Paul Tuohy

Commit Blog for Capstone Project

Written by Paul Tuohy

// Initialising blog within primary domain.

This is the first post logging my work within my final Master's capstone project. I will briefly detail my personal background, my interest in the subject, and the areas of research I am currently looking at.

So far I've struggled to settle on an appropriate area of research. I have ideas—which I will list below—but I feel hesitant to commit to one because I want to use this capstone as the diving board into further research e.g. PhD.

First, as a primer, my name is Paul Tuohy. I have a Bachelors in Communications and Media studies—so this isn't my first rodeo into the blogosphere. During my undergrad I was very interested in the ethics of identity online and ownership of content in social media spaces (this will give some context to my desired research domain later).

I would describe myself as an antagonistic thinker and those close to me would feel comfortable to describe me as (positively) challenging. I ventured into the startup culture with a business called Boo Project that developed content for students deemed "taboo"—in particular positive sexual education (another context clue for my desired research domain). I would also describe myself as an artist with a broad interest and practice in design, branding, filmmaking, photography and art. I believe Art, representation of reality, and furthermore storytelling, as the greatest pursuit beyond "surviving" and "ensuring survival". Yes, I do wear a beret and a turtle neck sweater in the offseason.

Which leads to my other perspective in life: my pursuit at a Masters of IT specialising in Data Science. Data Science, which I describe and relate to as storytelling with Data (possible venture into data journalism - I did drop out of my double degree in journalism in my first semester way back when). I've been fascinated with Data Science as a future skillset since finding direction and purpose through studying the research presented at 80000hours.org. Data Science was ranked highly for global impact across most industries to address social issues, with a high income return which could be put forwards towards organisations that create change.

Now on with the show. Ideas. The areas of interest include:

I will conduct a small literature review in regards to these areas and find direction through what sparks interest and what has greater application. I intend for this capstone project to have value outside of the constraints of the Masters subject. I don't know if that's what the coordinators intend for us to produce, or whether I am burdening myself with high expectations, but it is an internal expectation that I have set and hope to produce.

← Home