have fun!

Best of luck to all of you at the conference - I hope your presentations go really well and keep us informed!
happy studying everybody

Writing, writing....

Hello folks.

With little to read and so much to write, I will briefly give a run down of the status of my paper.

I have 15 pages of single spaced lunacy. Between the relentless typos and grammatically weak structures, there might be glimmers of good analysis and research! Tonight I will be panning for this gold....

The bibliography is fattening up nicely, though I doubt it will consistent of a multitude of sources.

I still haven't finished one transcription, but I will do this after I have a fairly decent document for tomorrow. Within the next 3 or 4 days, I hope to make final changes, adding whatever new ideas I gain from such otherwise mercifully brainless work. :)

Peace and good luck!

Finally!

I have FINALLY finished transcirbing all three of my interviews (though I am very disappointed in my last two because they were so short, and I started off with such a great first itnerview that was long and covered everything I needed) and I have an outline... sorta... which leads me to my question... which final paper to choose to write... I'm really interested in what everyone said in their interviews, but my last two didn't seem interested in talking about what I wanted to talk about at all so I don't have as much as I'd like about what I initially wanted to write about... Any suggestions? I'm thinking about the second paper option but I'm not sure....

Interviews finally

So, after two months of trying to coordinated with my two younger siblings and failing miserably to get time for an interview I finally managed to sit down with them. The first thing I noticed is that 11 year-old boys really like voice recorders. 14 year-old girls do not like hearing their own voice it turns out and after hearing herself during a sound test, she made me promise to never let anyone hear it.

Interviewing children posed a whole new set of challenges for interviewing. Especially with my brother, attention span was a serious issue. He could sit still for more than 30 seconds, so I ended up grabbing a football and throwing it back and forth to him the whole time. My sister was able to handle about 15 minutes, but at that point it was obvious that she wanted to be doing something else and her short efficient answers will made the last few questions of that interview rather pointless. Even if the interview aren't as helpful as I would have liked as far as my research goes, I definitely think I learned a lot of things about interviewing children that will come in handy when I continue my research for capstone.

Film

I watched Drew Barrymore's "Whip It" again last night for my ethnography - it was very interesting to compare and contrast my first and second viewing of this film. With my research question in mind, I noticed a few more things this second time around and I felt that I was able to examine and critique it in a different way. I think I'll definitely be able to discuss a few elements of this movie in my ethnography. Is anyone else using film as a source for their paper?

Another update: my qualitative online survey is getting some great responses! I used surveymonkey to post my interview questions to the league to see what their thoughts were and people have been very receptive and amazing. They're even posting it to the larger WFTDA (Women's Flat-Track Derby Association) message board and to the professional and junior derby league here in Austin. So I'll definitely have some more great quotes to include (without any more transcribing...)

Getting it together.

So this is finally all going to work out;; I hope. I feel like I've put so much of my time and self into this work and I'm sort of having problems making everything come together. I'm sure it's just part of the process--writing and rewriting--I'm just caught up on all the details. It's awkward with the emotions involved, too. I know their relevant, however it's weird (for me) writing an academic paper with self-reflection.

Well;; just sharing. Back to work! Hope all is well and looking forward to having a solid draft finished Monday!

Krystina

Ethnographic overview

Hey everybody - I had to leave early for a lecture the day we went over our paper overviews in class, so I wanted to post my bird's eye view of my ethnography and see if anyone had any additional suggestions! I hope everybody's drafts are going well - I'm hoping mine isn't going to be too much of a train wreck on Monday...

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From my personal experience with the readings this semester, I have particularly appreciated the writings that have very engaging introductions. Therefore, I will strive to start my ethnography off in a similar fashion, hopefully intriguing my readers and sustaining their interest. I would like to begin my paper with a personal account of my initial experiences and introduction to roller derby, along with a brief history and run-down of this sport – what is it exactly? How is the sport played? How did it start? How has it evolved and where is it now? From there I plan on utilizing my field-notes, interviews, and participant observation, to discuss the relationship between contemporary American feminism and roller derby. How do skaters perceive this dynamic? How do those outside the derby world interpret it? How has derby impacted the lives of these women skaters and their personal identities, self-esteem, and confidence? Through weaving in feminist theories and literature, I hope to connect my localized, personal experiences, observations, and interviews with larger, nation-wide issues of female identity and empowerment.

Finally, I intend on concluding my paper with a conversation regarding the potential and future of roller derby. For example, with the recent creation and expansion of “Derby Brats,” an Austin league for 8-17 year old skaters, how might this sport continue to influence future female generations? What can roller derby tell us about the future and direction of feminism? How does derby interact with contemporary American feminism? What spaces of possibility does this sport open up for women? How is roller derby growing and progressing from its original origins? Furthermore, how do I see my relationship with roller derby evolving and continuing? What reflections and conclusions have I personally drawn throughout my relationship with this recreational league?

Analysis stage

Seeing no readings, I completely forgot to post!

So here is what's up with my project. I have re-read my field notes, my interview notes, and all emails sent back and forth with the interviewees. I am keeping track of my analytical notes by using the comment feature on word. Is that bad? What are the ramifications of using such a digital way of making notes?

I finished another transcription (though the first is still painfully long and in the works). I developed a method of typing insanely quickly and sloppily but intelligibly to try to make the process faster. Afterwards, I was able to line-by-line edit as well as analyze.

