I would like to develop my interpersonal and communication skills to help me not only in this research project, but also in the future. This will be challenging, however, it is important to be able to communicate effectively with others in order to understand a particular area or common interest.

To achieve this, I attended a federal death penalty conference which took place in Santa Clara, California. Here, I was exposed to a number of qualified US attorneys working on cases and with much working knowledge in regards to the federal and state death penalty. In regards to the death penalty in general in the United States, it seemed that to improve upon my communication skills, I would have to approach the various attorneys, mitigation specialists and private investigators to conduct my surveys and ensure I retrieve appropriate data collection. Thus, one of the fundamental actions which need to take place is to start by preparing myself adequately and correctly for the conference and then going on to talk and discuss the relevant and necessary areas of the death penalty with the various attorneys who will be available there. In addition, it will be necessary to research as much as possible in relation to the smaller sub topics and sub areas in relation to the death penalty. These sub topics include, mitigation, constitutionality in terms of the use of aggravating evidence as well as opening and closing argumentation which is carried out by the defense counsel. Thus, the second important action which took place in order for me to achieve this goal was that I spoke individually to the defense attorneys in relation to more specific and detailed parts of my project which allowed me to understand and come to terms with certain areas of the project. Another action that I undertook to achieve my objective was to attend small seminars at the college and be immersed in the decisions regarding the cases that the attorneys are working on. This gave me an idea as to the ways in which they would approach their cases, the actions needed and the preparation which is necessary which all adds together to try and understand the constitutionality of the death penalty as well as improve my communicatio and interpersonal skills.

I will have known that I have achieved my goal when I am able to effectively communicate my ideas in writing and in person. This will happen at the end of the project when my research paper is submitted to another person who will then read and try and deduce the conclusions that I have come to based on my work, especially during the time at the conference where I was exposed a number of different academics and attorneys who gave me necessary and appropriate information in regards to various elements of the death penalty. It is important to be as confident orally and in writing as possible so that ones ideas are formulated in a coherent manner for those to read and understand that the research is a small but important part of such a relevant and growing area.

In addition to the interpersonal and communication skills, I have been able to develop other such skills. These include: data collection as I was collecting much material from surveys and other forms of deducing information from a variety of attorneys and academics. This skill has been enhanced as I was then required to condense this data in manageable groups which would be more accessible for those interested in my research. Other skills that I managed to develop included being able to critically evaluate information data as well as the process to find and generate such information and data. This is an important skill in regards to fundamental research projects in that following attending the conference, I was able to critically evaluate the information that I gathered on a daily basis. For instance, folloiwing a few sessions learning and discussing several important issues and being able to retrieve data, one was then able to look over and critically analyse the data that I have received which shows that I could be able to get better information in the end because I was filtering out unnecessary and inappropriate data collection and rather getting the most important data which is an important part of any research. Other skills that I was able to develop included organising the data collection using a simple structure and prescribed plan. This meant that I could try and better understand the results that I was coming up with when talking and taking part in discussions. For example: when discussing the variety of mitigating factors which are taken into consideration and conducted by the defense counsel, one could see that it was necessary to take the data and find a better way of showing it and organising it in a coherent and logical manner. Thus, I was also able to improve my organisational skills. Other existing skills which I developed included synthesising and analysing new information and knowledge which would again help the reader and audience to understand my data collection and research.

Firstly, in developing this skill, this will greatly help and support me in my research project since I will be able to demonstrate the data and research that I have collected and then readers will be able to evaluate it. It is important to state that if the oral communication in the initial stages of the research project is successful, then the written communication will be equally successful, this is something that I have learned throughout the process so far. Therefore, my overall presentation of my project and poster will be better managed and deduced. Furthermore, in terms of my studies, such communication skills are always crucial in the study of law, but in particular, since, this year (my third year) I will be studying French Law in Paris and thus there will be seminars and oral exams where I must be able to identify and demonstrate to my peers that I can discuss and talk about various aspects of the law with them understanding my point of view and the things that I say. For example: I am studying human rights this year and there will be presentations and I hope to talk about the constitutionality of the death penalty in the United States with a comparative stance identifying that in France, there has been the abolition of the death penalty already and whether the United States can take a similar route. Therefore, being able to develop my communication and interpersonal skills will have been very useful, not just for my research project, but also, for my studies.

I would probably aim to ensure that I could develop these interpersonal skills at an earlier date rather than state that I would develop them at the conference which took place towards the end of my research project in the United States. This would probably allow me more time afterwards to develop other skills and reflect upon my own personal development.