Questions on Chapter 2 of the project report

Today is the beginning of my weekend, (strangely I have Sunday and Monday off) and I'm really hoping to use my spare time to try and get Chapter 2 under my belt.

I was just wondering if anyone could clarify what the difference is between an aim and an objective. I have already discussed this with a few friends and my family and so far there are a couple of interpretations.

One interpretation is that an 'aim' is something that might not directly result from your project but something that it might contribute towards, for example......'I aim to help dancers all across the world find ways to cope with their psychological stress'.
The same people said that their interpretation of an 'objective' is something that might result directly from my project, for example.....'My objective is to increase my understanding of psychological stress so that I can advise the dancers in my theatre about it'

Another interpretation was that the aims were what might result directly from my project, and that the objectives were the things I would do to achieve the aims, for example......'My objective is to interview dancers in order to learn more about their personal experiences of psychological stress'

Anybody have any ideas?

I also wanted to quickly ask what the handbook means when it asks you to give a 'research statement'. Does this mean the title of your project?


Any thoughts or advice is welcome!

Thanks,

Laura

Hi everybody,

I hope that this blog entry is finally the start of me getting back on track with the degree work that I have so badly neglected recently after having a rather dramatic and hectic start to my new season at work. After speaking briefly to Paula the other day she encouraged me to get back on my blog and it feels good to write on it again and get back in touch with you all.

I'm actually a little bit stuck at the moment and looking for a bit of guidance on how I should word some of my interview questions. I have actually written them all already and gained consent from my participants so I should feel ready to start, but for some reason I'm just not sure if I am happy with constantly repeating the phrase 'nerves and stress'.

My project is aiming to find out why dancers get nervous and feel stressed before rehearsals and performances and what can be done to help them cope with it. However, even though 'nerves' and 'stress' can be closely linked with eachother, they are also quite different issues and I am worried that my interviewees will either decide to focus on one or the other when answering my questions. I was wondering if it would be easier to have a single, more inclusive term like 'emotional stress'. Do you think this would work, or is it too broad a term and I should just stick with what I had before?

Any suggestions or new ideas are very welcome!!

Hope everyone is getting on ok and not too stressed just yet!

Laura