I have a preliminary outline established, though it is quite weak on its knees. I see some common threads forming, though; I just do not know how I will weave them all together. So far, identity construction and community construction intersect less than I expected. People do not self-identify as healthcare workers as much as I would expect. They do not wave the "health" banner on a high horse. Most seem more focused on getting through the day and dealing with normal social aspects of life. Some common ideas, though, I have found in my field notes and my interviews include the team or family nature of the clinical staff, the use of food to bring people together even at the work setting, the dependence on take-out and junk food, the easy and unintentional co-mingling of Spanish and English, and the use of the bureaucratic and hierarchal structure to deal with problems. Contrasting conceptions of stress and health have also emerged to some degree.

I am still perplexed about the structure of the final paper. Any suggestions??

Also, what kind of literature have people been able to drum up? Most articles I find are only tangentially related...I will try to weave them in with the aforementioned fraying threads as well.

Good to luck everyone. :)

questionnaire

i think i am going to make a questionnaire and give it out to non-feminists in order to get more data. I feel a little lacking in substantial non-feminist data, so it seems like a good idea to do. I think it will be quickly analyzed after this week, but make the study more substantial.Good luck to everyone else.

Musing on feminism + roller derby

Throughout American history, I feel that definitions of "femininity" have limited the athleticism of women. Not very long ago, it was not commonly considered "proper" or attractive for most women to be so physical or "sporty." There are substantially more outlets nowadays but I still wonder how much the legacy of these definitions impact the minds of contemporary women.

Even today, I don't feel that most women's sports get nearly as much attention as men's sports. For example, a friend asked me the other day - "How many women basketball players do you know off the top of your head?" I honestly couldn't think of any - while I'm not the biggest basketball watcher, I definitely know quite a lot about the men's teams because I hear much more about them without even trying. So that's one of the unique things about derby - it's predominately an all women's sport and it's still drawing in an increasing amount of attention. There are men's leagues popping up again around the nation but I have a feeling that the original women's teams will maintain their popularity.

• Something I find very intriguing about roller derby - I believe that this sport pushes you to be a strong, powerful athlete as well as an an active participant in your personal definition of femininity. I think it's interesting that to a lot of outside viewers, roller derby has a very "butch" connotation attached to it. Roller derby girls definitely an encompass a wide range of sexualities, however I think this is intriguing because I feel that a lot of people consider it "butch" in a somewhat derisive way. As in, if these girls are so physical and athletic, they must be not "normal" women. I think this is connected to a lot of stereotypes about homosexuality as well but I'm not sure...this is an area that I'm interested in exploring some more.

I don't think that women can deny the power of outside influences - our definitions of our sexuality or our femininity are not built in a vacuum. However, by introducing to me to such a diverse, eclectic, and smart group of women, I think that derby has helped me become more aware of these external forces and how they currently shape and manipulate me.

Fieldnotes

I'm still playing catch-up a little with my entries! So here we go:

4/4/10

We had our last practice today before our end-of-season game. I was getting kind of snarky and frustrated - our team was short today and mostly comprised of new girls. We weren't really playing well - derby is definitely a team sport and teamwork is really vital to scoring points, no matter how great the jammer is. So I was getting pretty antsy and my competitive side was really coming out that practice. "Build a wall! Hold the inside line!" *the other team's jammer breezes right by them* "Or not..."

Needless to say, I wasn't being the most supportive team player. I reprimanded myself however and apologized. (I like to think the extreme heat that day was a contributing factor - we like to call it "Bikram derby" in the hotter months.) That practice really made me think of how I felt when I started out playing derby - I was definitely a pretty shaky skater and I didn't really have a clue as to what I was doing. From my observation and participation, derby is not a sport that you can usually just jump into right away. There were definitely times when I became disheartened - I felt like I had plateaued and that I wasn't getting any better. (I still hate turn-around stops so much.) Plus, derby is a lot more fun when you're not getting the wind knocked out of you every jam. It's taken me a while to really feel more solid on my skates but the process has been worth it. Through conversations with my fellow skaters, being able to chart our progress and development is one of the really empowering things about derby, and athletics in general. It's a really great feeling when you realize that you can skate a lot harder and faster than you ever did before. (A lot of us remember when we felt like we were going to die after an hour and a half of practice - now we wish they went on so much longer.) It's great to be able to take a solid hit from someone much bigger than you and still stay on your skates. This sport helps our balance and agility - our core muscles definitely get a work-out. It's also a great brainteaser - derby is definitely a cerebral sport full of strategy and quick-thinking.

All in all, derby definitely takes time and commitment - I'm very grateful for how supportive, encouraging, and *patient* the other more experienced skaters have been during this learning process. Therefore, I want to make sure that I am emulating their positive influence as well for our newer skaters. This season is helping me to curb the snarkier side of my competitiveness - I definitely do like to win but when it comes down to it, it's much more important for me to build relationships and friendships rather than rack up points. *cheese*

confidentiality

Hey guys I just wanted to remind everyone that what we discuss in class needs to stay in class. While conducting an interview my interviewee told me that he had heard that his information had been talked about in class and that he had been called racist. Although I don't think anyone called him racist, its clear that my interviews had been talked about outside of class. This really isn't cool. He was hesitant to answer certain questions during the interview and rightfully so. I know who is responsible for this breech in trust but instead of singling anyone out I'd just like to use this opprotunity to remind everyone, and myself, how important the matter of trust is in this entire process. Among all of us and between interviewee and interviewer. What we discuss in the class room needs to stay in the classroom. Thanks

LATE POST

It has been too long since I have posted.

So I really enjoyed the speaker in class. His insight into his struggles and successes with his project was really helpful. I also thought his topic was really interesting and I would like to read his finished product.

After a good amount of time, I finally have contacts for my last interviews and am now waiting to hear back to set up times for the interviews. Also, I didn’t think I would have a chance to do some participant observation/take field notes but I was invited to attend The Georgetown Project board meeting this Wednesday.

