Provide a brief overview of your project and the activities you've undertaken in the last three weeks. 

The past weeks have required a lot of exploration and understanding of the ins and outs of not only my specific topic but also the field I am working within and the intersections between law, policy, sociology, economics, and business that exist within it. I’ve undergone extensive research and lit review on HEINOnline, JSTOR, and other databases to find information pertaining to independent contracting, gig work, and general labor law developments.

How has your plan changed, if at all, in the last three weeks?

I have changed my project in accordance with the number of resources and information available on various subfields of my research interest. I found that there was a wealth of information, both academic and journalistic, regarding the law behind gig work and the supporting legislation that has been passed or is being considered currently in state governments and Congress.

Thus, I’ve tailored my project to specifically examine more of these legal sources and analyses and focus less on the pithy sociological aspects of gig work, which aren’t as well developed yet in current academia.

What is something you didn't expect to learn that has come of this project so far?

I didn’t expect the research I’ve been doing to be instantly applicable to various other forums in my life, especially my workplace. I’ve been to understand a lot more in terms of the general labor movement by examining the microcosm of gig work and precarious work.

What challenges have you faced in the past three weeks?

I’ve been having challenges with scheduling and research being so fluid and independent requires me to put in a lot more effort in finding the time to sit down and conduct a deep literature review. It feels difficult to make substantial progress on a lot of my heavy legal readings because there is no clear endpoint as there would be in a class setting.

How have you approached these challenges?

I’ve tried to use the techniques I developed in my first year at Georgetown and apply them to research, in terms of setting up a research data manager, a directory for all the info and sources I’ve found so far, and calendar reminders and events to keep me on track.

What worked? What didn't?

I must say that the source manager and database have been incredibly helpful in keeping me on track with my information and pacing myself in my literature review. I use Zotero for all my articles and documents, which keeps track of markups as well as any annotations or notes I may want to make. I have not been religiously using my calendar this summer, so keeping myself on track through that avenue has not the most effective tactic.

What still needs to be addressed moving forward?

I still need to figure out how best to depict my learnings and research outcomes on a poster board and in a legal review paper. I’ve found quite a lot of information so far and condensing all of that down to create a concise final product will be a challenge.

Looking forward to the next three weeks, what next steps do you need to accomplish?

I still need to finish my literature review, conclude my research, condense all my findings into concise points, and put all of this information into visual deliverables. I will then consult my advisors about the progress I’ve made and get their opinions on the final product.