Kyle Lewis

Professor Maxine Weisgrau

ANT 4110
3 Feb, 2021

The Politics of Knowledge and Knowledge Production

Knowledge is power and political.

Research: A Path To New Knowledge

How do we know what we claim to know?

Your Research Project

What? What is your project? Why? Why is this an important project to do? How? How will you

do your research?

Research Methods (Methodology): How Do We Create New Knowledge?

Research “question” or assumption. Sample or group. Refine question or approach. Look at other

relevant work. Develop research strategy (methodology). Gather data. Analyze.

Using A Hypothesis

You find what you expect when your hypothesis is correct, but it is incorrect if the findings

indicate otherwise. Conflicting data is ok as then new knowledge would have been created and

allows for the hypothesis to be revised or it can be disproven.

Understand the Personal Politics of Your Proposed Research

Are pre-conceptions about the findings strong? Be reflexive. How will one’s research be

impacted?

Practical Considerations

Is your research “doable”? Is there sufficient time to conduct it. Is it ethical?

Some Practical Considerations

Permission, skills and supplies, quiet and private workspace.

Some Concepts and Frameworks To Be Aware of In Doing Research

Quantitative data, Qualitative data, Primary sources, Secondary sources, Representation,

Multiple perspectives, Research responsibility

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Me-Search Ideas
7 Feb, 2021

1. a) Morality.

b) I am interested in this because I always ponder whether we as people can good or bad which is

a black-and-white way of thinking of us, or we are not necessarily either and we just perform

good and bad actions.

c) The intended subjects could be anybody, preferably people who are at least going to college or

older.

d) I expect to discover an underlying complexity than there being good people and bad people.

2. a) Motivation and the importance of making the best out of life.

b) This I am intrigued by because how one lives his/her life matters to virtually everyone. One

could just not care about life and throw it away but then life would be wasted.

c) Anyone, preferably adolescents or older would be the target demographic.

d) I expect the average person or the general consensus that one should aspire to live long, grow

old, and live as happily as possible

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110
8 Feb, 2021

A “Doable” Research Project Contains:

A clear and focused research question or statement (key words). An “answerable” question using

qualitative research methods. A stated theoretical perspective. A research paradigm. A specific

group. Methodology. Already established work of literature as a foundation.

Proposed Research Question: “I Want To Know the Meaning of Life”

A stated theoretical perspective. What is a theoretical perspective that could apply here? A

research paradigm. What is a research paradigm that could apply here? A clearly stated

community (hint: don’t talk about “people” in your research question, statement, or proposal. Be

clearer from the outset). What is a clearly stated community within this question could be

researched?

How Could This General Topic Be Restated Into A Double Research Hypothesis?

People want to know the meaning of life. How would you start restating this general interest area

into a doable research hypothesis? Hint: Your research is not about you. Make sure you are

framing your question about a specific group of people, not about yourself.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Project Research Question
9 Feb, 2021

 Community: Atheists (young adults minimum)

 Question: How are Atheists Motivated to Get Through Life and Make the Best of It?

 Reason to Explore: How non-religious people are driven and motivated is interesting as

God (or gods) to them is not a form of guidance and, their outlook of the world is

different.

 Method of Gathering Data: Going through various online forums and blogs and

extracting what they comment about life and how they are driven. Data will also come

from already created literary and scholarly work.

 Who Would Be Interviewed: I would personally prefer not to interview anyone and will

instead just gather a consensus from numerous atheists via observation as well as critical

analyses of works of literature.

 Assumptions: I expect to find that the drives of non-religious people will not be based on

any form of spirituality at all and instead will just be other various things (practical

and/or maybe just materialism).

 All the research will be done online in various online forums and various articles and/or

other published work. I will do observations and content analyses.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Homework Assignment Calendar 02/07-05/24
9 Feb, 2021

02/07 Me-Search Ideas Word-Doc Assignment

02/09 Create your own calendar for assignments. Create and refine project research question.

02/16 Revise proposed research question based on class discussion and Kirby.

02/21 Complete online “Ethical Research” Certification. Post responses to the “Checkpoints” on

Kirby p. 99 after completing the Human Subjects tutorial.

02/23 Complete selecting and evaluating an online field site (including field site selection

discussion essay). Read “Blue Book” pages 1-12 and complete a minimum of one quiz per

section.

02/28 Draft informed consent and post (include method for getting consent from informants).

03/07 Draft preliminary research proposal.

03/09 Choose three readings for use in literature review and describe their significance to the

project, as well as how will they be used. Grammar quiz (who, whom, whomever, who, that,

which). Work on literature reviews.

03/16 Identify at least five peer-reviewed, published articles that are relevant (to theoretical

perspective, location, and/or methodology of the project), and describe their content and

significance.

03/23 Create 10 interview questions for informants and 10 interview questions for experts.

04/04 Revise 10 interview question to include probes and reasoning for how participants will

answer each interview question which should answer your research question.

04/06 Interview one informant and provide a transcript with feedback from the informant for

class discussion. Make sure to record the interview and have a signed consent form.
04/18 Revise and complete research proposal (must be ready for consultation). Review Kirby

chapter 5.

04/25 Do exercise 1 on p. 52 of “Ethnographic Interviewing Practice”. Transcribe the interview

and write a discussion of it with a minimum of 1,000 words.

05/02 Write a description (prose) of one interview based on coding, transcript analysis, and

issues and their relationship to literature. Continue conducting interviews with transcripts. Read

Kirby chapter 10 (p. 219-235) and re-read online source code report. Do grammar quiz in Blue

Book p. 20-23.

05/09 Prepare a 1,000-word discussion about one aspect of your research along with your

achievements and challenges in completing the project.

05/24 Submit “Core Paper” with Safe Assign Report and Appendices (Safe Assign Report not a

requirement for Appendices and is a separate file or are separate files) both under the assignment

20 tab, and in a zip file electronically via email. Refer to the final report checklist when doing so.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110
17 Feb, 2021

What are Research Ethics?

 By research ethics we mean two things: First, the behavior, values and attitudes of a

researcher must conform to the standards of conduct for critical social research:

o These included voluntary participation, safety, equity, inclusion, fairness,

openness, transparency, and ownership integrated into the research process in

meaningful ways.

 Ethical procedures are generally understood as protections for participants, but they are

also protections for researchers and others involved in research.

Ethical Research Includes:

 Respect for persons: free and informed consent, autonomy, voluntariness, and knowledge

of vulnerabilities.