Slowly but surely things are coming together. Although, I feel a little stressed since the paper is due at the end of this month. Is anyone else feeling as stressed as I am?

The Secret? "Each actual entity is a locus for the universe"

I thought the article was exceedingly interesting (probably for ethnocentric, Western-cultural-indoctrination reasons). But I have a lot of questions!

The greater notion of “reflexivity” that imbued the article was challenging. How do we go about “mak[ing] a problem out of what was once unproblematic” without winding up our own personal life into a psychological tangle? Can we make reflexivity simply an academic mindset? Do we want to? When adding the self into this already troubling equation, how can we be sure to think appropriately and not wind up reflecting ourselves through others? As young people with developing brains and personas, are we more apt to produce ego-centric or otherwise problematic ethnographic works?

Other than sex, what other “social construct[s] with a past” invade our thinking and skew our abilities as an anthropologist? How much of this is motivated by what is considered “fetchingly risqué” at the time?

Hmm....

Paper Progress

I have been thinking about my paper much more than I have been writing.

Being out of town multiple the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to try to absorb what my paper will be about. Attending a conference full of activists also helped place some of my observations in perspective. I did not quite recognize the uniqueness of the seemingly banal setting of the clinic. It really is a product of a capitalistic process occurring in suburban Texas linking all the way back to Washington, DC via bureaucracy and federal dollars.

The substance of my interviews are much more relevant to current events that I realized. For example, my interview with a doctor commented on a number of aspects of medicine that need addressing but seem to go unrecognized by medical policy makers. The new healthcare bill though extraordinary in its dynamism will not impact medicine as much as we might like and will not likely impact this health clinic much. Patients will still be suffering from chronic illness due to lifestyle, health employees will continue to abuse their own health, and health clinics will continue to try to find ways to make money (even if they are non-profits).

Perhaps that was a bit too stream of consciousness, but that is what is going into my head. I do not think it would be appropriate in my developing paper which will be much less connected to the big picture, I think.

In any case, this project has really helped me begin on a very long journey to understand the healthcare system and the people that work it. I feel very fortunate for the questions this project has led me to ask- but now I need to start compiling and understanding the answers I have been given!

Update #1

I completely spaced and forgot to post entries for last week, I will make up for those this time!

Entry 1 of 4:
I really enjoyed the guest speaker that we had on Monday - he was really informative and great at answering questions. It was neat to learn more about his personal ethnographic experiences and what he learned from his successes and setbacks.
As for my ethnography, I'm still working on field-notes and participant observation. I've also been re-reading my notes and culling the ethnographic field-note book again as I start to work on writing the actual paper. I'm also finishing up transcribing my second interview - express scribe is a godsend. It's pretty hilarious to listen to the tape slowed down about 50% - I sound ridiculous and all of my funny intonational habits are magnified. But I highly recommend it if you all haven't tried it - it makes transcribing much easier and this is amazing typing practice!

We're having our last bout of the season coming up here soon - we're reviving the original team rivalry - Homewrecker Hussies vs. Domestic Divas. These are rather tongue-in-cheek team names - it'll be interesting to see what kind of uniforms are out on the track...Since it's the last game of the spring season, we should have a big soiree afterwards to celebrate - I'm getting some responses from on online survey I sent out and I'm hoping to get some more group feedback from that party.

Fieldnotes, Interviews

This past Saturday I woke up early to make an awesome trip to Mary Hardin Baylor just north of here in Belton, TX. I was going along with the group I'm researching and found some good times to have informal interviews or just small conversations. I didn't go into my formal interview questions becasue I really wanted to wait for a formal inteview to ask them, but from what we did talk about I got some good notes on how they like the program. I'm at the point of possibley interviewing this Wednesday or Thursday, depending when the students are free. But as of this weekend I feel that I'm making some slow progress.

Oh Anthro, why must you be so.....undefined and boundless??

I'm in the process of typing out my field notes, it's interesting to re-read them and begin to find patterns. Also, I haven't been able to interview a Spanish professor as of yet due to time constraints, but hopefully I'll be able to this week. I have no other updates at this moment.

Anyways, I'm pretty excited about our speaker tomorrow...or rather later on today. I'm interested in the findings of his research and wonder his philosophy is on anthropology, especially since we established that Anthropology is an undefined, boundless type of subject. We'll see.

Interviews done;; I think

So I'm really looking forward to class tomorrow--both to hear from the guest speaker and to share some of my own experiences. I'm pretty sure I have ample information from my two interviews to really dig into the paper writing process. My interviews were emotional and raw and personal--everything I hoped they would be!! It was much more difficult than I had envisioned, but also much more rewarding. I'm now more convinced than ever that the interview is a process--something dynamic and interactive. It's nothing even remotely close to the static and uninvolved exchange of facts that was expressed by the IRB. I'm so so SO relieved to have this step all taken care of. Next on the list: hours and hours of transcription. :)

Thanks for your time!

Second Interview as I Sing This in Tune

I just had my second interview. It went really really well. I asked her questions and she talked for a long time. I had no trouble getting information out of her. The interview was over the phone so in a few places it's a bit choppy but for the most part it's fine. The interview was during her lunchbreak and she was really into talking about it. It was also cool, as with the first one to get to know these experiences of people that I know that I would otherwise not ask about. That's it for now.

Interviews...fieldnotes...

Hey guys!

