research on the future researcher

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.