The Lessons I’ve Learned from Researching
For my researched interview essay on the television show Friends, I used a circular
research process to build my paper. The assignment was to obtain research on how
New York City is portrayed in the media compared to reality, by interviewing other
people. I grew up watching Friends, so when I started by rewatching multiple episodes
from each season. This was very helpful because it reminded me of how the show
portrayed the character’s lifestyles as normal for New Yorkers. Then, I wrote interview
questions and conducted the interview while visiting locations from the show. While I
was revising my interview questions, I researched the average cost of an apartment in
the West Village to understand how unrealistic their lifestyle was. I conducted the
interview at the site of the apartment buildings that various characters lived in
throughout the show, as well as Washington Square Park. This helped to emphasize
the differences between the show and real life to myself and the interviewee. My
interviewee was also a source as she grew up watching the show while living in New
York City so she created a unique perspective with her personal experiences. Finally, I
used apartment rental websites and a family member who was renting an apartment in
the West Village as sources. This helped me understand what the average cost of living
was for these characters and if it would be feasible for them to live there. I had some
help from my professor in revising the interview questions and essay as a whole. I found
my research told me what I had expected it would. My interviewee expressed in the
interview that Friends portrayed an unrealistic lifestyle for people with the job insecurity
that the characters had. This was the direction I assumed my interview would head in
and nothing I found shocked me. I managed my time very well for this paper. I wrote my
interview questions in class and got feedback on them at the end of class. I revised
them and then conducted the interview when my partner and I were visiting the
locations the next day. My interviewee and I spent extensive time at the locations to get
the feeling of the neighbourhoods and I typed up the interview I had recorded before the
next class. I finished my first draft and got feedback from my peers during class and
then revised my essay and handed it in the next class when it was due. The extensive
time I spent researching the show and at the locations helped me understand the nature
of the characters and neighbourhood. I also managed my time well and researched
specifics to strengthen my interview questions. This showed because the questions
were specific and well thought out. However, I could have combined two of my interview
questions into one since they were similar. I often have trouble with being repetitive in
my writing and these questions prompted repetitive responses. Through this project, I
learned that I often use a circular research method and it works well for me, I am able to
revise the project as I progress and learn more about the topic. I can improve in the
future by reading over my work with the distinct intention of finding any repetition to
make sure my papers are concise. I’ve found reflecting on my past project helpful
because it showed me that I like to use a circular research method. Through this
semester, I can learn to use this purposefully and remember that I don’t have to know
everything about a topic at the beginning; I can revise and continue to learn throughout.
I also used a circular research process for my Jackson Heights newspaper
project. To start, I did baseline research on the area and visited it to gain firsthand
experiences. I spoke to people in the neighbourhood at the Greenmarket and the main
park in the area, Travers Park. In class my group and I researched newspaper layouts
and studied various newspapers from New York City. We took note of how they
organized information and the kind of information they chose to include. We started
designing possible layouts for the newspaper and choosing fonts. Then, I did more
research about the Greenmarket in Jackson Heights and the business I spoke to while I
was there. My group then picked a layout and I researched the redesign of Travers
Park. I inputted the group’s information into the InDesign document and then edited and
revised the layout numerous times, with the help of my group’s suggestions. My sources
were the Greenmarket website, news reports about the Travers Park redesign,
members of the community and Hot Bread Kitchen, the business I spoke to and
researched. I found what I was hoping for; from visiting the neighbourhood I found out
that the biggest park in the neighbourhood, Travers Park, was being redesigned. I
managed my time well but wish I could have met with my group members more to get
their detailed input, however they were often busy. I spoke to many people from the
community and did a large amount of research before and especially after visiting. This
helped me to understand how the newspaper should feel based on reflecting the
community it was made for. The newspaper conveyed this because it felt like it was
something I would have seen when I visited. However, I could have spent more time in
the community and gone back a second time. This could have helped to make sure the
photos we got were better related to the articles. The group member who was taking the
photos couldn’t come at the same time as the rest of the group and therefore didn’t
know what exactly we were writing about in our articles. This showed because even
though we took some photos that were used in the newspaper, they were more casual
than most photos in a newspaper are. In this project, I learned how to work in a group
that is not very flexible and how to make sure the final product still reflects our vision. I
could improve on making sure that we meet as a group more often. In the future, when I
am researching a place that I can visit I should go there often and spend as much time
there as possible.