So i haven't posted in awhile, but things are falling into place. I have had two interviews with two people that I know...No one answered to any of the e-mails that I sent out. Something that I thought was a little shocking, I thought at least one person would be eager to share their experience. So I resulted to seeking out people I knew that were prescribed. The interviews that I had went very well. However, they are only 2o minutes each...I think that this is a little short, but after that time period I have covered everything with my interviewees and pretty much have gotten everything that I wanted out of their responses. The two interviewees responses were very different than each other. One of the interviewees was quite open with the role the medicine played in her life...it seemed to play much of a bigger role in her life than my other friend whose usage of the medicine mainly stuck within the academic setting. I am going to have another interview on Friday and then will start the transcription process! The field notes are going well, however I can only write them based on those twenty minutes...so not as abundant as I would hope.

Don't strike me

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but no worries my project is still underway. I have four student interviews, three and a half have been transcribed. FOUR? I bet you're freaking out and thinking I'm an intense ethnographer. They're actually pretty short, 20-30 min long. After I went back and listened to them, I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities in each interview. I am planning on having follow up interviews, that is if time permits no only for I, but most importantly for my interviewees. I also want to interview one of my professors, since they're experienced and all. I don't know something about being a professor and having taught several courses? I'll talk to my Spanish professor today.

I have found a couple of articles from JSTOR and will soon find myself digging through the library for books diversify my sources.

I haven't typed any of my field notes, but that is one Goal number one for this week.

Our discussion in class yesterday, was really interesting. One statement that particularly stood out was when Claudia said something along the lines of "There are so many lines/boundaries within Anthropology that's it's easy to cross them." These lines include ethics, morals, and the different types of Anthro, but, psha, who needs them? HA, I kid. They seem pretty important. I hope the Anthro god/spirits don't strike me.

Kittens in my room, Interviews on my Schedule

I just set up my second interview for Thursday. It's gunna be awesome. I still need to submit the IRB again and forgot about that until just now. I got about nine books from the library today - one of which is not an anthro text but called "life in the womb - the origin of health and disease" which will be an interesting insight into what I'm trying to look at. I also requested some books from Interlibrary Loan. I really like setting up interviews and doing them. When I did the one with my friend, it was really nice because I got to hear alot of her experience that I didn't know about during her pregnancy. Also, I cut her off ALOT (SHOCKING, I know!). But I'ma talk to Claudia and reformulate some of the questions to have a smoother second interview. Also, this one should be insightful because she had a kid seven years ago before the one she had 18 months ago and I remember seeing her right after she had him and she was drugged out of her mind. I'm really excited for it. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Amanda

Interviews, observations and everything good

So I thought I was going to at least get one interview before spring , but with our spring break being on the same time as every high school around georgetown I have to settle for interviews to hapen in April. I know it seems a long time away from now but I have good news on the observation part. This weekend I will be traveling with the Upward Bound Program as they visit Mary Hardin Baylor. I was asked by a staff member to come along and help out, so I said I would. It would be perfect to observe how the students interact with each other and the tour guide in asking questions and to see how many are willing to go to college after high school after attending the program. Other good stuff is that I do have a day to formally introduce my project to the students which will be March 31. After that I can visit them at the Out Reach Center and have my intervews.

Interview with a kidnapping victim

I did my third interview yesterday. It was the interview I had been looking forward to the most because it was with someone who had experienced the violence in Juarez firsthand.  It was a very delicate situation because with this particular participant of all people I didnt want to bring up any memories that she may not want to remember.  However even without asking questions that would purposefully bring about that kind of information my participant brought it up. While she did not go into detail ( which is completely understandable considering the situation) I did get some really interesting information.

Status Update (Alexis is....)

Spring Break was to be a time of intensive observation. Until I got a nasty illness (pink eye). I must admit, I felt the victim of some sort of sorcery or at least some psychosocial stress.

In any case, I did manage to interview two more people from the clinic: a Medical Assistant and the physician. Both were really interesting and had markedly different experiences in the healthcare industry. Perhaps the most prominent difference was their definitions of health. The MA answered my questions about health by talking about sanitation: she cared for her health by staying clean and sanitizing her work spaces. The physician answered my questions about health with the anticipated talk of exercise and eating right. Both exemplified the dedication and time commitment required to work in healthcare, though the stress levels (especially emotional stress) were greatly different.

I managed about an hour of participant observation which was not wholly unproductive. I got to overhear some conversations in Spanish. As I get to know more people and after conducting the interviews, I am becoming more aware of the office relationships and understanding the topics of their conversations.

While my field and interview notes are complete, I must admit that the transcriptions await me. I dread them.

My interviews were only about 45 minutes each. Is that bad? Should I do another? I think I could arrange to meet with a medical administrator in about two weeks, which I might do regardless of whether I "need" it. She seems pretty eager to meet!

Interviews and such

My feminist group seems to have disbanded leaving me little hope to have a group discussion on the definition of feminism. I think that I might just ask my friends at lunch their definitions. There might be an advantage of that, because I will get more of a widespread definition and not only a feminist view a feminism, which I think will add more to my research. This will give a better idea of why people are so hesitant to identify with the movement and furthermore why there is such a negative view of it. I have completed two interviews, but am only halfway through transcribing the first two. Anyone know of ways to speed up this process? Also if anyone wants to give me their definition and elaborate on it in any way, whether or not you are a feminist feel free to reply or e-mail me [moore2@southwestern.edu].

Pedicure on my toes, toes...

