research groups and ideas con't

First off how did anyone add pictures to their profiles? I definitely couldn't figure that one out....

On the issue of topics, I feel pretty similarly I think to a lot of others in the class..which is sort of lost and overwhelmed by the vast number of possible subjects to study. I feel like everything is so interesting, and trying to narrow it down to just one topic that I can stick with for our entire time is difficult, actually commiting to something is going to be rough...

Now for the assignment:

a&b) As far as research groups go I came to the realization that I wasn't as interested in studying sustainabilty issues as much as I originally had thought I was, after listening to everyone elses ideas and coming up with others myself I decided not to join Alex and Julia's group about ecofriendliness and sustainabilty.

Mark and I have thrown around a few ideas about urban planning and public transport, one of my TAs in another class studied in Amsterdam for almost a year and talked about the segregation of housing by race, and the dutch conceptions of race, I think it could be interesting to tie in the implementation of public transport as a research topic. In general we both seem to be leaning towards some kind of issue in urban planning. (Whether that will involve the use of parks, or public transport, housing, etc...I am still not completely sure) I am definitely still interested in issues of art.....but am still not sure if it would even be possible to tie that in, or if just visiting galleries on my own will be enough to satisfy my own curiosity and interest without doing a formal research project with it.

I think the general research idea would focus around urban planning...and perhaps my own study would be on public transportation. How effective is it? Does it keep certain groups separate? Is it easy to get from certain neighborhoods to certain areas where jobs are, or are those people essentially cut off unless they have their own vehicles? Does it help keep the populations segregated? If so how do people feel about it, do they like it the way it is even though the Dutch are supposed to be so pro-equality? What is the feeling of bus/train drivers towards those who use public transportation?....

c) I am definitely leaning towards the pilot study or exploration end of the spectrum as far as research goals go, I'd like to have the freedom to talk to whomever without being constrained by what is acceptable for academic research.

d) The biggest challenges so far are definitely figuring out and defining for sure what I plan to study and finding a for sure group to do a project with. Then of course narrowing down what kind of methods to use to find out whatever information we are interested in. I think almost any project would start with internet research and use of existing literature, and then move to see if we want to do mostly observational study, or interviews, surveys, and on..

I am still open to a lot of ideas...and any comments or anyone else interested in anything I've said, or who might need a group should definitely let me know!