DIY Research: The Basics
Helping you to do your own environmental exposure research
One thing I believe I can do to help you all is share what I taught myself while doing my own research. As it turns out, I found that not one agency, or support organization, gives you the tools you would need to do this research on your own. Well, I’m no agency and I’m no support organization so I’m steppin’ in to try to help.
I know researching things seems daunting, or, feels like it takes too much of your own time to be worth it. You may even feel like you’re not smart enough nor are you capable of figuring out where you were most vulnerable to exposures. You really need to dispel those limitations and negative impulses, right now, and take your future into your own hands — ASAP!
Your best advocate is you, trust me…
If you were standing over my shoulder while I started this whole research thing, I suspect you’d find the approach I used a bit like a mish-mash of things going on. But that is because whenever you begin something new (call it Step #0) the path you choose, your memories, and the facts you document are often the most obvious things: you know, the ones that jump out at you. And when you think you’ve got it all written down, and you take a moment to review what you’ve got, you notice that you’ve missed something really “big”. To some, or maybe even many, these hit-and-miss situations increase self-doubt with respect to your own abilities and reasoning.
To be honest, these seemingly negative results are in actuality a huge blessing! Now, you get to move bits and pieces around to accommodate the newly found fact. Your research keeps growing in depth, breadth, and scope — pretty cool, right?!
I use a technique I first learned in the US Air Force during my technical training: troubleshooting (root cause analysis). Troubleshooting is actually an art. Yes, some define it as a skill, but I’m someone who loves to build, tinker, paint, write, design, and wield my “bubblegum and superglue” fixes whenever possible. That, my friends, sounds more like an art.
Many of you out there will recognize what I am about to describe — especially my LinkedIn connections — as something more aligned with an engineering “thing”. However, those “in the know” might find I’m not accurately describing the process. Root cause analysis (RCA) has a structure that in many ways seems restrictive or maybe a tad bit inflexible. I prefer to share on a more personal level, using a more personal voice, to help a broader audience gain as much benefit as possible so this isn’t going to be totally “scientific”. Hopefully you all will find this easy to follow.
In a nutshell, what we are going to do is highlight the factors — the exposures — that are causing you problems or even symptoms. For me, I started my research effort by making a list of:
Specialties, jobs, trainings, and duties (drawn from your AFSC, MOS, etc)
Direct interaction (setup, maintain, repair, etc)
Indirect interaction (integration tasks or just being in the area)
Commands, squadrons, and missions
Vehicles, equipment, machines, locations, and buildings
Chemicals, fuels, vapors, materials, and signals (EMF)
You want to make a list of anything and everything with which you interacted, whether directly or indirectly. Just because you didn’t handle it yourself does not mean you were not exposed. You’ll see what I mean as I detail the process I used.
I know that it seems impossible to remember everything you did or were exposed to way back when. But, what if you attack this like telling stories to your friends? Or, heck! Start telling stories to your friends and take notes! I bet these things will come back to you in spades… with ease.
If you remember my previous post (Preface), I dumped a huge list of all the factors, or interactions, from my time in the US Air Force. That list I shared was in no way exhaustive — for everyone’s sake I shared just enough before you’d doze off.
I will provide greater detail — steps, lists, example tables, and instructions — so that you can conduct your own research. This will be a post for those who are paid subscribers. You can subscribe for monthly access ($5) to get what you need. You could subscribe for yearly access ($45 saving $15). I mean, that’s basically one espresso-based coffee a month… just a thought…
Aim High!