Blog Post 2!

Introduction

The final destination of my research journey is understanding the descrepencies, or potential similarities, in the way women are portrayed in the Old Testament compared to the New Testament. In order to do this I am coding the five most prominent women in each Testament looking at various categories, including: formal or informal role, encounter with a divine power, and whether they serve as a positive of negetive example.

A few weeks into the research process and so far it is going extremely well. I have offically coded for Sarah of the Old Testament, Miriam of the Old Testament, Deborah of the Old Testament, and Ruth of the Old Testament, meaning that I am 40 percent done with the research process. Finishing coding and analyzing each women is a big milestone as each adds neuances and different perspectives to my reasearch and are ultimately helping to craft my final paper.

A big part of the reason the research process has gone so well for me so far is due to the fact that each week I am staying on track with my research goals. Additionally I was very meticulous with how I planned out my methods and the way I could conduct my research which has allowed me to avoid big obstacles for the most part.

Progress So Far

Obstacles and Challenges

Although the research process has been very smooth, like any research, I have faced challeneges. My biggest challenge lied within the first week of my research. I missed a few days of school the first week of research collection which started me off further behind than I would have liked. However, like I mentioned above I was very specific and purposeful when planning how to conduct my research so I carved out enough time within coding for each women to catch up if needed. With a very busy schedule right now this planning ahead has helped me in other moments where research took longer than expected, I didn't have as much time as I planned, etc to ultimately stay on track and keep a good research pace.

Collected Data Highlights

Before conducting my research I hypothesized that there would be discrepancies between the way women were portrayed in the Old Testament and the New Testament as I believed that the coming of Jesus may have impacted how big of a role women had and how formal it was. However, as I am conducting research and have looked at almost all the women of the Old Testament I have observed that my hypothesis may have been incorrect. So far the women of the Old Testament that I have coded for have been portrayed in many ways, for example upholding both formal and informal roles. Instead of just fitting only informal roles and no encounters with divine powers, the women of the Old Testament have fulfilled both these roles and others. Overall the most significant part of my data collection is that the women in the Bible are not fitting into the specific roles that I had predicted but are fulfilling various roles as unique individuals.

Reflection

Overall the research process has helped me learn a lot about my topic and myself as a researcher. It has given me very good insight into how women are portrayed in the Bible so far and has exceeded my expectations. I have learned how I am as a researcher and what strategies work best for me. All in all, the process has gone very well and I am proud of my work so far!

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