I'm finding myself much more intrigued and interested in this text. Though I understand the need for the first "black and white" text, this one is much more practical and is better for preparation for actual case studies.
Chapter 2 covers "casing the joint", or basically how you should prepare yourself to begin a case study. It goes over timing and spacial concerns, making physical maps of your location, scheduling, etc. Any factors you could consider about your research is covered. It helps to set a sort of order to a potentially chaotic case study. As for the third chapter, some theories and practices are covered to help us to start designing our study. In a way, the second chapter goes over the organization of a study and the third covers the loose design process.
The interesting thing about all the stories available in the text is how versatile the meaning can be, or how in-depth these observations are. Virtually everyone could come up with a different perspective from their observations; another point that parallels this is how roles are negotiated. If someone is framed as an authority figure, children are likely to act differently, so observation results could be skewed. What I found most interesting, like the "negotiating roles" sections, is the thought of things that are seemingly minuscule meaning so much. for instance, I would have never considered that the clothes we wear could potentially affect our research. I even was stricken by the point to try not asking children their names, so you become more of a facet in the classroom as opposed to an "active" role.
From doing a small research project in undergrad in a Pre-K classroom, I can understand how maintaining a "balance between distance and intimacy" could be difficult. When you're around small children that are very intrigued by having a new player in the classroom that want to continually ask questions, it can be difficult to observe them as equally as they observe you. This raises another issue as to whether you could ever really present research that ins't affected by something, whether it's the children being put off by your presence or happening to observe the most outspoken child. I guess we just need to ensure we're presenting research that is as controlled as possible, from the clothes we wear, the location of the school, or even what time of day it is.
I'm enjoying this text very much, integrating more narrative is really starting to help me envision myself performing an actual study.
That is an interesting point about observing children and not asking their names. I think it would be difficult to observe children in a classroom setting; a new face in the room is unusual to them and they're going to want to ask questions and perhaps behave differently. I had never really thought about that sort of research until now.
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