Week 2

September 20 2021 || Visual Essay

Brainstorming and Picking a Research Topic

I first began brainstorming by creating a mindmap to help me think of potential research topics for my visual essay. I focused on topics that interested me or topics that currently relate to me.

I then narrowed it down to four topics that interested me the most and expanded on them: Culture, Health/Work Habits, Pets and Interpersonal connections. I did some surface level research on each of these topics to see which one I want to focus on more.

Culture

I have always been very interested in Ancient China history and Chinese mythology. Because of my religious parent and family, they have always told me stories revolving around Chinese beliefs and history. This sparked my interest in doing more research around the culture and history. Another sub-topic that interested me is cultural foods and the meaning and cultural importance behind the dishes.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/feb/08/top-10-chinese-myths

https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-literature/Literary-use-of-myths#ref282214

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40636-015-0026-x

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0029665182000342

https://www.wathi.org/food-identity-of-culture-and-religion-researchgate/

Work Habits/Health & Wellness

Another topic that interest is work habits/Health. Especially with the change that the Pandemic has brought, it has dramatically changed the dynamic of how we interact and work. I wanted to do some research on how it has changed the landscape for future

Sources

Yoga and Mental Health: An Underexplored Relationship

Effect of Yoga on Mental Health of Adolescents

Individual differences in statistics anxiety: the roles of perfectionism, procrastination and trait anxiety

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2020/09/12/covid-19-has-forced-a-radical-shift-in-working-habits

Pets

One of the topics that relate to me on a personal level is pets. During quarantine, I brought home a pet and it has dramatically changed my lifestyle. I wanted to do more research regarding this topic and how pets influence a person's lifestyle, mindset.

Sources

https://now.tufts.edu/articles/how-animals-help-us-during-covid-19-pandemic

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-03-qa-pets-healthier-lifestyle.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7278477/

Interpersonal Connections

I wanted to explore the topic of interpersonal connections. I wanted to explore different levels of relationships through different platforms, maintaining and making meaningful connections and the idea of "spark" in relationships.

Sources

https://www.forbes.com/sites/serenitygibbons/2020/02/06/8-books-that-will-help-you-spark-human-connections-in-2020/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/10/28/making-connections-and-building-online-communities-in-a-challenging-year/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2020/04/05/coronavirus-is-changingonline-dating-permanently/?sh=7559ceba3b22

Finalizing my topic

After some initial research, I decided to focus on procrastination/productivity and how it's influenced by their mental health, work habits and the work environment.