 Concern for welfare: balance of risk and benefits, participants’ perspective,

confidentiality.

 Concern for justice: equitable treatment, appropriate inclusion, awareness of power

dynamics in research process.

 Respect for community: understanding the community, respecting the community’s

norms and values, community inclusion.

Core Research Ethics General Principles: Rights of Informants

1. Voluntary participation. 2. No harm to participants. 3. Informed consent. 4. Signed consent

form. 5. Always be truthful – no deception. 6. Anonymity and confidentiality. 7. Institutional

Review Boards (IRB). 8. Right to stop participation at any time.

Virtual world subjects: same rights as any informants in any social science research.

What are Vulnerable Populations in Human Subjects Research? Included But Not Limited To:

Children. Homeless. Minors. Chronically ill. Pregnant women. Mentally challenges or disabled.

Prisoners. Politically oppressed or marginalized people whose participation could create legal or

political “blowback” if information or opinions are attributed to them. Employees. Military

personnel.

What Does This Mean to You As A Student Researcher? Ask Questions If You Are Unclear

About Any of These Issues In Relation To Your Project.

 Complete ethics tutorial immediately. Understand all the issues and guidelines being

discussed.

 Have a complete consent form that is signed by anyone you are interviewing.

 Be clear on potential ethical issues in your project.

 Be very clear on what ethics are and how these principles apples to virtual research.

 Clearly articulate these in your project description and proposal.

 Read Kirby Chapter 5 and understand all the issues and concepts.

 Understand what an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is and how it operates.

 Complete the “ethics checklist” Kirby 88-89; 91-94.

 As student researchers you will not be submitting your research proposal to the IRB but

you MUST conform to all of its principles and guidelines.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Observing Different Perspectives of Adult Males of Managing Work-life Balance and
its Effect on Their Respective Health
17 Mar, 2021

Setting:

I conducted my online observation on the question-and-answer website Quora under the

question “How do I find work-life balance?” Quora supports some of the features other social

networking and online discussion platforms similarly provide, so that there are simply threads

with numerous responses to be had in it. Anyone can actually respond to the question, but in this

matter, the responses come from various people with varying degrees of experience having

worked a job themselves. Work-life balance is something that everyone struggles with in their

respective lives including me, although I am focused on adult males and thus, this is a study that

I am doing. I have not had much issues searching for a field site and I was able to set the specific

scope of my study to working adult males.

Observation process:

I went to Quora and typed “Work Life Balance Health” in the search bar and the first

result that showed up was what I found to be close enough to what I am looking for. I did do a

bit of thinking but the topic of study I am doing I found to be easy to get information for from

other people via observation. I did not engage in any way on that thread as I chose to be a silent

observer and just assess the responses provided. My approach was looking at the different

answers and comments given. I took screenshots of two answers given (one of which was

supplemented with a comment) from some time ago but fairly recent enough to serve as

examples of what I observed but did look at a lot of the responses.

Figure 1.
Figure 2.
I was open to many different possible answers although I did have an expectation or more that I

did not think about as I went into the thread to observe. These screenshots are just two examples

and there are a lot of other answers that were written for the question that I have read. At least

two screenshots were enough as the answer differs from one individual to the next. All of this

was done for a couple of hours and I formulated my thoughts of what I noticed in the different

answers.

Findings:

What I found is just what I noticed when I observed the different answers to that thread

on Quora. There is more to be done but many of the answers varied and consisted of different

points of view of handling work-life balance. As it turns out so far, working adult men establish

plan(s) and value happiness over money. The first screenshot is of someone who discussed

replanning, setting goals, making time and time flexibility. The second screen shot is of another

who understands the importance of working and money, but also stresses that happiness should

not be sacrificed for them.

Conclusion:

Quora itself is useful for facilitating an online environment and I acquired a better

understanding of how working adult males handle balancing work and their personal life. There

is more to be done. There are more observations to have and more data and information to

gather. I also have yet to access peer-reviewed, academic scientific literature work which can

help increase my understanding of this study. I appreciated learning from different viewpoints of

managing work-life balance.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Blue Book Quizzes
23 Feb, 2021

Finding Nouns, Verbs, and Subjects Quiz 1

1. The overturned truck blocked both lanes.

2. He appears to be deep in thought.

3. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a New York City landmark.

4. She will fly part of the way and then drive fifty kilometers to get there.

5. Honesty is the best policy.

6. Get over here quickly!

7. From the bottom of the cave, the stalagmites rose ten feet high.

8. Through the mist, the bridge appeared.

9. I will just be watching the Boston Marathon, but my wife will be running in it.

10. Behind the door is a coat rack.

11. Joe has been helping out with the chores.

12. He should have been more gracious.

Subject and Verb Agreement Quiz 1

1. That pack of lies is not going to cause me to change my mind.

2. My favorite team’s colors are orange and black. ✓

3. Here are two more factors to consider.

4. Neither the rain nor the darkness is going to stop me.

5. My staff believes in providing high-quality service. ✓

6. This is one of the things that bothers me about grammar. ✓

7. Mary Lou asked that he take out the trash. ✓

8. Either the bikes or the lawn mower goes in that space.

9. Oh my, there’s not enough desserts for everyone. ✓

10. The bag of toys is going to a needy family. ✓

11. Neither my brother nor my sister-in-law is taking Mom to the doctor.

12. The conductor, as well as the musicians, are taking the stage. ✓

13. A majority of the community supports lower speed limits.

14. My whole family are vacationing in Baja California this winter. ✓

15. Did he say sixty dollars is the cost of going to the ball game?

16. The distance alone, besides the costs involved, is too great to consider moving.

17. Law and order is the principle he based his campaign on. ✓

18. There’s lots of food left. ✓

19. There’re lots of people here.

20. If it were up to me, we would leave earlier in the morning.

21. One in three stressed Americans cope by shopping. ✓

22. Four years is considered the normal amount of time to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Pronouns Quiz 1

1. It is he/him who will be responsible for making all of the arrangements.

2. It is I who is/am wrong.

3. I hope my boss gives that assignment to Laura and I/me.

4. She was one of those cruise passengers who is/are always complaining.

5. Each of the players get/gets to make a speech before the parade.

6. Julia is a faster runner than I/me.

7. The sweater that we found at the church is yours/your’s.

8. The dog hurt its/it’s paw while running through the empty field.

9. George and I/myself finished staining the deck.

10. Everyone wrote their/his or her own autobiography in the class.

11. She/her and Carlos are the baby’s godparents.

12. The honors committee nominated he/him and Ming.

13. Everyone working on this together have/has come to a different conclusion/

different conclusions.

