Using visual approaches and activities to document my progress in developing my own research agenda was an eye opener in my personal research journey. My own research evolution would not have been as clear had I not visually described my emerging status. This post briefly summarizes my visual journey through developing my research agenda—logically using pictures and descriptions of what actually changed, and explaining how the imagery contributed to such shifts.
Visual 1—seeking the crux of your focus
It is hard to just make up a dissertation or research topic that will satisfy all your interests out of thin air. There are many paths and tangents you can follow when pursuing your own research interests - in many cases too many. Sure, you can read some articles to find ‘cool’ stuff, or you can organize your thoughts through visuals, as in the Venn Diagram that I used.
I knew that there were three areas I wanted to cover: (1) Mexican/immigrant communities, (2) social justice and (3) entrepreneurship. The midpoint of the diagram was really just a combination of these three. Sure, you could just combine them in text, but to see how they each intersect can help develop ideas. For example, I could have done a project on the intersection between social justice and entrepreneurship, and leave out the immigrant angle, or work on a project that intersects between the social justice angle and the immigrant community and leave out the entrepreneurship component. I wanted to include all three aspects and so this Venn diagram was a way for me to see them intersect.
From this point on, I settled on “Economic Issues in Mexician/Immigrant Entrepreneurship” - which was a broad topic. I then began to consider the entrepreneurial skills of individuals within Mexican/immigrant [AO1] communities. I wanted to figure out what caused such traits and if they were useful in overcoming economic issues immigrants face. That initial dialogue led to the visual 2, which served as a way to dig deeper into my topic.
Visual 2 —word webs to see connections
Visual 2 was a way for me to ‘dump’ all my thoughts on paper and see if they connect. At the time, I was reading articles, visiting businesses and talking to people. All these activities can add to the mental space that researchers reserve for organization and process. Sometimes we have some many ideas and thoughts run through our research mind that they easily get lost in all the noise. I started with the words “immigrants” and “entrepreneurship” and narrowed down the setting to “San Antonio” for logistical reasons. Going back and forth with the literature helped to put down more themes or words down. This was also the time the words “ethnic enclave” emerged - which is now a central focus on my research project. Without this exercise I would not have figured out my ‘real’ focus. As you can see - there are many avenues I could have taken. In fact - I entertained the idea of pivoting to the national policy known as NAFTA. I ultimately decided not to pursue that angle, but it did help me realize that I should focus on ‘group’ dynamics rather than individuals.
Visual 3 — exploring a serious pivot, with silly drawings
There may be a time in the midst of our research where we may question what our topic is. Is it good enough? Do I really feel passionate about this topic? Will it actually contribute to change or just be ‘dead on arrival’ or meaningless research? These are all questions that may motivate someone to pivot to a completely different focus. In order to consider the pivot, I visualized what that pivot could look like. Sure I could’ve read five more articles on NAFTA to see what could inspire me, but the drawing itself was enough for me to reflect on whether or not I could pivot. I ultimately decided not to pursue this policy tangent, but instead to pursue a focus on communities, thanks to this visual reflection.
Visual 4 —the real focus, divided.
After talking to members of the ethnic enclave of San Antonio, I realized that my focus should be something I am familiar with. I chose to focus on the Mariachi community in San Antonio - based on the literature review, my exploration of pivots and tangents, and also realizing that I have 20 plus years of experience in the community! That was not the end of the topic exploration. I realized I could work on this focus in two modes: (1) entrepreneurial process-based or (2) Entrepreneurial content-based. By this I mean that the first option was designed to include entrepreneurship approaches to study this community and the latter would look at specifically entrepreneurship type issues.
Visual 5—tables are our friends
I love tables! They help to organize thoughts and also have a linear component to them that makes it easier to read. Though I consider myself artistic and abstract, when it comes to data - tables will allow us to access data quickly and efficiently. For me, it helps to develop thoughts as well. There are different roles within the Mariachi community, and most members will either perform them simultaneously and or evolve from one to the other. These paths were not completely clear until I decided to put them down on paper. Before the paths mentioned in the table were just abstract informal concepts that were ‘unwritten rules of the road’ – that is until I decided to write them down. I started as a member of a group, then eventually led groups. At one point I was a freelancer and 'talonero' and was not considered full-time. I did teach mariachi in formal education systems and also wrote arrangements for groups. I want to see if other Mariachis follow a similar path. Constructing this table helps to keep these paths in mind.
Visual 6—pushing the project forward
This last visual was a culmination of doing my research and reflecting through pictures and drawings. I realized that I am visual person - I learn and organize things when I can ‘see them.’ Many times we may think that simple visuals or drawings may not be considered as ‘academic’ as say a well formatted paragraph, due to the idea that formatted reports and papers are the traditional currency of Academia. But, if the idea of text is to disseminate information, symbols on a sheet of paper can accomplish that as well - and for people like me, will make it more clear and efficient. The last visual to present helped me to push the project further - in fact research questions emerged from this visual rather than having questions already in mind. Visuals will help to push projects further and ultimately helped to structure and push further my agenda. I started with the broad topic of studying entrepreneurial behaviors of Mexican/immigrant individuals and now have a clear focus on studying how ethnic enclaves interact with and influence the National economy.
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