills that are often not associated as well with traditional classroom learning. As forest schools are outdoors, opportunities are provided for students to engage their body in sensory based needs while considering that loud and bright indoor spaces can often be triggers for dysregulation. Flexibility in forest school programming also allows for differentiated learning. It can be easily seen that there are many benefits of forest school teaching pedagogy that are not otherwise available in the traditional classroom setting. The increasing prevalence of autism in the public school system creates a need for programs that provide supports to students that enable them to learn in ways that work for them.

     Meaningful programs that embrace autism’s opportunities versus creating interventions for challenges are rare. There are many examples out there of autistics benefiting from forest school practices because of the teaching methodologies used. By showcasing these stories and their successes, I would be able to create a world in which there is less stigma about autism and instead initiate a celebration of the successes of programs that focus on individuality.

    Research can be used to create a better world. My hope in researching this would be to show that autistic individuals need to have access to meaningful schooling opportunities that work for them. Forest school is one area where more research is needed to be able to advocate for its approach to educating autistics. Research provides the opportunity to show where change is needed. This is especially pertinent to finding solutions to educating students with disabilities – autism or otherwise.

Photo Description: Austin Riley is one of my heroes. He is a young adult race car driver from Ontario that is raising awareness about what it means to live with autism “one step at a time”.

References: 

Instagram. (n.d.). Margaret McMillian Photo. Forest School Education. photograph. Retrieved January 26, 2022, from https://www.instagram.com/p/BMoHtJNBsah/.

Riley, A. (2020, October 26). Racing with Autism Facebook Page. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=196808425226613&set=a.196808408559948

[demoutd2511]

Hey Laura!

First off, I love how you included quotes and pictures that relate to those quotes, as they strengthen your already strong research topic, which is an amazing topic by the way. It is also good that you realize that your topic does require some narrowing down, as it shows you have thought about it a lot and are passionate about it too.

For your research method, I think examining the pros and cons of both is a good plan, but another option could be to do some of either method, as then now only will you have lots of research, but you can also get those funding opportunities with the quantitative research, and possible have more opportunities available to you from the qualitative research results.

Your points about the benefits of forest school are very well worded and could be very useful for proposing this project in a formal setting, as they clearly provide evidence of positive benefits.

I think you could get a lot of support as well, as some elementary schools include trips to forest schools in their curriculum like mine did; and each year when my class went everyone was so excited to go and learn about whatever we were going to learn. The place we went to was called Forest Valley.

Your project could start a new wave of research in this field of, as you said, “finding solutions to educating students with disabilities – autism or otherwise.”

If you do, do this research project, I look forward to reading your work, as I know it would be well done, because of your passion and the hard work and effort you put into everything you do!

~ Drew

[demoutd2511]

Mental Health and Local Parks

If I were conducting research with limitless resources, my ultimate research project would be to study the ecological health of parks and ponds in Scarborough, ON, and how it affects mental and physical health in the communities surrounding those parks. I would focus on the parks in Scarborough, as I lived there with my family for ~12 years, and the area I lived in had two parks with ponds nearby, one was across the street and the other was at the end of the street I lived on.

Terraview Park. Photo Credit: ‘Friends of Terraview and Willowfield Gardens Parks’ Facebook Group

I would focus mostly on the two parks closest to where I lived in Scarborough, Terraview Park and Willowfield Gardens Park, along with looking at other parks in other communities of Scarborough to have a large sample size, along with seeing if the results from one pond are normal for the area or consist of something it only has that is giving it very different results.

Willowfield Gardens Park. Photo Credit: https://foursquare.com/v/ willowfield-gardens-park/4e4c601ffa769ce595b0813a

I would be using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, as the health of the park would be measured with water and soil pH tests, along with other tests to see its ecological health; while the mental and physical health of the community members would be measured with anonymous surveys. To see how the parks are used daily, park users could be asked what they use the park for, also through observation by counting the number who people are using the park and how they are using it, whether it be to get to school, riding their bike, or doing cross-country running practice. People who also don’t use the park should also be asked for their opinions, to find out why they don’t use the park.

Who would benefit from this research study would be the people in the communities surrounding the parks, along with the local flora and fauna in those parks. The people of the communities would benefit as their opinions on their parks could be used to improve the parks in ways that could be beneficial to their mental and physical health, such as adding more benches or a community garden. This research would be helpful to the local flora and fauna as there will be updated records of the species that live there, along with their physical health and what should be done to improve it.

Local schools would also benefit, as outdoor classroom areas could be added or revamped, which as many studies have shown “...time spent outdoors contributes to better mental health and happiness, regardless of age, and research at the K-12 level indicates that outdoor experiences lead to higher student engagement and test scores…” (Brady, 2020).