14. You more than anyone else knows/know what the risks are.

15. Her/She and I/me are in charge of the sales presentation tomorrow.

16. Neither of the girls are/is planning a wedding in the near future.

17. It is we/us who will get the blame if things do not go well.

18. Its/It’s obvious that the best team will prevail.

19. Nora is one of the candidates who is/are worthy of my vote.

20. Nora, of all the candidates who is/are running, is the best.
 Consent Form for Participation in a Student Research Study
Baruch College

Title of Study: Understanding the Life Motivations of Atheists

Online Form

https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3JyB5NeFfTiWxEy

Description of the Research and Your Participation

Welcome! You are invited to volunteer as a participant in a research study conducted by Kyle
Lewis. The purpose of this study is to provide insight and understanding into how those that do
not practice and believe in any religion are driven to go through life and what motivates you and
how.

Your participation will involve answering questions in interviews and completing surveys.

Risks and Discomforts

There are no known risks associated with this research.

Potential Benefits

There are no known benefits to you that would result from your participation in this research.

Protection of Confidentiality

Participants will not have their identities disclosed via documentation or by any other means at
all, especially if they choose not to.

Voluntary Participation

Participation in this study is a choice and you do not have to partake in it if you do not want to.
You can discontinue volunteering for this study at any time and you will not be penalized.

Recording Interview

Please fill in ONE of the following circles below:

o Yes. I give my permission to be recorded.

o No. I wish to not be recorded.
Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this study or if any problems arise, please contact
Kyle Lewis at Baruch College at this email address: Kyle.Lewis@Baruchmail.cuny.edu. If you
have any questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant, please contact my
faculty advisor on this research, Prof. Maxine Weisgrau at Maxine.Weisgrau@baruch.cuny.edu.

Consent

I have read this consent form and have been given the opportunity to ask questions. I give
my consent to participate in this study.

Participant’s signature_______________________________ Date:_________________

A copy of this consent form should be given to you.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110
1 Mar, 2021

Looking Ahead

 The proposal.

 Preparing your data collection.

 Operationalizing your research – what does that mean?

 Note: In Kirby chapter 7 pp. 137-140 top. Section on “Collaboration”. We are not

stressing collaborative research, but you can think about how you will share your findings

with informants.

Looking Ahead: Moving From Research Question To Final Report

1. Choosing a topic and refined research question. -> 2. Designing the research, creating a

complete research proposal. -> 3. Developing data gathering tools; making final decisions about

participants; finalizing the proposal; securing permissions, finalizing consent forms. -> 4.

Analyzing data. -> 5. Answering the research question: interpreting the data and reinterpreting

literature. -> 6. Communicating your results in written form. Possibly include suggestions for

further research.

In Qualitative Research We Move From…:

Concept -> Indicators – what kind of data (new information) do we want -> Methods.

Methods For Collecting Data Online: “Toolbox”

Pick the tool that fits the specific job, goal, or phrase of your research: participant-observation,

site selection, survey questionnaires, develop specific questions for interview settings,

interviews, expert interviews, content analysis.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Preliminary Research Proposal
17 Mar, 2021

Title

How Does Work-Life Balance Affect the Health of Adult Men?

Research Objective

This study will go in great depth about the impact that work-life balance has on the health of

adult men who work. The quality of balance between work and life will also be important in this

study. What makes this study interesting is the connection between work and personal life

(professional life and personal life going hand-in-hand), managing both and how well they are

managed affects the health of working adults (specifically working adult men for this study).

Certificate of Completion of Ethics

Methodology

This study will consist of content analyses of peer-reviewed, professional work (articles) and

observation of working adult men on sites like Quora stated. Quora will be investigated

extensively.

Online Field Site Discussion Essay

Field Site: “How do I find work-life balance?” This thread is on the question-and-answer

(also supports functionality similar to other online social platforms) website Quora contains

answers and comments from the demographic intended to be studied which is relevant to the

study and ultimately helps answer the overall research question.

Timeline

March week 2: Finding and selecting readings for study (looking at other peer-reviewed work).

Literature review.
March week 3: Further work on literature review. Research design and methodology.

Technology.

March week 4: Extensive observations on Reddit and Quora. Extensive analyses on related peer-

reviewed content.

March week 5/April week 1: Determining most effective research methods. Observations and

content analysis.

April week 2: Reviewing project in progress.

April week 3: Coding data.

April week 4: Review.

April week 5: Describe observation and connect it to the relevant professional sources.

May week 1: Review of project in progress. Write report for project.

May week 2: Brief discussion of one aspect of study and obstacles.

May week 3: Present findings.

May week 4: Submit project.

Bibliography

Choi, Eunsuk, and Jiyun Kim. “The Association between Work–Life Balance and Health Status

among Korean Workers.” Work, vol. 58, no. 4, 2017, pp. 509–517., doi:10.3233/wor-172641.

Evans, Amanda M., et al. “Work-Life Balance for Men: Counseling Implications.” Journal of

Counseling & Development, vol. 91, no. 4, 2013, pp. 436–441., doi:10.1002/j.1556-

6676.2013.00115.x.

Mensah, Aziz, and Nicholas Kofi Adjei. “Work-Life Balance and Self-Reported Health among

Working Adults in Europe: a Gender and Welfare State Regime Comparative Analysis.” BMC

Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, 2020, doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09139-w.

Vives, Alejandra, et al. “Gender and Ageing at Work in Chile: Employment, Working

Conditions, Work–Life Balance and Health of Men and Women in an Ageing Workforce.”

Annals of Work Exposures and Health, vol. 62, no. 4, 2018, pp. 475–489.,

doi:10.1093/annweh/wxy021.

Woo, Darae, et al. “Associations among Working Hours, Sleep Duration, Self-Rated Health, and

Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Men.” Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, vol. 18,

no. 1, 2020, doi:10.1186/s12955-020-01538-2.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110
3 Mar, 2021

Your Consent Form

 Brief description of research topic.

 DO briefly and concisely describe your research interest in 1 sentence.

 Make it as general as possible.

 DO tailor your consent form to the informant and what will be requested (e.g. survey or

interview).

