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Good morning, Internet

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Yesterday’s progress

I wrote a rough table of contents for “the book” (item 1 from this week’s plan).

I worked through more of my annotations on Skogan (1974) and tracked down some of the subsequent research (item 3).

I decided to write my next research brief (item 4) on Hodgins et al. (2022), which I’ve already read and annotated.

I returned a bunch of library books, getting them off my desk (my desk is covered in books and currently unusable).

I also decided that while these extensive morning updates take some valuable time, they’re also about getting organized and are worth the time.

Troubleshooting obstacles

I ran out of steam after a couple hours of total work. (Actually, it was more like hitting a brick wall.) That’s about my current ability, so this isn’t surprising. I’m already doing what I can to increase that ability.

The next biggest obstacle yesterday was how much of the research since Skogan’s 1974 study of the validity of official crime statistics is restricted access. This is an obstacle because I don’t have institutional access to databases that would let me get the studies.

There are other legitimate avenues to explore that don’t involve me handing a lot of money over to journal publishers:

  1. I don’t think I have access through my public library membership, but I can check.
  2. I can also see if they’re available through Academia.edu.
  3. If the authors are still active, I can contact them directly and ask for a copy.

Right now

It’s 10:41 a.m. Construction outside and its effects on my head continue.

Today’s plan

My youngest has a vision appointment this afternoon, so I need the vehicle. C’s working from noon to 8 p.m., so I’m driving her to work (and she’s getting a ride home from a coworker). This will all eat into the time available for work today; I may work for a bit this evening after everyone has gone to bed.

I’m going to work on a Medium post about the basic crime statistics (item 2), finish Skogan and try to get my hands on some of the subsequent research (item 3), and work on the research brief (item 4).