Okay everyone,
I have not yet started interviewing but will hopefully be able to get my first interview over the weekend or spring break at the latest. My roomate didn't end up going to College Station this weekend so couldn't ask her friend a/b it. However, I am starting to become engaged with the literature on the topic. One of the books that's going to be really helpful (misconceptions) by Naomi Wolf already gave me three other references in the intro, one of whom is an anthropologist on the topic, though from the context she was referenced in, not in the subject matter I am interested in. Having said that, I am also doing my research paper for my public policy class on an HIV/AIDS policy that was reinstated in 2008 to allocate 48 billion dollars internationally to combat the global aids epidemic. During my research, I came across something which I didn't consider. It is WHO regulations that each country have 2.3 doctors or nurses per 1000 people and in a chart that showed the number of doctors and nurses per 100,000 people, all countries on the chart had much higher rates of nurses than doctors, including the U.S, except the UK, Dijibouti, and Kenya. I would not have even considered this in part of my questioning if I had not come across this. Nurses are an integral part of any person's doctor visits and would invariably be in the case of pregnant women. So, I've tacked on some questions. Reading the literature is making me think of many new questions as well as leading me to think about the ways in which identity is formed through relationships and how fixed they seem within that relationship. Because of this, I intent on using memory of mine for my field notes as this project is leading me to think more broadly. That's about it.

Amanda

Weird Message from IRB

So, I just read an e-mail that I have been approved by the IRB and they are allowing me to do my research. But the weird part is that I had an earlier message from them that I had to make a few changes. Right now what I'm thinking is that they may have mistaken my IRB forms with someone else's, but I am meeting with Claudia tomorrow to ask her.

any recruitment ideas?

Welll...So far no one has answered my recruitment e-mail and I have sent out about two. I feel like I may change the format of the e-mail, maybe it seems very boring, not interesting to people...I'm not sure. Have you guys received it? Do you think it could be phrased in any way that would be better? Or a way that would draw people's attention more? I have a lot of people that have come up to me saying" Yea I saw your e-mail, but I'm not prescribed..." But as we all know I cannot use those people. I have on interview scheduled with one of my friends who is prescribed, and that should happen tomorrow. So I am excited about that. Besides that I am just reading up on the literature, trying to get as much stuff as I can. Although I will no be asking questions about illegal drug use, I do think that I will use articles that discuss it, just to put the medicine into some kind of context. Although I can't talk about it, I am not going to avoid a huge factor revolving around it..thats about it for now!

Catching Up

So I have made some slight changes with my recruitment and research site for this assignment and feel like I am now moving in the right directions. I have one physician who has agreed to meet with me this week and two people who have attained disabilities later in life lined up to speak with before the end of next week. My goal is to have all my interviews completed and transcribed by March 22. I know I am behind, but my hope is to work quickly and consistently these next two weeks and hopefully start out decently caught up after spring break.

I am concerned about my bibliography, however, and hope that this week proves more successful than last week as far as finding relevant sources.

The readings are helpful, but sometimes frustrating. I feel like things are going to make a lot more since once I'm actually doing fieldwork.

Hope everyone is doing well and thank you all for your time!

Second Interview

Having just completed my second interview I have come to realize how well some people can dance around questions. During my second interview the person the respondent made a point of never directly answering my questions. At first I didnt think he was doing it intentionally but after beginning to transcribe the interview it appears to be pretty intentional.  The interesting thing is that the last person I interviewed was directly effected by the violence. This person was really not for the most part, he lived across the border, had a few friends that had witnessed things but had not lost anybody that he loved to the violence so the reason for his answering the questions in the way that he did is unkown to me.

tidbit

My posts are not very poignant this week but I will say this -

This transcription process has really made me appreciate all those childhood hours spent with"Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing."

I am also working on roughly outlining my paper and getting some structural ideas going. I'm also about to send out that survey to the rec league email group - I'm hoping to get some good feedback from that. We have our first "big" bout coming up soon so I should also get some good footage/photography/field-notes from that!

Portfolio and Interview

This past week has been so crazy and I've had hardly any time between being sick and events that I'm still working on transcribing my first interview, but it should be done sometime tonight, and then I have my second interview planned for next week with an unaffiliated freshman girl, so for my last interview I have to ask a guy on campus, but I haven't decided if they will be affiliated or not. I am also working on finishing up some of my portfolio before class tomorrow, but I can't tell for sure! This is really short because I'm off to work on transcribing more, but I've been rereading the notes we took in class last week on interviews so the next time I do one it wont be as awkward!

Hello, folks.

I feel like this blog is my confessional space. Well, forgive me, but I have procrastinated! I still need to finish up transcribing my first interview. Oy. But the fiction of time that comes with spring break has me feeling all right. I will finish it tonight if it's the last thing I do!

I was out of town this weekend (from Thursday afternoon until Saturday afternoon- a collegiate eternity!). I was preparing some ecology research for a poster so I had no time to devote to observations last week. Regardless of this, I am confident that I will have time during spring break. I will be in town, with a car, and itching to leave my home premises. So, I hope to finish up my interviews (and transcriptions!) in the comfort of spring break. I will continue to observe at least weekly for as long as I can, and I plan to head in to volunteer for one or two full days, if possible, this break.

As for interviews, I have made contact via email with the doctor and with a medical assistant. As stated earlier, I intend to finish those over spring break. I very much look forward to them, actually (just not the transcription process).

IRB revisions still plague me. I sent it in again and was asked to review some more things. I will probably ask for help from yall before I send in my next version tomorrow afternoon.

Peace.