 DO NOT include possible responses from informants.

 DO ask for permission to record.

 DO NOT include all methodologies for all people you will be communicating with.

 DO assure informant of anonymity.

 DO NOT overstate risks or your ability to deal with them.

 DO assure informants of their right to stop at any time.

Clarifying Your Research Question and Informant Pool

 “I am interested in COVID health and safety recommendations during the pandemic.”

 How would you make this into a doable research question?

When You Complete Your Research Will You Have Confidence In Generalizing

 How many sources do you have for college age Baruch male students who self-identify

as “POC”?

 Reporting recruits: College age Baruch male students who self-identify as “POC”

perceive health and safety recommendations as:

 o POSSIBLE OUTCOMES BUT YOU DON’T KNOW THIS YET.

 Needed or unneeded

 Apply to other groups of people but not to me

 Are only for children or the elderly

 Are necessary but too intrusive

 Irrelevant to me – I never get sick

 Get in the way of me having fun

 People feel this way about health and safety recommendations during the COVID

pandemic:

 Is your data about people?

 How many sources do you have about people?

 How can you report, generalize conclusions about people?

 To generalize our conclusions we need to be much more specific.

o What people?

o Where?

o What age?

o What gender? (males and females rarely if ever reply in the same way)

o What location, self-identification?

Examples of Correct Usage

 "it's" is the contraction for the words "it is" or "it has." For example, "It's (it is) going to

be a fabulous night" or "It's (it has) been a fabulous night."

 "Its" is the possessive version of the pronoun "it." Many people find this confusing

because possessives normally have an apostrophe (for example Joe's cookies or

 everyone's lunch). "Its," however, doesn't have an apostrophe when it is used as a

possessive.

 What tends to happen is someone might forget to add the apostrophe to "it's." You'll see

things like, "Its been a magical few weeks" or "That's not what its like.”

 Some sentence examples of "its" used as a possessive include:

 This cheese is past its expiration date.

 Its front door will open when you're nearby.

 This book is better than its cover would suggest.

 In its most basic form, this plan will work.

 This frog is too small for its aquarium.

 EXAMPLES:

 We've got to be downtown at four and it's still not here.

 It's always raining.

 Some days I think it's a wonderful world.

 She said it's only a fifteen minute drive.

 I don't know if it's his or not.

 It's nice inside the house. I know it's hard, but you'll be okay.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Pre-Literature Review
9 Mar, 2021

“Multiculturalism in Public and Private Spaces” (Irina V. Abakumova, Pavel N. Ermakov,

Karina Y. Kolesina) is one source that will be used for the literature review. The significance of

this reading is that it goes in-depth on data of research on the life purposes of adults of various

religions, which includes atheists. The data and the analysis of atheists in the source will be used

to support the study as possible different life purposes they may have.

“Atheistic, agnostic, and religious older adults on well-being and coping behaviors” (Sheena M.

Horning, Hasker P. Davis, Michael Stirrat, R. Elisabeth Cornwell) is another source that will be

used in the literature review. The significance of this article pertains to the quality of living in

atheistic older adults. This will be used to provide insight and empirical information about life.

The significance of “Differences in Motivations between Fundamental Christians and Atheists

on the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivational Sensitivities” (Amy Beasly, Kevin

Rowell) is the comparison of motivations between Christians and atheists. This source will

contribute in the literature review by how possible similarities and differences between them

regarding life motivations would convey their (atheists) outlook on life and their desires.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Blue Book Who, Whom, Whomever; Who, That, Which Quizzes
16 Mar, 2021

Who, Whom, Whoever, Whomever Quiz 1

1. Who brought the mail in today?

2. He is the doctor who took Jimmy’s tonsils out.

3. Who did you go to the movie with?

4. There will be a prize awarded to whoever finishes first.

5. Fatima was the cashier who won the lottery.

6. It does not matter to me who drives tomorrow.

7. I will be happy to help whoever needs extra assistance.

8. Sheila will have her hair styled by whomever her friend Rhonda recommends.

9. I will ride with whoever is planning to stop at the store.

10. Whoever wrote the story did an excellent job.

11. Next week they will decide who will be on the varsity team.

12. Please thank whoever brought in our mail while we were gone.

13. Andre is the person who we think is the most qualified.

14. We will hire whoever you trust to do the work.

15. Whoever used the grill last forgot to clean it.

16. Who are you mailing that letter to?

17. I will drive whomever Orlando decides to invite to the game.

18. Who do you trust to fix your computer?

19. Whoever can eat 25 hot wings will win a T-shirt.

20. The wedding florist whom we wanted to hire is unavailable.

Who, Whom, That, Which Quiz 1

1. Tina is looking for a pet who is small and easy to care for. ✓

2. Andre was the boy whom we hired to shovel our snow.

3. The package that was left on the porch was our book order.

4. The mechanic that fixed my car did a great job.

5. I hope we can find a restaurant which we can all agree on.

6. The red vase, which she sold for $20, was worth $200.

7. Mike is having a difficult time finding a tutor that we can afford.

8. That is the mascara that caused my allergic reaction. ✓

9. Was he the only student in the class that applied for the scholarship?

10. My favorite store, which is closing Friday, is having a big sale.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Literature Review
16 Mar, 2021

The struggle with work-life balance is a dilemma that virtually everyone who has worked job(s)

and are doing so experience (which is especially true for adult males for this study). How that

balance is managed can have an impact on health which can be positive as well as negative. The

overall objective of this study is to determine the following: how does work-life balance affect

the health of adult men? The sources gathered are all scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and have

been closely dissected to be used as content analysis for the study on adult men who work. The

sources included consist of studies facilitated by others and an article.

“The Association between Work–Life Balance and Health Status among Korean

Workers.” (Eunsuk Choi and Jiyun Kim) is about as written in the title, the connection between

work-life balance and the health of Korean workers (more than half were male workers). The

aforementioned connection is widely known in Korea, although exploration of it through

research has not had much progression or development, which this study aimed to fix by going

further in-depth. The data gathered consisted of various health conditions including mental

health, safety risks, illness and fatigue. The data also consists of biological characteristics like

gender and age, which all these and the health conditions are linked to work-life balance. What

the general consensus was based on the data collected was that the work-life balance among

Korean workers (which includes male adults) was in a bad state and needed to be improved.

What makes this source sufficiently related was its focus as in the title and adult male workers

made up most of the workers, and it works well with it being a study with numerical data.
 The focus of “Work-Life Balance for Men: Counseling Implications” (Amanda M.

