In “On the Case,” the second and
third chapter give some advice on how to scope out the area to find what a
researcher is looking for as well as an approach to coming up with a study
within a certain scope. It’s all excellent advice for a person beginning their
work as a researcher. However, the book portrays the people as only subjects of
a study and nothing more. This is never the case. In order to become better
researchers in the field, a person needs to fully be aware of the impact his or
her presence has over the study.
On the back cover of the book, the
summary states that it is a book for a “novice researcher” and should be an “essential
manual.” The novice researcher goes into the field wanting to learn everything
about their subject: how the person interacts with the environment, on his or
her own, at home, at school, anywhere. Of course, the novice researcher will be
a keen observer, or at least attempt to be since the lack of inexperience, of
all the sounds muttered and gestures performed from this person. This does not
imply that the researcher knows what type of effects he/she is having on the
person’s routine expressions and gestures. There needs to be a sense of this in
order to be able to be able to report honest performance by the interaction and
not just a performance because there’s an audience.
In order to gain a better
understanding of the effects that a researcher has on a person’s everyday life,
the researcher should be the subject of a study as well before beginning his or
her own ventures in the field of research. For a class, such as this one, a
great assignment would consist of having other people study our behavior at
school, at home, or at work- wherever it is that we intend on intruding on
other peoples’ lives.
There are plenty of benefits from
this. A person will be aware of her own differences in behavior around the
researcher because he or she knows that there’s documentation of some sort
going on. A person will also gain a sense of what emotions are felt by being so
bluntly observed by another stranger who might be of a difference sex, race, or
background. If the researcher has completely different practices, the student-researcher
will also take note of what influence the researcher has on his or her own
practices since they are different.
This would be an interesting assignment
to have; although, I’m already upset about having my privacy invaded and performance
recorded by this fictional researcher. Nevertheless, it would help me
understand what could possibly go on in the other person’s mind by having a
complete stranger observe their every move.
I find your assignment idea interesting, Jose. It would definitely give insight into observation as research if we would allow ourselves to be subjects as well as researchers.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do think that observing is not as unnatural as you would think. Although you might be a "complete stranger" at the beginning of a process, I think that in practice you'll find that once you're attuned to the rhythms and routines of the area you're looking at, you end up more as part of the picture than an outside observer. For example, when I was observing a middle school class as part of an assignment, most of the kids started out being rather afraid of me. However, a month or so later, they became accustomed to having me in the classroom. I think that having a routine presence in the field will eventually work out some of the types of problems you're anticipating. However, as we've discussed in class, we're always in some sense going to be an "other" in these situations. I think you raise legitimate concerns, but some of the potential problems we have as "outsiders" can be ameliorated simply by spending time in the field and doing our best to blend in (despite the impossibility of truly being invisible).