Interview update

First interview = check
It was a lot of fun - I really admire and like Tart Attack so it was great to get to talk to her more personally. I think she said some really poignant and useful things so I'm looking forward to starting the transcription process very soon. She also recommended some more materials for my bibliography/personal perusal. I liked this magazine about pop culture, feminism, and media criticism in particular and I thought I'd share - http://bitchmagazine.org/

I think I've learned a lot about the interviewing process from actually doing it and I definitely have some ideas and revisions for next time. Thank you all for the list of do's/do not's last class - those were also very helpful!
Hope you're all having an enjoyable Sunday

Gaining Momentum

Hey everyone,
I went to visit Claudia yesterday at her office and I am really excited about my project! I have decided that I am going to the conference and because of this am going to have to get my ass in gear. After our meeting, I got some clarification about what it was I needed to do exactly for this project. My friend is coming to see me with my mom and sister the weekend before spring break so hopefully I can interview her then. My roomate is going to college station this weekend to ask her bf (best friend not boy friend) if I can interview her. I am also going to make some flyers and distribute them around town (coffee shops, doctors offices, HEB, Walmart, Credit Union (?) to see if there is any one else that will let me interview them. I also am going to try to find a woman to follow around for a day or two to document her experience. It would be especially helpful if this woman happened to be going to the doctor and I could be there for that experience, though my being there may influence the outcome. I would tell the doctor, but not exactly what I was looking for until after, I would clarify specifically. This may be too much of a pain in the ass actually, as the doctor may be an ahole about it/think its a journalism/expose piece intended to crash the medical industry (which might be bad considering the state of the economy). That also may be super melodramatic. I am wanting to set aside a time to look up articles for my lit review but have to do ten hours of community service for parking in a fire lane. So, that's nice. Maybe I'll get that over Spring Break. This is my update.

Amanda

slowly but surely..

Hey guys...I feel terrible about not blogging in awhile, I just have had really nothing to blog about! I sent my IRB back in on Thursday and still am waiting to hear back from them...I don't want to send out the e-mail informing students about my interview if the IRB denies me again. So still waiting...However, there are a couple of people that hear about what I was doing through friends of mine and said that they would love to do an interview...so..if all goes well with the RB hopefully I will be able to start very soon! However, I did want to let you guys know that the frame of my topic has shifter just slightly. After seeing what the IRB had written to me, I realized that I did approach my topic with a huge bias. I already knew what I was looking for, and an ethnographer should have no idea what to expect a the beginning f a study...so instead of focusing on the reasons why so many people are using these concentration stimulants and the subculture that I believe is growing out of this usage, I am just going to be asking prescribed patient's experience with the medicine in general. There will be no questions leading to the positive or negative effects of the medicine, the illegal use of the medicine, or anything like that. The board said that they feared there would be students that would leave my interview questioning their use of the medicine, so I had to cut any sensitive questions. Thus, I will only be inquiring about their experience in order to understand what role this medicine plays within their lives and nothing more. If they want to tell me more that that would be great, but I will not pry into deeper matters that may relate to their use of the medicine. I am excited to see to get an answer back from the board and finally get things started!

First Interview

I had my first scheduled interview yesterday with a non-native Spanish speaker. The interview went very well. I also transcribed my first interview for the first time. WOW. Transcribing really is time-consuming. I looked at the clock and my computer screen and realized that it had taken me an hour to get a 6-8 minute piece. Geeze. I was so concentrated I didn't even notice.

Listening to yourself is no fun. I realized a lot of things about my speech and cannot believe no one has said anything about it before! I say, "um" and "like" way too often. Sometimes I don't even make grammatical sense!

I had the same problem Lizz mentioned: "like," "um," and "uh's" somehow don't register as easily and I had to continuously go back and add them into my transcription. I have my second interview today with a native Spanish speaker. One other interviewees has confirmed an interview, but we have yet to schedule a time. The final student has not replied to my email. Hopefully, I can get both of those interviews done this week.

Even after I added it to my to-do list I kept forgetting to announce in class that I am observing and taking notes about class participation for a class project. I either walk in a tad bit late to class or something else happens. I will not leave the classroom until I let them know (ha, a bit extreme, but I need to make a point to myself.)

Quick updates

My ethnography is chugging along slowly but surely! I'm working on getting my interviews set for the beginning of March - the scheduling is looking good! I've also been looking through the library and academic search complete for some more sources - I stumbled across an intriguing book called "Angry Women" that might have some interesting insight into feminist theory. I'm also working on compiling my notes from the readings so that they can further help me with my own work.

As for fieldnotes, here are a few highlights:

• I went to the Texas Rollergirls 2010 Season Opener today to watch the game and help work the will-call booth. I've been doing it for a couple of seasons now and it's fun to see all of the old regulars and to greet the first-timers. The games seems to attract a pretty diverse crowd - reaching a bitacross age, gender, and racial lines. For example, there are little kids and grandparents, there are rockabilly styled girls alongside "preppily" dressed women. There's also a pretty even amount of males and females in the crowd.

• The rollergirls are rather intense on the track - jammer take-outs (completely knocking the jammer from the opposite team to the floor [sometimes into the crowd]) are pretty common. The game-play is rough - our gear really helps keep us safe but it can only do so much. It definitely hurts to get the wind knocked out of you no matter how you fall. Tempers can flare at other skaters or at how the referee calls [or doesn't call/see] penalties. However, the announcer made a good point tonight - as soon as the whistle is blown, the game-faces are usually off and teams are reaching across the bench laughing with each other and playfully smack-talking. I always seemed to get spanked after the whistle is blown in our games - good times.

By the way: I realized that I haven't really explained yet how the game is played. Here's a pretty good intro to the basics: http://www.howstuffworks.com/roller-derby4.htm

Here's a pretty enjoyable clip recapping the Texas Rollergirl's 2009 season as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4gCJlpyMr4

questions on interviewing

So, as I'm going through and transcribing my interview, I am having a lot of trouble writing down every word that is said... I keep missing words that don't normally register such as "like" and "um" when they're in the middle of a sentence, and I've been going thru and listening a second time to try to put them back in, but is that happening to anyone else? Have you noticed? Also, I really am understanding what everyone was saying about hearing yourself talk over the person you're interviewing. There's a few times when I'm in the middle of asking a question and the person I'm interviewing just starts to talk and I miss a few words because I'm still trying to finish reading the question... Does anyone have suggestions on how to avoid that happening in interviews? I honestly didn't notice I was doing it at the time and it's only now as I'm going back thru it that I'm realizing...

