So the readings are dry as a bone--that doesn't mean the research won't rock

The Alvarez piece was, in this humble man's opinion, poorly written and even more poorly edited--but the gist was, nevertheless, instructive. Especially interesting was a pervading theme (among many) that might be defined as "willingness"--a willingness to arrange for criticism, a willingness to accept, internalize, and act on said criticism. Listening and acting on the observations of acceptably neutral, outside parties is leaning on an intellect or a combination of intellects that are not one's own, and therefore may lead to surprising and/or "hidden" conclusions that one would likely have never discovered relying solely on powers within oneself. This is valuable, and the principle might be characterized as the "humility" of the true researcher.

Lauer and Asher, though steeping their writing in the driest of prose packed with (perhaps at times unnecessarily) technical, look-at-how-smart-I-am professional jargon, presented a helpful overture of composition research, particularly the rhetorical and empirical approaches, as well as, at least to this humble seeker of knowledge, a valuable breakdown of the various methods of study involved in empirical research.

It was refreshing to see Bourdieu's take thrown into the mix--a view with which this meek blogger must be compelled to agree. Whatever the results of one's various experiments (and indeed, the project as a whole) it must be remembered and duly noted that, in the end, the world is far more complicated than one's limited capacity to test and quantify and describe would allow--it is a combination of billions of independent wills and consciousnesses, each beyond the power of any researcher to fully comprehend, and together, unquestionably, far more complex and intricate than any research project could ever unravel.

Having read both Alvarez and Lauer/Asher, it seems clear that, certainly, one of the most significant acts along the path of research takes place at the very beginning--with the question; asking the right one is a real challenge. From there, identifying the various elements involved and, importantly, articulating said elements is essential to "starting off on the right track."

Knowing myself, this, I think, may be the most challenging step for me in formulating and carrying out a high-quality, highly useful research project.