Evans, Jamie S. Carney, Morgan Wilkinson) is on how efficient counseling can be of aid to

working adult men who undergo mental health problems regarding maligned work-life balance.

Work-life balance individually is discussed in detail as well as a few different methods of

counseling, multiple stages in a process to help them heal, and how effective counseling can be.

This article relevantly suffices as it provides explanation for counseling as a solution to working

adult males who suffer mental health issues due to struggling to manage work-life balance.

“Work-Life Balance and Self-Reported Health among Working Adults in Europe: A

Gender and Welfare State Regime Comparative Analysis.” (Aziz Mensah and Nicholas Kofi

Adjei) is centered around work-life balance and health among working adults in Europe and

compares the connection between the two among both men and women (although why this

source matters is that it includes working adult men). The increasing demand of work has

hindered the personal lives of working adults and that unsuccessfully managing work-life

balance negatively affects health. The European Working Conditions Survey obtained data on

32,275 working adults across 30 European countries of differentiating political systems, and

regression models conveyed the connection in this study. What was found was that conflicted

work-life balance did lead to poor health which the working adults themselves reported, and that

governments need to work toward improving working conditions and establishing better policies.

Despite involving both working men and women and being a bit bloated, this source is still

related and contributes functioning as a study with numerical data, and the source also

categorically divides the data by gender.

“Gender and Ageing at Work in Chile: Employment, Working Conditions, Work–Life

Balance and Health of Men and Women in an Ageing Workforce.” (Alejandra Vives, Nora Gray,
Francisca González, Agustin Molina) is a paper focused on the relationship between work-life

balance and health in working older adult men and women in Chile. This paper takes information

of health and working conditions from three surveys. Some of the results were that older working

adult Chileans have jobs with adversely negative working conditions which would need to be

addressed and solved. There is some filler in this article and wording issues but it still works as it

does entail work-life balance and health in older adult men who work.

What “Associations Among Working Hours, Sleep Duration, Self-Rated Health, and

Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Men.” (Darae Woo, Yeonjin Lee, Sangshin Park) is

about is the quality of life among Korean men in regards to health and working hours. 2,141

working men within the range of ages 20-49 were surveyed. The results were that men who

overworked reported negative health-related quality of life. Therefore, working a sufficient

amount of hours can lead to proper work-life balance. Sleep duration appeared to have no impact

nor indicate the relationship between the length of working hours and health conditions. This

source works for being straight-to-the-point and being very detailed.

Based on the sources found, what was learned was the importance of managing work-life

balance which leads to being healthy as an adult man. Faltering in doing so results in impaired

health which areas in the world like Europe, Chile and Korea have to work on. Counseling can

be helpful for working adult males who struggle with work-life balance, specifically regarding

mental health. Mismanagement of work-life balance like overworking and working under

unhealthy conditions can lead to negative health and opposite is true, which is how work-life

balance can affect the health of working men.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Work-life Balance and Health of Working Adult Men Interview Questions
23 Mar, 2021

Informants:

1. How are you doing (How is your health?)?

2. What is your personal life like (hobbies, routine, living conditions)?

3. How has your job experience been (what is your history of working)?

4. What is your current occupation?

5. Is your occupation safe or dangerous and how (and describe such for previous jobs

worked)?

6. What is your salary like (and what was it when you worked previous jobs if applicable)?

7. What is management like (and what was it like when you worked previous jobs if

applicable)?

8. Do you have insurance and if so, what companies do you get your insurance from?

9. What do you value the most when managing your work-life balance?

10. Do you feel satisfied with your occupation in relation to your personal life?
Experts:

1. How long have you been doing this study?

2. What method(s) did you use for this study?

3. Why did you choose this study?

4. What have you found to be the most common value when managing work-life balance in

your study?

5. What have you found to be the least common?

6. How extensive and deep did you go in your study?

7. Describe the data you have obtained?

8. In regards to work-life balance and health of adult men, how would describe in detail the

current state of the world?

9. Are you satisfied with the work you have done?

10. Do you feel that more work needs to be done?

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Work-life Balance and Health of Working Adult Men Interview Questions Revised
4 Apr, 2021

Informants:

1. How are you doing (How is your health?)?

2. What is your personal life like (hobbies, routine, living conditions)?

3. How has your job experience been (what is your history of working)?

4. What is your current occupation?

5. Is your occupation safe or dangerous and how (and describe such for previous jobs

worked)?

6. What is your salary like (and what was it when you worked previous jobs if applicable)?

7. What is management like (and what was it like when you worked previous jobs if

applicable)?

8. Do you have insurance and if so, what companies do you get your insurance from?

9. What do you value the most when managing your work-life balance?

10. Who and How many people do you live with?

11. Do you care for whom you live with (i.e. children, siblings, significant other, etc.)?

12. Do you feel satisfied with your occupation in relation to your personal life?
Experts:

1. How long have you been doing this study?

2. What method(s) did you use for this study?

3. Why did you choose this study?

4. What have you found to be the most common value when managing work-life balance in

your study?

5. What have you found to be the least common?

6. How extensive and deep did you go in your study?

7. Describe the data you have obtained?

8. In regards to work-life balance and health of adult men, how would describe in detail the

current state of the world?

9. Are you satisfied with the work you have done?

10. Do you feel that more work needs to be done?

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110
12 Apr, 2021

Attachments to final proposal: Questions for informants and experts. Consent form. Survey

instruments. Ethics Course Certificate. Coding sheets and outlines. Any other supplements.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Coding Sheet Sample
14 Apr, 2021

Quora Thread for Work-Life Balance

User Response Interpretation
1  Managing
Work-life
balance is a
commonly
faced obstacle.
 There is no
“balance”.
Devoting equal
energy and time
is unrealistic.
The issue is
prioritization,
which as a
problem can
easily be had.
 Enough
attention for
every aspect of
life in
accordance
matters.
2  “Work-Life
Balance” is just
fancy wording
for managing
different aspects
of life.
 Fulfilling
various tasks
including not
working too
much and
getting healthy
amounts of
sleep ensures
healthy work-
life balance.

