ho hum

Done about an hour and a quarter spss-ing, fuelled by new-found revalations about what to do. The idea of charging my print card this morning so it contained about what i plan on spending in the supermarket this weekend was that i'd be able to print the huge quantities of data output. Now the printer is packed up and i need to quickly find somewhere else to print stuff before bus time, otherwise i won't have the stuff to take home at the weekend. Oh, joy.

Thurs 28 April

• 1 1/2 hours or so on SPSS, but think i've got over one of the big obstacles!
• 3 articles on political participation
• Made a start on the essay

All i've done today so far is another little bit on the essay, maybe 45 mins or so before i came to campus, but i've got it planned properly now so the painful bit is done. (the boring bit isn't quite done though...)

Wednesday 27 April

Yesterday:

• 2 hours or so SPSS, establishing main connections and main obstacles
• Re-jigged plan, more in the format that i need to write the project up in
• Read the relevant two chapters of Almond and Verba, The Civic Culture

Tuesday 26 April

Yesterday's work:

• 2 hours or so SPSS - basic spadework like frequency charts and crosstabs. This was after negotiating my project with the module convenor. (hopefully that means it was directed toward the right end!)
• Read the introduction to Southeast Asian Identities and another article.

This was the first time my work plan (some vague daily minimum) has cut into my tv viewing, so you know i'm getting serious.

Today has been spent in research training and meetings until now, just about to start more SPSS stuff. Just found out how to do significance testing.

More today

Just to prove there is some purpose to me being on a computer all this time-
Nearly two hours putting in SPSS spadework, getting frequency charts etcetera, in hope of getting some real work done at some point!! Feels frustrating but at least the most boring jobs are done.

I told you this was the most fascinating blog in the world, didn't i? :-/

And today

So far today:
Negotiated quantitative methods major project with tutor.
Pile of xeroxing, which doesn't really count.
Bit of fiddling with spss - trying to figure how to open zipped data sets.

I'm working, really

I've started writing down how much work i've done in a day. Partly as a procrastination exercise, also to try to see whether i'm doing enough. So here's the story so far:

Last week

• Quantitative methods small project - the last of the ones that's supposed to take two hours but doesn't (feh). The most complicated one.
• Benedict Anderson, The Spectre of Comparison (revision)
• 2 articles on Asian values and democracy
• Coffee-break reading on social movements - although i won't start work properly on my conference paper until May 1 (i deliver it on May 7) there's no harm in putting the odd few minutes into it now.

Weekend (April 23-24)

• Anderson, Imagined Communities
• Three or four articles for Asian Politics

Monday April 25

• Two or three hours preliminary fiddling with SPSS
• First plan for major quant meth project, choosing variables etc
• Two Asian Politics articles - less than planned, but they were full of heavy technical economic stuff.
• Light coffee-break reading on social movements

So far i've kept to my resolution of never being without reading material. So i don't know whether i'll go through with my self-imposed punishment of having to get my ass down to campus and get some if i run out at home.