Hello 6th period research peeps, welcome to my humble abode (blog). Since you may have no idea about what I am doing for my research, let me just get you caught up on what my research is all about. Here’s the jist of it: when anime is broadcast in America it is edited to make it seem more American, so I am identifying the changes that happen when an anime is edited and then conducting a thematic analysis on those changes to see what common themes come up. I am hoping these themes can tell us a little bit more about the interaction between America and foreign culture. Right now, I am in the stage of identifying the changes. To do so, I watch the American version of the anime next to the original version (which has subtitles) and look for any visual, plot or dialogue changes. My samples are: Dragon Ball Z (1st season), Spirited Away, and Cowboy Bebop.
Although it may sound weird, the largest pitfall right now for me is not knowing what pitfalls I might face. My research question is exploratory, meaning I have no idea what my thematic analysis will yield. On top of that, the thematic analysis is almost all subjective. So, this means that it will be difficult to see what obstacles I might face, and that is scary because then I can’t plan or think ahead about any of the obstacles. And being alone for the first time, if I come across any obstacle—which I most likely will—I will not have as much support from Mrs. Haag and my peers as I did during the previous two trimesters. Obviously, I will try to make the best of my weekly meetings with Mrs. Haag to resolve any problems, but this independence is still quite frightening.
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| Independence felt so great... |
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| ...for a small period of time. |
In terms of data collection, I am almost done with Dragon Ball Z. I already have nearly 150 different changes. I am predicting that I will have around 400-500 changes by the end of it all. I currently have all my data on a spreadsheet and I need to make sure that I keep all my data organized and clear. If I don’t, not only will it will be extremely difficult to clearly articulate my data, it will also make the thematic analysis much harder. Regarding my schedule, if I keep up my current pace, I will be done with my data collection by the end of this week. I am hoping to start my thematic analysis on the changes that I find by the start of next week. While I have been collecting my data, I have found a few interesting patterns. First is that the amount of changes within each episode vary very greatly. Some episodes have over twenty different changes within them, while others have only one or two. Another interesting thing is that almost every single change I have found is in the dialogue. I have not found a plot change and have only found one visual change. Overall, I have not come across any obstacles, but then again, I haven’t gotten to the hard part yet.
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Gursajan -- I really like your post -- it's reflective and honest. And don't worry, I'm pretty certain that you won't be that baby bird who immediately falls to his death.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the data that you've collected so far, are you finding that the changes are less significant than you previously anticipated? I know that you had said that the dubbed versions were likely Americanized and therefore simplified, but you haven't really noticed any big plot changes. Also, are you noticing that the changes seem to center around a theme or have any unifying feature?
Finally, I would start to think about how you're going to talk about 400-500 changes in a concise, clear narrative to indicate what the results are telling you. All of that qualitative data sounds overwhelming to me!
Hey Gursajan! As a new visitor to your blog, I found the summary at the beginning really helpful. This reminds me a lot of Natasha's project last year about the differences between social themes in Japanese and American theater. Her project was really interesting, so I'm excited to follow yours for the next few months. As far as collecting your data, it sounds like you're working efficiently, so good job not letting senioritis (and the excellent procrastination skills we've been cursed with) get to you! Since the results is going to be the next big section of the paper, I'm going to echo Mrs. Haag in saying that it's going to be really important for you to summarize those changes that you're documenting between the two versions in a succinct way that will make your data and findings clear to your reader. Also I think it would be interesting to see if the differences in the number of changes between the episodes has to do with the themes in each episode and you could draw conclusions about similarities between our two cultures.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it looks like you're doing great so keep it up!
Hey Gursajan!
ReplyDeleteIt was a smart idea to make a giant chunk of your research just you sitting there and watching television. That was a good move. You could also use what you told us in the first paragraph in your abstract, if you tweaked it a little bit and made it more professional instead of casual, because it really provided a clear idea of what you’re doing for your research.
For the fact that you have no idea what pitfalls you might face, I have no advice for you. You could probably do something similar to Natasha’s project from last year with a coding sheet and stuff, but I’m not sure how much that applies. Mrs. Haag will be there for you! I believe in you!
It’s good that so far you don’t have any obstacles! Stay motivated! Keep up the hard work!
Hey Gursajan!!! This is obviously my first time following your blog, so thanks for that summary. Your project sounds really interesting, and like Kristiana said, it really reminds me of Natasha's too. The exploratory nature of your question may seem a little daunting, but I also feel like it would be kind of freeing, because you aren't really looking for something specific, you just take whatever hits you lol. But when it is difficult, we aren't all far away. Mrs. Haag is just a text message away, and you can still ask all of us for help, so don't think you're really alone!! It's good that you're making sure you stay on track, and that you'll be done with data collection by the end of the week. Good luck with everything, and I'm really interested in seeing what you find!
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