This is my ultimate research project, as it provides me a way to give back to the community that I lived in from the time I was in grade 1 till last October during my first year of university.

Reference:

Brady, B. (2020, December 17). The value of outdoor environments to K-12 learning, health, and student safety. Clark Nexsen. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.clarknexsen.com/blog-value-of-outdoor-environments-to-k-12-learning-health-and-student-safety/

[troutd2511]

Surviving the Siberian Wilderness - Case Study

This video was filmed in 2013 by Vice Russia, with a sponsorship from North Face. The main focus of the documentary is on Agafia Lykova’s life, starting when her family consisting of a mother, father, two brothers and two sisters moved to the Mountains of Siberia in 1936. The family did this to avoid political turmoil that they were facing because of their religion and beliefs. Agafia is the last one in the family that is still living, living in the mountains for 70 years, 25 years by herself without any human communication. The closest town to Agafia’s settlement is 160 mile away and only accessible by a 7 day canoe trip. 

The invisible backpack was not really mentioned in this documentary. You can clearly see that the sponsorship of North Face had a big impact on this documentary with the high class equipment that the crew had brought in. The crew was using very expensive equipment such as cameras, tents, sleeping bags, and a translator. They were curious to see how Agafia lives in the mountains so secluded from everyone but they don’t see why Agafia is still living there, why she doesn’t go into the town more often. The crew has grown up with a means of communication through face to face contact, through phones, they can travel long distances by cars, buses, planes, ect. Agafia doesn’t have those things and doesn’t see them as a necessity like the crew does or even like we do. 

An ethical consideration that was made while constructing the documentary was having a translator to break the communication barrier, since Agafia speaks Russian and the crew did not. The crew would have also needed to have Agafia’s permission while attending her settlement to record different day-to-day activities that she does. Some of the day-to-day activities that would require permission to record are: morning prayers, how she stores her food, how she cooks, ect. 

If I were to do this study as a student researcher, I would want to spend more time with Agafia to get a better understanding of how she lives, as well as why she chooses to live this way. It would give me a deeper understanding of her relationship with herself, with the land, how she has learned to live in isolation, as well as her daily means of survival. I would still need to bring a translator since I don’t speak Russian and would want to break the communication barrier between Agafia and myself.

Surviving in the Siberian Wilderness for 70 Years (Full Length) - YouTube

[demoutd2511]

Hey Taegan!

Great post! You summarized the video and what it was about very nicely!

I agree with your point about not the invisible backpack of the filmmakers not really being mentioned. They briefly mention North Face sponsoring them, and then talk to Agafia about her life, with their bias about living a certain lifestyle, which they might not have realized was affecting their questions and perspectives of Agafia and her life. Do you think they realized their invisible backpacks were impacting them, or if they even knew what their invisible backpack is?

You make a good point about her not seeing certain things as necessities like the filmmakers, and us too, do! Gleb was a good translator and it was definitely good of them to have him there to help with the language barrier and solve that ethical consideration. It might have been nice for Agafia if the filmmakers had learned a little Russian to speak to her without the assistance of Gleb, don’t you think?

You make a good point about them needing permission to record certain aspects of her life, which they hopefully got. It would have been nice if they somehow proved they got that permission, whether it be through video of their conservation, or a written caption on screen when they showed and talked about those aspects of her life.

I would also spend more time with her, with her permission, to better understand her life and how she lives!

And again, this was a great post Taegan!

- Drew

[demoutd2511]

Ethics in the Siberia Wilderness

This case study focuses on Agafia Lykov, an old woman who is one of the last Old Believers left in Russia. She lives alone at her family’s homestead in Taiga, Siberia, Russia. Agafia’s father, Karp, decided to leave the city fearing oppression from Stalin, because of his religion, in 1936. The family lived peacefully and alone with nature till 1978, when after ~40 years of isolation, a team of Russian geologists spotted their home from a helicopter and made the trek in to visit them a few days later. The three oldest children died from pneumonia, likely brought by the geologists, and after her father died in 1988, Agafia was the last Lykov alive (VICE, 2013). In 1997, Yerofei Sedov, a retired Russian geologist, moved into a cabin down a hill from Agafia, and they both have been living there since then, alone minus the visits from researchers, park officials, and videographers, like VICE.

This video is created and directed by the American branch of VICE, with support from North Face. The cameraman and their friend are likely from New York, or around there as that is where their journey to Agafia starts. In Moscow, they meet Gleb Lisicakin, the editor for VICE Russia, who acts as their translator and is one of the main people, along with Agafia, to appear in this video. The American filmmakers seem to know very little about Russia; we see them explore Abakan, well they wait for the call about the helicopter and their flight, but we don’t see anywhere in Moscow, minus Gleb talking to the desk attendant at the airport. The invisible backpack of the filmmakers is not directly identified or noted clearly in the video.

