Thesis Research

Studying abroad in Dakar gave me the wonderful opportunity to conduct research for my theses.


Finally done!

After four presentations, three written theses, an exam, sleepless nights and moments of questioning my judgement, I finished my college career last week. My last assignment was 25 pages in French analyzing the representation of women in Mariama Bâ’s  So long a Letter and Scarlet Song. Two weeks before that, I had completed my political science thesis on the gender parity law in Senegal and its implications for women’s rights. The following week, I handed in my urban studies thesis focused on Pikine, Senegal.  I was interested in the built environment and lived experiences of the residents of this African suburb. For those who have followed my blog, you’ll see that I started these projects after my study abroad program in Dakar, Senegal. I stayed last summer to conduct original research. After this yearlong process, I am happy to say that I survived.

 If you have free time and want something to read, please take a look:



Writing

Writing proved to be one of the most challenging steps in this entire process. I was looking at about 60 pages for each thesis. I learned quickly to break down everything into 5-6 chapters of 10 pages or so. It was much easier to handle than 120 blank pages and not knowing where to start. I also discovered that writing two pages a day for a month wasn’t going to work. What worked best was writing 15-20 pages at a time and doing research or editing the other days. Lastly, we had discussed the importance of having a writing space in my thesis colloquium. While some people can work in their room or the library, I preferred working at the Charleston House of Interfaith Cooperation. I was lucky enough to have access to this house and spent more hours than I can count writing, editing and not sleeping. I am a firm believer in having a work space that’s separate from your comfortable space. I also work well when people aren’t around or when there’s limited distractions from noise. This space allowed me to have the perfect work environment and it paid off in the end.

Photo: This was the work space that allowed me to finish three theses without going crazy.

Analyzing Data

Once I returned to the US, my goal was to transcribe and translate the interviews and questionnaires. I know about transcription services and if I find myself doing this again, I am definitely going to use one. This time, I did all the transcribing and translating from French into English. When we conducted the questionnaires in Wolof, they were translated into French because my Wolof was nonexistent. I also had primary documents I had gathered from Senegal on the gender parity law and I also translated these. Translating was definitely much easier than transcribing. Although it was painful at times, I had a great experience doing independent work and putting together a project that I had chosen. In fact, first semester was about narrowing my topic and being a part of a thesis colloquium for political science, second semester was about writing. 

Collecting Data




My theses involved qualitative data that I collected during my time in Dakar. For political science, I conducted semi-structured interviews with members of Senegalese civil society. For urban studies, I created a questionnaire that we used in Pikine. I was working with a translator and we were speaking in French, Wolof and English. It was much easier to do the questionnaires since we stopped people on the streets. The interviews proved more difficult. In the theses, I acknowledge the limitations to my study. There were times I asked myself why I thought that doing research at the international level was a good idea. Here are two stories I share in the thesis about conducting interviews and the difficulties in finding some organizations.
One group I went downtown to locate after finding their information online. When I arrived, the guard informed me that the organization was there, but that I needed to come back during office hours. When I returned two days later, a guard inside informed me that the group had relocated to another location. They didn’t offer the specific address but reassured me that everyone in the neighborhood would know what it was. After spending nearly an hour trying to find this building and asking around; I stopped a cab driver, gave him the phone and had the lady direct him in Wolof. We remained on the phone until she saw our vehicle from the fourth floor of the office. I wouldn’t have found her place without her guidance.
 Another incidence speaks to the volume of the trust that exists within Senegalese society and how I would never try this in the US. I had finally gotten the number for an organization I needed, but for some reason, the cell phone reception was bad. I had a hard time understanding what she was saying. I found a cab driver and give him the phone so she could address him. Without knowing where I was going, I negotiated a price. The cab driver drove me to a location and told me wait for someone. A little boy came out of the house and directed me inside. When I got there, the lady I was looking there and I was able to conduct the interview. I was reminded in these two incidents that nonconventional methods were necessary in obtaining an interview in Senegal.

Photo: Bounty Pikine or "the doors of Pikine." When I first got there, I mispronounced the name and the people on the bus had a great time laughing at me.

May 2014


I came back to Dakar after the Truman Scholar Leadership Week to begin my research for the summer. Almost immediately, I began to understand what it means to move to a new country without the guarantee of anything. d how my parents kept it together while navigating a new system and without the sI wondereame support system that they had in Congo. I could have been exaggerating and blowing everything out of proportion because I did have a host family and professors willing to put me in contact with other scholars and organizations, but things were kind of scary at first. In terms of what I am doing here, I am working on my senior theses for political science and urban studies. One is looking at social disparities in the built environment and lived experiences between individuals in the city of Dakar and those in the surrounding suburbs. After my internship in Yeumbeul last semester, I was curious as to why people kept reminding me that I was in the suburbs and I wanted to be able to stay and do field work in Pikine, a suburb of Dakar. The other project is looking at civil society in Senegal and the efforts that women and NGOs are doing towards involving women in the issues of gender and development. In this part of my blog, I will be sharing about my experience doing undergraduate research overseas and what I have learned to do when things don’t go as planned.

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