Feedback

I think I enjoy thinking about writing, sometimes more than writing itself. I am in the thick of it. I have revisited my Chapter 1 and a newly created Chapter 4 which talks about the context of Singapore. And recently, I have started revising my Chapter 5 which is findings. And now, time for a break. I read this passage in Harry Wolcott's Writing Up Qualitative Research (ed. 3 page 73):

The search for theory, like a cogent review of the literature, offers another way to link up with the prior work of others and a shorthand way to convey the gist of our interests and inquiries. This "searching" stage is where one's dissertation committee, one's faculty colleagues, even anonymous reviewers, can - but seldom do - render invaluable service. Rather than belittle the efforts of novice researchers who thrash about trying desperately to hook up with theory, those more experienced in inquiry of this kind can - and should - suggest possible leads and links. We all run the risk of getting tunnel vision when writing up our own research, failing to see the broader implications or remaining unaware of relevant work that might provide a fresh or clearer perspective. 

I like this passage because I have been the recipient of many kind feedbackers. I don't take very well to criticisms and praises. I'm like those tender reeds that break easily, though I'm put in that situation so often, I hope my skin has grown thicker. So I have been extremely blessed that people who give me feedback are always very kind. They never fail to first draw out my strengths, before showing me my weaknesses. My confirmation reviewers wrote such nice comments about my work that I hid the comments for about a year. I was so embarrassed by it. But when I took them out to read them more objectively, I found that they had given me very good directions about how to expand my work, rather than having that "tunnel vision".

I've written here a couple of times about how I broke out of that theoretical box and that mesmerization with theories. It took me one year to get out of it. But actually, early into my study, my reviewers have already pointed out that I should break out of it. As I continued my research, the part that I have wanted to distance myself most from - the context of Singapore and Asia - were what my reviewers and supervisor thought were key to my research. The more I analyze my data, the more I realized what they said were very relevant and true on hindsight.

So that was my journey. Your feedback counts. :) So invaluable to my thoughts and thinking.