My Learnings From OUTD Research
Over the past few months, this course has provided me with an in-depth look at the work and process of research and research in this field of study. I have always thought of research as a scientific process done through experiments by scientists. However, I was wrong. I learned that research can come in many forms and through many methods. One of the best things that I learned was that research can be presented in various ways. This was a significant discovery for me during the week we attended the innovation week talks. I realized that research doesn’t have to be presented through numbers or papers; it can be addressed through poetry, pictures and stories.
Three things that I now know about outdoor recreation research:
1. Ethics: From this course, I developed a deeper understanding of the many different aspects that help create an ethical research project. Before, I had a basic understanding ( kids under 18 need parental permission, and participants need to be aware of what is happening to them). I understood why ethics were important in studies so that they ensure that the research being done puts people first and upholds respect for human dignity.
2. Open vs. Closed questions: This is something that I feel comfortable with and comfortable using. I understand that both types of questions have a time and place where they can be useful, and I have understood the situations they best fit into during a survey. I know that open questions allow the individual taking the survey to elaborate on their answer, whereas closed questions generally answer yes or no.
3. Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data: I learned about these two types in a high school science class, and I was already familiar with the terms. However, this provided a good refresher and allowed me to better understand how these two types of data may be used in research and what goes into obtaining each set of data.
Three things that I am still confused by:
1. Levels of theory: I understand that each level deals with a social theory, but I don’t fully understand the difference between Macrosocial, Mesocial, and Microsocial. I also don’t understand why there is a distinction between the three categories and if there are different ethical concerns with each, and that’s why they are divided.
2. Coding: I find using a computer to process all your information and create a code that matches all your data seems like a lot of unnecessary work. I could understand it if you had numbers and needed to find a link between the numbers, but I find that organizing your findings into categories makes it easier to understand. I also don’t know why you would want to code your work.
3. Grounded Theory: The way that our notes and textbook describe this confuses me. You’re finding categories within your data, finding relationships between the categories, and then finding a core category. I think what is getting me is the core category. Is it a similarity between all other categories, or is it the category you will focus your research on?
Three things I know about me as an OUTD Rec researcher:
1. I prefer to work with Qualitative data. It makes more sense to me than quantitative data. It is easier for me to make meaning from data that are just numbers. Data expressed as words rather than numbers makes it easier for me to understand, and if I’m honest, data with numbers and equations makes no sense to me. I don’t care enough to spend the time decoding what the numbers mean or represent (this is because me and math have never been friends).
2. When I like what I’m researching, I find that when I don’t care about the topic, I won’t put in the same amount of effort or care what the outcome is, even if it’s being graded. I know that when I like my topic, I can spend hours reading and writing about it without becoming bored or angry that I have to spend time on a project.
3. I am very organized: All my data is colour-coded and sorted into categories and sub-categories depending on which question it answers in our research. I like to have it all in one place and create a set timeline of what will happen and when that work will be done.
Three things I need to work on to become more confident in my skills:
1. Analyzing surveys: making meaning of answers is something that I struggle with. Especially when I didn’t create the survey. When I don’t know what the goal of the survey is, I struggle to derive meaning from the results.
2. Developing survey questions: coming up with practical questions that will help me to answer what I am researching is something that I struggle with. When I create surveys, I find that the questions are either the same question or it is close-ended questions. I find it challenging to think of multiple questions that will give me an in-depth view of the topic being studied.
3. Creating a hypothesis: I have been creating hypotheses since grade 8 in science class. However, those were easy and were generally either I think this will happen or the opposite will happen. Developing a hypothesis on something that is not a yes or no/ this or that is something that I struggle with. Coming up with what I think will happen is not a strength of mine, and I usually make it up having no clue what I think will happen. So developing that skill is something I want to work on.
I have seen the value of this course and have learned to respect the work that researchers do. It is demanding and meticulous work, and I have a lot of respect for anyone who does this work.
Rad post Annie!
I also agree that from this course I gained a better understanding of ethical research, it also helps with research being a safe place for everyone. I was similar to you where kids under 18 needed permission to participate in and that they needed to be aware of what was taking place. In the course you learn about why it is important to be an ethical researcher.
I had a similar experience in high school when it came to learning about Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data. However, I grew to enjoy qualitative data because it has more than just numbers. Qualitative data offered insight into people's responses and allowed them to write how they feel about the subject.
I can say that I am not as organized with my coding or data collection. I enjoy how you like to sort your data by colour coding and into categories and subcategories. I will definitely use this in the future when performing research. This information will definitely help me with my organization skills that I lack.
Cheers Mate





