3  Awareness of
all aspects of
life helps.
Allow enough
time for each of
them and those
certain aspects
have to be
worth having
(different for
everyone).
 Try not to
merge those
different
aspects.
 Treat the body
healthily, eat
well and
exercise.
4  Have certain
different aspects
of life and
allocate time to
each of them
that works for
you.
 Work has too
much
dominance in
the lives of most
(people
dissatisfied with
their lives being
centered around
just working to
have a
functioning
life). Try to
have time for
other parts of
life like family
or work a job
that allows
such.
 Health and
happiness are
what matters
most.
5  The ones who
struggle most
with work-life
balance are the
ones who enjoy
their work.
 Maintaining
work-life
balance can be
difficult.
 Health is top
priority.
 Some time
needs to be
reserved for
other parts of
life like loved
ones.

6  The people that

are loved and
are close to you
matter.
 Mental health
matters also, do
not get too
wrapped up
with work.
 Strive for
happiness.
 Do not force
anything.
7  “Work-Life
balance” is
actually a matter
of prioritization,
not “equally”-
devoted time,
and energy to
all aspects of
life.
 Work-life
balance is also a
matter of
capability. Have
certain different
parts of life with
time and energy
allocated to
each of them
that works for
you.
 Ensure that you
are happy with
life.
8  Work-life
balance in
contemporary
times is an
obstacle to
overcome.
 Work-life
balance differs
from person-to-
person
regarding
personal
capability,
satisfaction, and
whole lives.
 Prioritization of
different aspects
of life should be
based on
importance and
urgency.
 Mismanagement
or struggling to
find a workable
balance between
all aspects of
life can result in
burnout and
even health
problems.
9  As long as the
balance (or
imbalance)
between all
different aspects
of life works for
you, then you
will be satisfied.
Those aspects
also have to be
worth having to
you.
 Those searching
for work-life
balance are
those who face
problems doing
what they do
not want to do
or having
aspects of life
they do not
enjoy.

10  Professional and
personal parts of
life are just as
important as
each other.
 Capability and
limits are vital.
 Work-life
balance and
suitable
management of
it is different for
everyone. Time
and energy
should be
allocated to
different aspects
of life
accordingly.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Research Proposal
18 Apr, 2021

Title/Research Question

How Does Work-Life Balance Affect the Health of Adult Men?

Abstract

This study will go in great depth about the impact that work-life balance has on the health

of adult men who work. The quality of balance between work and life will also be important in

this study. The method used is content analysis and the data will consist responses in a thread on

Quora. Possible results will note the connection between work and outside of it and the health of

working adult men and that striking an efficient balance leads to being healthier while

mismanagement leads to being unhealthier.

Introduction

An important part of life is having responsibilities and among those responsibilities is

working in an occupation for adult men. Working is how one makes money and gain experience.

That is only just one part of one’s life. There can be connections between one’s work and every

other part of that individual’s life (professional life and personal life going hand-in-hand).

Managing both and how well they are managed can affect the respective health of each of them.

Literature Review

The struggle with work-life balance is a dilemma that virtually everyone who has worked

job(s) and are doing so experience (which is especially true for adult males for this study). How

that balance is managed can have an impact on health which can be positive as well as negative.

The overall objective of this study is to determine the following: how does work-life balance

affect the health of adult men? The sources gathered are all scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and
have been closely dissected to be used as content analysis for the study on adult men who work.

The sources included consist of studies facilitated by others and an article.

“The Association between Work–Life Balance and Health Status among Korean

Workers.” (Eunsuk Choi and Jiyun Kim) is about as written in the title, the connection between

work-life balance and the health of Korean workers (more than half were male workers). The

aforementioned connection is widely known in Korea, although exploration of it through

research has not had much progression or development, which this study aimed to fix by going

further in-depth. The data gathered consisted of various health conditions including mental

health, safety risks, illness and fatigue. The data also consists of biological characteristics like

gender and age, which all these and the health conditions are linked to work-life balance. What

the general consensus was based on the data collected was that the work-life balance among

Korean workers (which includes male adults) was in a bad state and needed to be improved.

What makes this source sufficiently related was its focus as in the title and adult male workers

made up most of the workers, and it works well with it being a study with numerical data.

The focus of “Work-Life Balance for Men: Counseling Implications” (Amanda M.

Evans, Jamie S. Carney, Morgan Wilkinson) is on how efficient counseling can be of aid to

working adult men who undergo mental health problems regarding maligned work-life balance.

Work-life balance individually is discussed in detail as well as a few different methods of

counseling, multiple stages in a process to help them heal, and how effective counseling can be.

This article relevantly suffices as it provides explanation for counseling as a solution to working

adult males who suffer mental health issues due to struggling to manage work-life balance.

“Work-Life Balance and Self-Reported Health among Working Adults in Europe: A

Gender and Welfare State Regime Comparative Analysis.” (Aziz Mensah and Nicholas Kofi
Adjei) is centered around work-life balance and health among working adults in Europe and

compares the connection between the two among both men and women (although why this

source matters is that it includes working adult men). The increasing demand of work has

hindered the personal lives of working adults and that unsuccessfully managing work-life

balance negatively affects health. The European Working Conditions Survey obtained data on

32,275 working adults across 30 European countries of differentiating political systems, and

regression models conveyed the connection in this study. What was found was that conflicted

work-life balance did lead to poor health which the working adults themselves reported, and that

governments need to work toward improving working conditions and establishing better policies.

Despite involving both working men and women and being a bit bloated, this source is still

related and contributes functioning as a study with numerical data, and the source also

categorically divides the data by gender.

“Gender and Ageing at Work in Chile: Employment, Working Conditions, Work–Life

Balance and Health of Men and Women in an Ageing Workforce.” (Alejandra Vives, Nora Gray,

Francisca González, Agustin Molina) is a paper focused on the relationship between work-life

balance and health in working older adult men and women in Chile. This paper takes information

of health and working conditions from three surveys. Some of the results were that older working

adult Chileans have jobs with adversely negative working conditions which would need to be

addressed and solved. There is some filler in this article and wording issues but it still works as it

does entail work-life balance and health in older adult men who work.

What “Associations Among Working Hours, Sleep Duration, Self-Rated Health, and

Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Men.” (Darae Woo, Yeonjin Lee, Sangshin Park) is

about is the quality of life among Korean men in regards to health and working hours. 2,141
working men within the range of ages 20-49 were surveyed. The results were that men who

overworked reported negative health-related quality of life. Therefore, working a sufficient

amount of hours can lead to proper work-life balance. Sleep duration appeared to have no impact

nor indicate the relationship between the length of working hours and health conditions. This

source works for being straight-to-the-point and being very detailed.