Many different research techniques are being employed in the making of this video. The research conducted is qualitative. It is qualitative research as the filmmakers are there to learn more about Agafia and her life, and they don’t have an end goal of what they want to learn or find out an exact result as quantitative research does.

A key ethical consideration that was a part of the production of this film was Agafia possibly not fully understanding that the video and what she was saying would be available to tons of people after it was made and put on YouTube. Agafia has only been to the city five times, and even if she did learn a lot about the technology available the last time she visited, it has likely changed and improved a lot since then, as technology has undergone multiple changes and improvements over the last decade. Along with her limited knowledge of technology and how many people use it, the language barrier between the filmmakers and her could have also affected her understanding of what they were doing even more. Yes, Gleb was there as a translator, but Agafia could have not known or understood all of what he was saying.

If I was given the same opportunity, I would likely also make a video like they did, as with Agafia’s permission you can show her home, along with pictures of her family just as the filmmakers did. Something different I would do is learn more about her daily life and her religion, if she was willing to tell me about it. Agafia also made it very clear she did not want to live in the city, but the filmmakers asked her a lot about if she would move, even after she explained about how she almost died there, which could make living in the city very traumatic for her. I might ask her once just to find out her thoughts on it, but would definitely not ask her again after, and instead focus on different parts of her life. After editing the footage, I would meet with Agafia again to show her the final video and get her opinion on it if she would like anything to not be included, along with asking again if she is still okay with the video being made and published so others can see it.

Reference:

VICE. (2013, April 9). Surviving in the siberian wilderness for 70 years (full length). YouTube. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68

[dlmoutd2511-deactivated20220310]

Sink or swim

As a child, I spent a lot of time camping, hiking, swimming, hunting, fishing and picking berries. We spent time at their trapline, and I got to learn a lot of things from watching my family. To get there, we had to travel by boat. How we knew we were close was by seeing the water tower on the treetops- this was later demolished. It was a place I loved spending time with my family, and it is one of the fondest memories I have because there was a lot to explore, and I never wanted to be anywhere else.

I remember walking on old trails that were already overgrown with grass and trees; playing in decrepit buildings that were once offices, a school, a hospital, and other houses that were once lived in. I was never aware of the dangers of those buildings. It was complete with an airport strip, but it had already not been in use for many years. When was this place a thriving community? Who were the people that built this town? Where did all the people go? This was an old mining town; since its closure, all that was left were remnants of an old community. My hope is to visit this place one day to explore and to see how much nature has taken back and if the rivers still flow high or how much is receded.

Fast forward years later, I moved to the city and encountered a different kind of life because I come from a small community. I had always wanted to attend university, but life had different plans, so it took a lot longer than expected. I had to consider what I wanted to do in my life before I made the decision to back to school. Did I want to go back to school? What program could I take? How was I going to know what program to take? I sought information on websites and organizations, word of mouth, peer mentors, webinars and events put on for current/returning/potential students to see what might be of interest. It was one of the events when I connected with someone that was representing the Outdoor Recreation Program and I felt drawn to what would be of interest to me. Because it has to do with Parks and Tourism, I can learn about history and science of nature and wildlife. This program takes me outdoors where I can identify core strengths and apply it to the knowledge I have obtained. As I shared at the beginning of this blog, I would like to go back to the place I played as a child. To return as an adult where I could point out the places I walked, played, swam, and hunted.

I am writing about this with both good and sad memories because there is a lot of history associated with the old mining town which is now a ghost town. I know there are areas that hold facts and information about this once booming town, at least there should be, but I have not yet found anything about the history of this place. It may be in the archives of the mining company so this may be a research project for me soon.

As Dory said, "Just keep swimming!" -Finding Nemo

For reference, I can go directly to the source I will be researching and I mainly rely on academic sources such as:

[demoutd2511]

Hey Dawn,

I really like your post! It’s nice that you shared good and sad memories, because as you said ‘life had different plans’ and can change at the drop of a penny, which is very true for many people.

Exploring that old mine town and all those buildings sounds awesome! I have explored a bit of a ghost town as well, Jackfish, which is near Marathon, ON. What was the name of the town you explored when you were younger?

I think a lot of people don’t always think of the danger exploring old buildings could have; I know like you, I didn’t think about it when I was exploring. Also, I think you should definitely research that town because it should be an amazing research project, but also it sounds very personal to you and maybe you could go back there like you want to as part of the research, which would be amazing, and I would love to hear about what you are doing, if you decide to research that town!

I really like your idea to include a quote, especially because it’s from a Disney movie! It adds a fun aspect to your post, along with relating to what you wrote about not giving up and still going to university, even with life’s different plans!

The library is a great place to rely on information, and if you do that research on the town, the library could possibly have some information on it, which could be helpful!

Have a great day!

-Drew