Mikhaela

= **Mikhaela's Journal** =

//Week 1 of Research Project - goals://
 * discuss topics i'm interested in researching
 * do some brief research in my interested topics to get a better understanding
 * confirm which topic I want to investigate/research - (How do pets affect people?)

//Week 2 of Research Project - goals:// > //Week 3 and 4 of Research Project - goals (School holidays)://
 * continue to do some background research
 * construct a research question/statement
 * begin drafting a proposal
 * complete proposal
 * brainstorming ideas that I need to raise within my project
 * begin doing more thorough research and seeking information through reliable resources
 * begin highlighting sections of significant information from the research I've collected
 * write notes and organizing which information are most valid and helpful

Week 5 of Research project - goals:
 * continue to do some extensive background research on the topic
 * begin organizing the information I collected to seperate categories
 * analyzing articles associated with the topic

Week 6 of Research project - goals:
 * continue doing background research
 * watch university lecture on ethical considerations
 * write notes about the video and consider ways into applying those factors to my research
 * organize key findings

Week 7 of Research project - goals:
 * consider important aspects for producing a survey about 'positive affects of pet companionship', eg: suitable questions, survey participants, context of survey
 * create survey via chosen context
 * distribute survey to chosen participants (at least 10 participants)

Week 8 of Research project - goals:
 * begin organizing key findings into different categories
 * figuring out how to apply collated key findings, notes to my essay

//Wednesday, 27 July 2011 - Week 5 of Research Project:// It has been the 2nd day of school for term 3 and I have managed to collate some helpful information from various websites. My research topic is 'The postive effects of pet companionship', I think this would be a good topic for myself to research because I am passionaite about this matter. I completed my proposal draft during the last week of school and received some helpful feedback from my teacher. I have decided to present my project through a media modal format as I feel this project would be presented most effectively through this layout. I am going to discuss the various aspects of 'positive effects of pet companionship'. This will conclude of physical, mental and social. I will also include some articles of personal experiences as I feel this will help support my ideas and opinions. As of now, I am currently continuing more research and have collected a reasonable amount on each aspect of my project. I plan to continue and gather as much research as I can to keep me on track and to also better my knowledge and understanding of the topic. In further weeks I shall delve into collecting more information from different resources other than the internet, such as books and interviewing experts on the matter.

//Monday, 5 September 2011 - Week 8 of Research Project:// The schedule is nearing the most substantial yet challenging aspects of the research project, which are the essay and the research outcome. I have constructed goals for each week and have given my best efforts to complete all of them, but honestly with my rather busy life I have fallen behind during some days, fortunately enough I've managed to catch up. So far I've collated all my key findings from various sources and organized them in their 'categories' (physical - health & medical, mental - psychological & emotional and social - lifestyle & financial), all these aspects will support my statement of 'positive affects of pet companionship'. I have also conducted a survey for pet owners in order to assess results and discover whether other's personal experiences or opinions support the theories that I have researched. I have distributed the survey via paper and pencil as opposed to a technological approach via a social network. I figured that this option would be more convenient for myself and participants so if they had any inquiries about questions in the survey then they can easily consult me. In combination with the key findings (studies, articles, personal stories) I have collated from the internet and results from my survey, I will apply those to my essay and research outcome.