Based on the sources found, what was learned was the importance of managing work-life

balance which leads to being healthy as an adult man. Faltering in doing so results in impaired

health which areas in the world like Europe, Chile and Korea have to work on. Counseling can

be helpful for working adult males who struggle with work-life balance, specifically regarding

mental health. Mismanagement of work-life balance like overworking and working under

unhealthy conditions can lead to negative health and opposite is true, which is how work-life

balance can affect the health of working men.

Methodology

Content analysis is what is used in this study. Responses from working adult men to a

question on Quora are assessed using a coding sheet. Field Site: “How do I find work-life

balance?” This thread is on the question-and-answer (also supports functionality similar to other

online social platforms) website which contains answers and comments from the demographic

intended to be studied which is relevant to the study and ultimately helps answer the overall

research question.

This study is done in steps. First, a relevant response from a user is looked at and read.

Next, that answer is documented via screenshot. Thirdly, the answer is organized in a table by

each user and their respective response. Lastly, the three steps are done repeatedly.
Outcomes

Based on using content analysis and more specifically, coding, a personal interpretation

of the responses given by the users on that thread on Quora is provided. Connections will be

made with relevant scholarly, peer reviewed journals which should contribute to explaining the

findings of this study from that thread and ultimately have answers.

References List/Bibliography

Choi, Eunsuk, and Jiyun Kim. “The Association between Work–Life Balance and Health Status

among Korean Workers.” Work, vol. 58, no. 4, 2017, pp. 509–517., doi:10.3233/wor-172641.

Evans, Amanda M., et al. “Work-Life Balance for Men: Counseling Implications.” Journal of

Counseling & Development, vol. 91, no. 4, 2013, pp. 436–441., doi:10.1002/j.1556-

6676.2013.00115.x.

Mensah, Aziz, and Nicholas Kofi Adjei. “Work-Life Balance and Self-Reported Health among

Working Adults in Europe: a Gender and Welfare State Regime Comparative Analysis.” BMC

Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, 2020, doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09139-w.

Vives, Alejandra, et al. “Gender and Ageing at Work in Chile: Employment, Working

Conditions, Work–Life Balance and Health of Men and Women in an Ageing Workforce.”

Annals of Work Exposures and Health, vol. 62, no. 4, 2018, pp. 475–489.,

doi:10.1093/annweh/wxy021.

Woo, Darae, et al. “Associations among Working Hours, Sleep Duration, Self-Rated Health, and

Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Men.” Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, vol. 18,

no. 1, 2020, doi:10.1186/s12955-020-01538-2.

Appendices

Certificate of Completion of Ethics

Online Field Site Discussion Essay

Timeline

April week 4: Work on coding sheet.

April week 5: Further work on coding sheet.

May week 1: Review of project. Write report for project.

May week 2: Brief discussion of one aspect of study and obstacles.

May week 3: Present findings.

May week 4: Submit project.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Discussion of the First Response Regarding Work-Life Balance Affecting Health of
Adult Men
25 Apr, 2021

This qualitative study is about how work-life balance affects health, and the data of this study

(collected based on the method of content analysis) indicates and conveys this, which comes

from the website Quora under a thread titled in the form of a question “How do I find work-life

balance?” The first user’s response which a screenshot of was taken is the second user on the

thread as that is the first user out of more than a hundred users that matches the intended

demographic of the study (adult male that is working). Any user whose profile picture is an

image of what they look like and their name were blacked out in the interest of confidentiality

and privacy of their identity (blacking out profile pictures and names). The response was also

interpreted and reworded without being word-for-word and without being copied. The user was

listed as the first one along with a screenshot of his response and that response being interpreted

in the coding sheet (which all of the data collected is being documented in). This process was

repeated for nine users on the site. The user’s first response ultimately contributes accordingly to

this study and functions very well as data that helps answer the research question especially due

to a portion of the user’s response mentioning health and the relevance of it to work-life balance.

The first user as listed in the coding sheet published his response on the 25th of December

of last year as clearly shown. The user’s occupation is also working as a life and health coach

(which has been since the year 2017, roughly three-to-four years from now since he started

working this particular job). His response is quite a bit detailed and lengthy, comprising of some

proper paragraphs and multiple lines. Much of the response in summary, is that work-life balance

is really more realistically a matter of the extent of energy and attention that each aspect of one’s
life needs and not that each aspect of life needs “equal” attention and energy, or “true balance”

interconnected with all of them. Anyone that believes that all aspects of their respective lives can

be “truly balanced” and attempt to do so or are as such are mistaken which is the notion that the

user expressed (critically and with opposition) in his answer. Most of what he wrote was

documented and the rest of it links to another, related website and is more of what he has been

saying throughout his response. The user provides explanation, reasoning, rhetorical questions,

and examples in his answer. The response given by this user is done with conscience and with

the goal of trying to correct people on understanding work-life balance.

The response commences with a rhetorical question asking about the possibility that

“How do you find work-life balance?” is one of the most commonly asked questions in the

world. Work-life balance and the challenge of managing it (striking the right balance of all

aspects of life which works with respect to and different for each and every individual according

to this user) is a real-world dilemma. The user felt that a lot of tips given about work-life balance

are not great tips and are not helpful. He says in the next two lines that there is no such thing as

life balance (which means that one simply does not just equally allocate time to all aspects of

life) which is the main point of his response as already discussed. There is work-life balance but

not in the sense that he feels that most people would assume, and two lines after he stated that

people like him have been deceived by those who claimed to know the solution to the issue that

is work-life balance. He then provides explanation that it is not practical or logical to make any

efforts towards achieving “perfect” balance as that it is not realistic. The user even gets a bit

literal about balance but it is to make a point about aspects of life being “unbalanced” and that it

is supposed to be that way. As aforementioned, what the user is actually saying is that work-life

balance is a more a matter of prioritization. Multiple hypothetical examples are given to support
his answer. Some aspects of life which could be due to a variety of different factors may need

more or less time and effort compared to others. Even the current COVID pandemic is explicitly

referred to. However, he does actually say that awareness of all aspects of life and responding

accordingly is important instead of neglecting them. This is the part of the user’s answer that

really connects closely to health and this study. In regards to work-life balance, he says that

health is hard to keep in mind as well as maintaining great well-being. Another example is given

shortly after. Then, the users includes a linked site with a list of the different parts of life balance

(which he also wrote out). More of what he has written earlier in his post is repeated, but then he

does note that circumstances is not within controlled by people, but how those circumstances are

responded to are.