Reading notes

"The ultimate goal is to produce a coherent, focused analysis of some aspect of the social life that has been observed and recorded, an analysis that is comprehensible to readers who are not directly acquainted with the social world at issue" (Emerson, Fretz, Shaw, 142).

• I have to admit that I was a little bit daunted by the technique of coding when I first heard about it. However, when I read on, it started to make more sense and I'm hoping that I will be able to follow the guidelines in a useful manner. Once again I'm pretty grateful for technology - what a difference that can make in one's college career...I admire all of those past ethnographers who cut up copies of their field-notes, sorted, and arranged them by hand!
  

• I liked the "Asking questions of fieldnotes" section - I found their sorts of questions to be useful bullet points. I also liked this quote: "These procedures keep the ethnographer aware of the complexities involved in pursuing members' meanings...they remind the ethnographer that there is no 'pure' way to capture what is important to members, their meanings or points of view" (Emerson, Fretz, Shaw, 147).

• While I will not have too many months of field-notes to look over, it will be interesting to see how my perspective changes/shifts/grows/etc. over this study..
  

First interview

I did an interview Monday evening with one of my sorority sisters that went really well, but as was said in class, it was very eye opening. I had a long list of topics/questions I wanted to talk about but when it came down to it, those only lasted for fifteen minutes. It was really interesting leading off of what she said and making up more questions as I went becuase she brought things up that I hadn't thought of before. I've now realized that the next person I need to interview has to either be a freshman to get a different point of view, or someone who is not Greek.
We chose to do our interview in the chapter room of our sorority because we knew it would be quiet and during that time nothing was planned so we assumed that people wouldn't be interrupting us. There was two interruptions during our interview because someone walked in and at the end right as we were finishing up someone walked in, but that means that I will be doing a follow up interview with her. I have to say, it was a lot of fun! Not to mention now as I walk around and hear all of the drama and everything floating around, I'm completely appaulled! I feel so bad when I say anything now cause I didn't think about it before, but now I do think before I say anything. You'd be amazed at what we say and why we say it when you hadn't thought about it before!

Reading Commentary

While I enjoy and benefit from Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes, I am perturbed by a few things associated with this book. Number one: verbosity. While detail is good, they often say things that could be reduced further or that add very little understanding. The words of my high school teachers come up; they are "saying" rather than "showing" in their less-informative bits. This frustration will motivate me to try to be considerately concise in writing my own mini-ethnography. (This blog entry will stand as a glaring sign of my ineptitude in this.)

I am taking special care in reading their notes about how to write an ethnography. I must say that I think it will be a great challenge for me to refrain from falling back on age-old thesis-related writing. I do feel comforted by the case scenarios, though, because my observations feeling like they are coming to naught- or at least are outside the scope of my original study questions.

This idea of first coding, then making memos is also new to me, though coding sounds a bit like AP English Literature writing excerpt analysis. Am I wrong in thinking this? Can we analyze our own choice of words? Can we add our feelings as we go along? Also, are memos essential? I see myself coding first then rolling ideas around in my head to make a narrative chunk of disparate parts. Then, I might go back around and refine the topics of these narrative chunks.

The idea of finding (or "creating") processes and not causes for behavior was new to me, though I should have known based on the title of certain courses at this very school (namely Social Patterns and Processes). I think I would like to discuss the idea of a process-based as opposed to a causation-based analysis in class.

Whoever read all this deserves a gold star!! :)

Research Update

This Friday I was only able to go in after hours, but there was still a fair amount of activity. The tone definitely was different, though. Perhaps nightfall did not help. Darkness outside only seems to make people want to rush home- surprisingly, no? The clinic employees, though ready to go, were still jocular and kind (something I cannot quite understand!).

It was an odd day for me due to class gyrations. I noticed that my altered mental state changed my perceptions a bit of the clinic, making me think with a bit more of a judgmental edge that I am not used to.

I had been hoping to hear more Spanish while I observe. Alas, whatever I do hear is but unintelligibly fast snippets. Even if I could understand, there would be little hope for me to be able to analyze it. The use of Spanish might still remain important, though, even if the spoken content has to be culled.

One last remark: field notes take a lot of time! I think I spent as much time writing field notes as participant observing.

Now, back to transcribing that interview....

IRB;; take three

So I feel like I've done a really good job with taking into consideration everything asked of me for this (hopefully) final revision of my IRB form. I'm all set to start interviews as soon as I hear back from them. I've made so much progress in terms of making contacts and having conversations with helpful individuals. It's been a frustrating but rewarding experience so far. I'm finding that much of what's written about in the Emerson book is completely applicable in my own work;; it's so much more involved than I anticipated. I'm enjoying it though! Hope everyone is well, and thanks for your time.

IRB and an Interview

I have submitted my IRB!! Hopefully I won't come across any problems!

Also, today I completed my first interview with Gene Davenport the executive director of The Georgetown Project! He provided me with a lot of useful information and he also gave me the contact information of several people within the community that are involved with the issue of homelessness. I finally feel like I am getting somewhere! :)

Home visit from the IRB

Hi all, two members of the SU IRB have agreed to come to our class and have a conversation about the specifics of IRB approval. I encourage you to ask specific and good questions, also thinking about future interactions you might have with them (for other projects, capstone or study abroad research, etc). I think it will be most interesting to figure out how ethnographic research specifically fits into the IRB scheme.

Dr. Adrian and Dr. Desmond will come on March 8, at 3:00. Be there or else.

things are looking up :)

Well, I have to admit I was a little discouraged yesterday. However, any doubt I had then has been negated by this morning... I completed my first interview! And it went really, really well.

