Idiot Research
The Rundown:
Otherwise, same old, same old.
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Supporting blog posts/random rants in chronological order (dates unspecified because everything in a semester blurs together for me):
Well, I guess “Narrative Inquiry” wasn’t all that clear for me…according to these guys, for it to be true “narrative inquiry,” the researchers have to have an interactive relationship with their subjects. (Well, good thing the class is doing an “Oral Research Project.” I see nothing about narrative inquiry, nor do I want to.)
Just because I’m expected to come away from a study having learned something, it doesn’t mean I have to fully immerse/interact with the study participants. I know I do not remain fully objective in mind during a study (though I try not to let it seep through much), and I know that a researcher’s interactions with the researched can produce an effect on the study. Psychology and science nerds alike warn you about projection, allowing your own ideas/preconceptions to affect a study. Yes, I admit, the very fact that I’m still alive and breathing while observing a subject will have some effect on him/her. (My apologies, I’ll have to remedy that.) Still, I don’t know that I want to jump all the way over to the extreme of narrative inquiry. I like being able to measure things, as consistently as possible, too much. Perhaps it’s a tad delusional, but I like the idea of a studying a subject within his/her context, but ignoring the the part of the context that includes me. I know I am part of the context, but I’m kind of against self-study in any place outside my journal and prayer. I like to present research, or writing of any kind, straight to the reader, without interference from me. Letting the reader form his/her own opinion without my trying to skew it ahead of time is a big thing for me. I don’t think, in most cases, people want to be told what or how to think; they want to be given a chance to think and act for themselves. (And this would be a beautiful spot to spiral off on a stupid government rant, but I will refrain from doing so…for now.) It’s true: stats don’t lie. Statisticians do. Still, while there are types of research where I enjoy using words, I’m a number fan, too. It makes me feel like the results are more tangible, even if they don’t cover every little variance as words can. I thought other teachers demanded particular research questions/studies, but these guys are intense. Maybe I’m just not enough of a humanist for this stuff, which is strange; usually, I love hearing specific, detailed stories. Being able to do so is a huge part of writing fiction, which may be why I don’t quite associate it with research. Hmm…food for thought. This blurring of the knowing worries me as well. I’m a sequential nut. I like things to be orderly, to have a sense of what’s going on when and where with some definitive boundaries. Trying to understand information in multiple ways strikes me as a disaster waiting to happen (maybe). You know the old saying: jack of all, master of none. In response to Chapter 3 of Like It Was, by Cynthia Stokes Brown (1988):
Well, I'm somewhat glad to have been handed a clearer idea of what this project will entail, if only in part. On the whole, it reminds me of Mock Trial. I was a prosecuting attorney on the team one year, and some of the guiding principles for that setting seem to apply to gathering an oral history as well. Though Brown says in this chapter that you ought to hold some interest in or emotional connection to your topic of choice, I would posit that it's much more important to find someone willing and able to tell his/her story. Certain subjects interest me more than others, but this is a graded assignment, and we're on a schedule; we don't have time to go tracking down twenty billion different people asking if they'd mind being interviewed. As Captain Renault said in "Casablanca," "Well, personally, Major, I will take what comes." There were a couple of suggestions for focusing the project's writing, though I expect most end results turn out to be a combination of everything in varying proportions. A character sketch, a feature story, a personality story...I like a little of everything, and I expect most readers want the plot with the character as well. Not too fast, but definitely not too slow (on pain of death). The questioning methods are what really reminded me of Mock Trial. Brown says not to use leading questions, and it's exactly the same in (mock) court. With your witness, in direct examination, you are forbidden to use leading questions. All you can do is form a general frame, give a starting point, from which the witness must construct his/her own story. It's the same thing here. Let the narrator say what he/she wants; don't break the cardinal therapy rule and project your opinions on him/her through your mode of questioning. You provide the frame, then let the narrator paint his/her own storyboard from top to bottom. The checklist sounds good. I've said it once (or more), and I'll say it again: I'm a sequential nut. I love lists, I love structure, I love order, and I love knowing exactly where I stand and how much more I have to go. A checklist of areas to cover will put my mind greatly at ease. (As for those confluent folk who feel they do better without, best of luck to you.) The research element of conducting an interview also tied back to Mock Trial. When you step inside a (fake) courtroom, you need to know everything. Everything every one of your witnesses know, everything every one of your opponent's witnesses knows. You can't be lost. It will waste time and trip you up at some point. Besides which, I just like the idea of being prepared. It's much easier to engage in a story when you know the background, the context, the surrounding circumstances. (Not to mention, you'll have to do this research at some point in the project anyway, so you might as well get it done with up front.) And we're back, veggie fans, with more of that green gunk you can't get enough of: my Oral History project! ... Awkward. Anywho... I conducted an interview yesterday afternoon, Saturday, April 9, with Dorothy Boody, one of the co-owners of Health Now, a health food store in Vineland. She spoke about her experience as a vegetarian and her family's experiences with eating healthier food. Blood type diets feature heavily in her food philosophy, and as a result, she believes blood type A's are more likely to successfully live a vegetarian lifestyle. Many of her comments on ethics, today's food industry, and keeping fruits and vegetables in the diet speak to meat-eaters and vegetarians alike. Some segments may require an explanatory text slide before, but in general, most sound bites should stand alone as independent comments and/or stories. And I just now realized I can add this interview to my annotated bib. Cue snicker. *SNICKER* Side note: process-wise, not that I'm trying to throw anyone under the bus or anything, but I'm wondering if we should have at least had another person with the group member interviewing her mother. Because mother and daughter share a lot of the same values and ideals, it makes sense that there wasn't as much digging and explanation behind some of the narrator's points as I'd have liked for this project.
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Supporting random emails:
Meanwhile, the entire project is due next Friday, so what are your ideas for interview victims, why do you want to interview them, and what questions do you want to ask.
I'd like to iron out all this stuff now so we can (hopefully) interview this weekend and leave the whole week for clip cutting and editing. (It could easily take us a week, especially with other homework interfering, not to mention the giant mountain of Mangini's reading assignments.) Let me know (preferably tonight) what you're all thinking! Well, they're all starting to sound the same to me now, but I tried to keep these versions as open-ended as possible. Draw out stories without projecting any ideas on the interviewees and all that crud. :)
(PS- I will call the health store lady tomorrow and see if she's interested. I will also be looking further into the possibility of a farmer, and I am attempting to secure at least 1 fairly serious vegetarian; but if you guys know anyone who'd be interested, just let me know. Thanks!)Dietitian Questions: 1. What is a vegetarian? 2. What are the typical reasons behind people's becoming vegetarians? 3. Are there different degrees of vegetarians? If so, what differentiates them from one another? 4. What are the health benefits of being a vegetarian? 5. What are the health shortcomings, or issues that require attention, for vegetarians? 6. Why should, or should not, people become vegetarians? Avg Vegetarian Questions: 1. Why did you become a vegetarian? (Ex: health, moral obligation, etc.) 2. What difficulties do you face, if any, in finding suitable food options? At the grocery store? In cafeterias? 3. What is your opinion on stores' prices for vegetarian food? 4. Have you ever been in a situation where vegetarian options were not readily available? Describe. 5. Why should, or should not, others become vegetarians? |