The overall experience of reading this user’s response to finding work-life balance, and

documenting it via screenshot and interpreting it (which is categorically organized in the coding

sheet) was intriguing and insightful. The user was also informative as knowledge can be obtained

from other people. This is only one of ten men whose responses are documented but even still,

there is learning to be done from reading that one user’s answer. Although Quora is not

necessarily a formal or professional online environment, the user also did write properly enough

while writing a bit extensively. The couple of different sections of his published post is not all

paragraphs.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Blue Book Effective Writing Quiz
2 May, 2021

Effective Writing Quiz 1

1. Let’s visit Golden Gate Park when I reach the town.

2. A bus almost clipped me while I was walking aimlessly down the street.

3. Good employees are prompt, courteous, and helpful.

4. The police overlooked several items of evidence during their investigation of the crime scene.

5. You are expected to report for work by nine o’clock.

6. I want to say one more thing prior to finishing up.

7. The patient is responsive.

8. My grandfather’s broken English created problems early on while he was raised in Italy.

9. Students will benefit themselves by listening, taking notes, and paying attention.

10. The taxi drivers wore out their vehicles.

11. The alarm came on much too early after tossing and turning.

12. I have always believed in being thrifty, loyal, and a skilled worker.

13. I can easily say that he is reliable.

Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Prose of Piece of Content Analysis
2 May, 2021

The second response gathered from the thread “How Do I Find Work-Life Balance?” on

Quora essentially says that “work-life balance” as a term is just fancy wording for managing

different aspects of life and that healthy management of the different aspects of life ensures that

enough time is given to each of them. Healthy is the key and different examples are given

including regular sleep, proper eating and not overworking as well as alternatives to do certain

things to manage life better. Regarding the related literature in this study, striking a balance that

personally works results in being healthy and happy and struggling to do so yields negative

outcomes including being worn out with lack of sleep and unhappy. Also, putting too much time

towards one or some aspects of life can result in others being neglected.
Kyle Lewis
Professor Maxine Weisgrau
ANT 4110 Reflection of Interpreting the Data of “How Does Work-Life Balance Affect the
Health of Adult Men?”
9 May, 2021

At this point of the study, the entire process including determining a research question and target

subjects (which is “How Does Work-Life Balance Affect the Health of Adult Men?”), deciding

on the methodology (content analysis), retrieving all the data and then interpreting that data has

been done. Interpreting the data collected is one particular step of the process that is of focus

upon looking back on the study. The data came from a website called Quora (a question-and-

answer website) in thread titled “How do I find work-life balance?” with more than 100 answers

and responses and the data collected comprises of ten of those answers and responses. A table

was compiled with that data (with the keyword being “health” or at least being relevant to it and

well-being) and personal interpretations of that data. Interpreting that data was like an interesting

learning experience as gathering that data to not only reword the answers and make them more

condensed but also convey what was meant by what was said which demonstrates what was

learned from gathering the data instead of just regurgitating them. Doing this study in totality

also contributed to a more developed understanding of facilitating a study or research (especially

with doing content analysis). The struggles with the overall experience however, include trying

to come up with a topic and target demographic initially as well as where to get the data.

Like every study or research, discussion of the data gathered is one of a couple of the

other important steps of the entire process which is essentially what that data says and more

specifically and in other words, what is meant by said data. This comes after obtaining the

relevant data which should answer the research question and either prove or disprove

expectations of the possible information that could come from the data collected in the study.
The data which is comprised of ten answers to the question “How do you find work-life

balance?” (a thread with more than a hundred answers on Quora) all provide indication that

work-life balance does affect health and well-being and that management of it (or

mismanagement) can positively (or negatively) impact health (specifically for adult men as that

was the target demographic). Also, work-life balance is not actually a matter trying to “balance”

all aspects of life (or “equally” devote time to all of them) but rather prioritization that works as

effectively as possible for one individual which differs for everyone else. Effects included

energy, focus and allocation of time, and emotion and mental state.

Reading and writing each of what the ten adult men said in their posts in different words

while condensed and also writing what was meant in the table constructed to present the data was

intriguing as well as educational as the data consists of the understanding of work-life balance of

each of those ten men (and also informs how they think) and demonstrating an understanding of

the data and overall, that learning was done from both the data gathered and conducting the

whole study. Each of the ten male adults provided their perspectives which was insightful.

Content analysis as a methodology was also learned in the process of doing this whole study and

has its challenges but is also one of a multitude of ways of data collection (which can be an

analysis of any form of work). It was personally a more comfortable and convenient option as

conducting interviews (which was another option of methodology for this project) is not as

dependable which could be a hassle regarding having to reach out to people (especially

considering the current conditions of the world) and having to request them to answer questions

could be slightly nerve-wracking. Content analysis also was not a familiar methodology for

conducting studies prior to this one (which may be adopted for doing studies in the future).

Doing the study as a whole was practice, further keeping skills of doing research and the entire
process, getting data (as well as organizing and presenting it) and examining that data, developed

and refined (in addition to reading and writing). Rewording and interpretation are already learned

skills that have been used but still using them ensures that they are further improved. Doing such

were not really much a struggle either. Rather, there was more difficulty with trying to come up

with a topic, a particular group of people especially by gender and finding sources for the

literature review portion of the project and for providing context for the data.

Coming up with a “workable” topic (or research question) for the project was quite a bit

of a challenge as the topic had to be specific and consist of an issue that a specified group of

people are dealing with. Also, the issue that the topic consists of had to actually have an impact

on a specified group of people. The topic had to be realistic which necessarily makes sense but it

also had to be practical and doable which were not what contributed to the difficulty of having to

determine the topic but the specificity of it was. Another difficulty that was experience when

doing the study was trying to find a demographic. The demographic to decide on for the entire

project had to be gender-specific (they all had to be male or female). This meant that works of

literature being gathered for the literature review as well as to clarify the gathered data had to

include information about working adult males in this instance. This also meant that the actual

data also includes relevant information. Finally, originally there was confusion with where to get

the data from but it was understood that those were not supposed to be where the data comes

from.

Data interpretation is an important part of this study, just as much as gathering that data.

There was also some difficulties with determining the topic, target group, and finding related

works of literature. Overall, this was a fascinating learning experience.