Plan and Timeline/Diary of Progress

This is an initial plan to help me complete my research and dissertation. By creating a plan, I hope to maintain a schedule which will make the process more manageable and help my research to be more precise. I also plan to keep referring back to my plan to keep track of my progress as I think this will make me more efficient. 

These are the topics that I want to research over the next few months, and preferably the order that I will research them in:

 I aim to have researched the following two topics by the end of October, as I believe they will be a good introduction to the world of bullfighting and beginning to understanding it.

• Where did bullfighting come from? I.e the history.  UPDATE: 20/10/21 I researched the history of a bullfight first because I wanted to understand its origins before the process. I think this was more beneficial. UPDATE: 29/10/21 In todays research sesion I found an article about bullfightings specific origins and the fact that it originates back to Roman times. This is useful as it is a possible explanation as to its roots in Spanish culture and the desire for continuity. 
• What happens in a bullfight. UPDATE: 10/11/21 I have researched this multiple times and looked into various aspects of the fight (for example a brief overview and then an in depth look into the First Third), which I have found beneficial and I believe my understanding of the process of the fight is complete now. While this part of my research was not finished by October, I do not think this is a short fall because I have been developing my understanding. 

I also want to research the following three topics after the above two, and use secondary data because this data will provide a variety of opinions and insights, allowing me to examine other peoples ideas and therefore help build my own in the process. If I can finish this by the end of December or the Christmas term, I think it will be beneficial as this section of research will be covered and I will be able to move onto the more political side to bullfighting. 

• The way in which bullfighting is a part of Spanish culture. UPDATE: 15/12/21  I did research this when looking into the comparisons between bullfighting and football, and found that this secondary research was incredibly helpful in seeing the difference between two elements of culture from the past and present. 
• How much money it generates for the country (now and in the past). UPDATE: 1/12/21 I researched this in my post "The Social and Economic Impacts of Bullfighting in the Tourism Sector", and it gave me some insight into how Spain uses bullfighting for cultural reasons, but how this contributes to the economy. 
• The amount of tourism it generates for Spain. UPDATE 1/12/21. I found this also in the article "The Social and Economic Impacts of Bullfighting in the Tourism Sector", and believe that the close link between tourism and increased economic gains is very important and the reason it is a sport that still has a few supporters.  UPDATE 31/1/22 I also found the answers to this question in the article "Forbes: Will Bullfighting Survive the next decade in Spain?" and this highlighted its dwindling popularity, offering secondary data that clearly suggests its no longer a major generator of tourism like it was in the past. I understand that this is a topic that I had finished researching, but I think this information is too useful not to use. 

After completing the above research, I want to research the political issues surrounding bullfighting. This will offer another perspective on its support or lack of support, and maybe even tell me why bullfighting is seen as a National Symbol for Spain. I aim to complete this by February half term, but am aware that I might have to go over schedule depending on the amount of useful information I find. 

• Political views on bullfighting. UPDATE: 26/1/22 I found this in the article Article: Bullfight Opinion Poll: As Spain Debates ‘Support for Bullfighting’ Bill", as it gave me data from a survey that was reliable and unbiased. 
• The views of Spanish people on bullfighting. UPDATE: 29/10/21 Today I watched a video from the National Geographic,and this offered an account from a matador on why he believes bullfighting is not a cruel sport and I understand how certain people do see it as their heritage. UPDATE: 16/11/22 This is one of the first things I researched even though I originally intended to look into it last. I did this because I needed to gain an understanding of whether this is a controversial sport or not, so as to establish my own positionality on the debate. UPDATE 13/3/22 Today, I looked into an academic refutation of the points that Francis Wolff makes in support of bullfighting. This offered me a contrasting view to the ones i typically find, and will help me make a good counter argument in my dissertation. 

• Animal rights groups. UPDATE: 9/01/22 I have looked into World Animal Protection and also PETA, which have offered me their reasons for opposing bullfighting. 
• Other countries that have made it illegal. UPDATE: 26/01/22 I found that Catalonia attempted to do this in my research today. UPDATE: 3/2/22 I also found the opinions of Portuguese people in a very detailed article and I believe this is a significant development in my understanding of Spain's' position when compared to other countries. 

Furthermore, I need to plan for writing my dissertation of 5000 words and creating my presentation. I will plan and write my dissertation first and then create the presentation, as the presentation will be based on what I speak about in my essay. I aim to start writing my dissertation around the start of March, in time for the first deadline on the 12th April. (After the first deadline I will ammend it based on the feedback I recieve). I plan to split the essay into sub sections which all relate back to my title question, as this will help me cover all the topics I wish to speak about and be more precise and organised.  UPDATE 13/3/22 I feel I am ready to plan my dissertation now, and will begin thinking of the subjects I will talk about and the structure. I am slightly later in starting than my original goal of the start of March, but I will ammend this by dedicating more time to the writing of it now and complete some extra hours to catch up to schedule.  UPDATE: it is the 25/4/22 and my dissertation is complete, in time for the deadline, and I am very happy with how it turned out. 

I am conscious of the fact that my schedule might differ to this due to the fact that I have other studies to do as well, however I will stick to it the best I can. I will take this into account when I am researching and alter the time scale accordingly. UPDATE: 26/1/22 My research has taken longer than expected, but I am pleased with my progress as I have a detailed understanding and I have still managed my time around my other subjects and commitments as well.