Reflection 08

I am very honoured to be presented the Prize of the Best Honours Project Reports. Conducting the honours project is an unforgettable and special experience in my university life. Every graduate-to-be needs to get it done by applying relevant  theories, knowledge and skills we have learnt and acquired throughout the university study.

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In the process of conducting the research, I have encountered some difficulties and obstacles that subsequently become the greatest learning outcome. To begin with, setting the project title was the first obstacle I encountered because by then I was quite confused about what kind of research I wanted to conduct. After several rounds of consideration, I finally came up with a title inspired by my volunteer experience in The Salvation Army of Tai Po Integrated Service for Young People with some other university students. With the experience of us providing support for the children of Chinese new immigrants, I am interested in the parenting among these Chinese immigrant mothers. However, the content of my draft proposal was too broad. I did not know how to refine it nor how to do literature review so I went for a consultation with my supervisor for who I am thankful. She suggested some clear directions and taught me how to use precise wordings to search related articles and journals. After I read more relevant academic journals and books, my thought became clearer and thus I could modify the proposal. Nonetheless, I encountered the other obstacle soon enough. After conducting three interviews, I was able to collect some data from the Chinese immigrant mothers which I had no clue how to analyse. Luckily, my supervisor arranged some group meetings for us. It was a good chance for us to learn from our fellows by sharing our progress with and giving suggestions to one another.

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Apart from overcoming the obstacles, I realised that self-discipline and time management are very important factors that facilitate my learning. Other than conducting this honours project, I also needed to work on other group projects and assignments, attend other major courses and elective courses at the same time. Besides, I need to contact some social workers to help me reach out interview participants. Since I was a volunteer in The Salvation Army, Tai Po Integrated Service for Young People, I could personally reach out and invite some lower-class Chinese immigrant mothers to do the interviews in the Centre. However, it was not easy to reach out to middle-class Chinese immigrant mothers because I did not have such a network. After I finished all the interviews of these lower-class Chinese immigrant mothers, I still cannot find middle-class Chinese immigrant mothers to help me do the interview. I felt so stressful and hopeless. Luckily, I met a woman from Mu Min Cumberland Presbyterian Church who was sharing the gospel to people in our community. She was very friendly and enthusiastic as she even invited me to join them. I got the courage to ask for her help to invite some middle-class Chinese immigrant mothers for the interviews. She then contacted the director of Mu Min Cumberland Presbyterian Church to see if he could help. I am thankful for what they have done for me. After the interviews, I need to review literature, transcribe interview scripts and analyse data. Time management is very crucial for me to perform these tasks all at once. Moreover, self-discipline is also important because I need to set a schedule to keep tracking and accomplish each task on time. Finally, I need to make connection to what I have learnt from the Liberal Studies Education Programme, in particular the course SSC4239 Honours Project Research Methods, i.e. the research methods and the interview skills. I think these skills were useful and beneficial to my research. Overall, I think conducting the honours project is a good chance for me to learn how to do task individually.