Year: 2015

Quantitative Analysis

I am particularly enjoying the Quantitative Analysis course, and conducting my pilot study.  This is the numbers stuff I’ve been looking forward to studying.

The professor for the course, who earned his Ph.D primarily conducting quantitative research, made it clear at the start that most every (but not every) quant research project will be enhanced by qualitative research to round off the edges.  Now I get that.

One third of the way through the program.  My how the time does fly.

A final thought for this post: As I conduct research and make data I can’t help but to notice that:

All Petty Politics Are Local
– Jonathan Kramer

One Third of the Program is now Done…

…and I feel like I’ve hit my stride. I understand what is expected of me; what is necessary to achieve a respectable grade; how to write good papers and occasionally how to write a less-than-good paper; and how to plan my time.

I’m particularly grateful for the fact that our Cohort has formed into a unit where we actually like each other. There are two sub-cliques that have formed, but I tend to ignore them as and I actively engage everyone without regard to their cliques. By the way, we started the Cohort with 25 members. We’re down to 17 now, and one current Cohort member may have to take a leave soon to enter the U.S. Senior Executive Service.

The work is demanding; the reading is long and slow. Why do academics feel like they must impress us with their words? I understand the need for precision, but that doesn’t preclude striving for communicability.

I’m really enjoying this program.

jlk

Thesis Random Thoughts

I struggle with what I want as my thesis topic.

I started the program wanting to delve into hedonic (not hedonistic) price modeling after the installation of a nearby cell tower. Looking deeper into the data necessary to pull it off, and the sources and costs for those data, I moved away from that area.

Recently I’ve been thinking about looking at how local governments in California have addressed Section 6409(a) issues in their local ordinances (as best I can tell right now, the working answer is, ‘not much’).

Still thinking…

jlk

It’s Back to the Numbers Game

Having finished 2014Q2, I have to admit that I did enjoy the qualitative analysis course far more than I expected.

I’m a numbers guy. I like reducing things to numbers, so I admit to being a quantitative fan. For that reason, the softer, squishier ‘coding’ of qualitative research seemed a bit strange.

What was stranger than squishy coding was discovering the limitations of being an attorney and engineer trying to pull verbal data from my research subjects. Initially, I really sucked at it. More than once I was told by a research subject that my conversational questions seemed more like legal depositions. Oy.

Most important that I now have a good beginning grasp about why qualitative research and analysis can coexist with quantitative research, and why its common for a researcher to like one approach over the other. To each his or her own.

In a few days I start the quantitative analysis classes. I’m looking forward to making primary data, and using secondary data. Like I said above, I like numbers.

It’s off to the races.