I spoke with the preacher of the church I attend here in Georgetown, and he was more than happy to help, and gave me some incredible insights. I had been starting to think that my initial idea, how modern religious movements are affecting the church of Christ, was less valid than I thought. However, he knew exactly what I was talking about and was able to clarify a lot of issues and give me background info that I hadn't had access to yet. He also lent me three theology textbooks of his to do a little more research, and they've been fascinating reads from what little I've been able to read so far. AND he invited me to dinner with he and his wife (I've known both of them a long time, so it's not as awkward as it may seem...) to talk with her because she could give me a different perspective than he can.

All in all, things are going well. :) Now comes the daunting task of transcribing an hour and a half long interview....

My Cat

So,
In terms of reflecting about how I perceive pregnancy of others I was wondering if it would be possible to examine the treatment of my pregnant cat - she had babies about a week ago. I don't know if this is at all relevant or if involving the treatment of animals can say as much about culture and pregnancy as I think it can. Should I just record what I saw/what I felt and enacted? Thoughts?

IRB and Conference

Okay,
So I got my IRB back and it pretty much is along the same lines as the complaints that everryone else recieved.

1). Type of research not indicated.2). Concern over the extremely sensitive nature of the question (c) as written.3). Concern for coercion in the recruitment process for participants. We appreciate the three avenues to seeking participants but want more recognition that friends and family participants require more thought.3). The storage of e-mails from people who contact you to express interest, storage of consent forms. Also, storage of any materials should not remain on a personal computer regardless of whether it is locked in a home. Research materials should be stored in a professor's locked cabinet/office. In the situation where a professor is not tenured or is part-time, these materials should be stored in the department chair's office.4). The location of the interviews needs to be explained. The consent form provides more clarity of questions so move to the proposal, too. Also, need consent form for observation.5). You need to clarify how confidentiality will be protected, including storing identities and interview notes.6). Need to be more thoughtful about potential harm/risk to the participant for discussing medical care and current level of functioning as a pregnant body.7). Use the format of consent form on website for ease in reading.8). The time span for the interviews of 2.5 hours would be excessive in one interview session.10). The stated benefits are poorly articulated.11). Professor signature/name is not included suggesting a lack of review/approval.

These are the concerns: In regards to the first two, what the hell? Type of research not indicated? I'm not quite sure what that even means. And if 2.5 is too extensive, it says at a minimum. Why do I need to give details about things that I can not possibly anticipate - like interview time. Where do they think I'm going to conduct interviews? Some shady alley? It says wherever the informant wants to and I feel as though that gives them not only freedom, but affords the informant a greater level of comfort. I am still confused as to why I can't just be me representing myself versus representing SU.

BUTTTT....my abstract got accepted into the SWAA conference so that's exciting. I'm going to meet with Claudia on Friday to go over my abstract to go over my IRB. Can I go ahead and start anway? If not, are our portfolios submitted to the IRB once they're completed?

with friends like these, who needs the IRB?

I just got my first response from the IRB. Need I say more? Apparently my project lacks any purpose, direction, and clarity, and I am basically worthless as a human being.

That being said, my interview yesterday was bumped-- again-- to this morning and was subsequently snowed out until tomorrow morning.

Today is not a good day for me in the realm of ethnographic research.

IRB and Progress

So things are going half way decent thus far with my research project. I'm having issues with the IRB, however after the brief venting and complaining in class just now I feel confident that I'll be able to move forward and call this process a success. My work initially involved observation on site at the rehabilitation center in a South Austin Hospital. After struggling for the past few weeks in order to get a site letter for the IRB, I've decided equally beneficial observations can be made at outside events held by this program. I'm contemplating moving away from the organization and focusing more on various people and their experiences with disability. I haven't kept up with the blog as much as I should, but I always enjoy reading others entries and learning from their processes of research. It's always helpful and informative. Thanks everyone!

Scheduling

So, I was supposed to complete my fist interview of the weekend, but my interviewee made a scheduling mistake, so my little brother bumped me back in favor of a soccer game. I'm trying to reschedule a trip mid-week to make up some lost ground, but I'm not sure if it will work out.

But I have been researching the literature on my topic and there is a good bit more than I expected, which is really helpful, but I'm still waiting for them to come into the library.

Questions on Gossip

I've been working on a list of questions/topics to talk about in my interviews and was hoping that I could get some feed back on how they looked? I know that they need to be put in more simple language and be worked in rather than asked in order, but these are the things I'm interested in. Does it look like this is going to be too broad? Is there a way to make it more focussed? Thanks!

-What is gossip? Define what consitutes gossip and what isn't (I'm thinking of trying to get a small group together for this to discuss it and see different opinions and what people agree on when they're together. I'm just not sure how to pick the people to be in the small group... If it's people who know each other they'll probably be friends and think alike, if I chose people who don't know each other they may feel uncomfortable...)
-What is gossip used for? (Bonding, entertainment, etc. This will probably be more broad since there's no way to lead them to chose a word without feeding them a work as an example)
-Why gossip? (another just like the above)
-What are the situations in which people gossip?
-Why do people enjoy gossip?
-Who is talked about and who does the talking? Is it everyone on campus or only certain groups? Who gossips? explain why/example (In talking to some people in class I realized that pretty much everything I hear is about a member of Greek life as I am, so I was wondering if there was a distinct difference in who hears gossip on who based on what they're involved in... seems pretty obvious but I'd never really thought about it)
-Where do you hear the most gossip? Is it private or public?
-When is the most common time to hear gossip? When do people want to talk about other people? ( I know most of the time when you get together with friends you will pretty much always bring up some form of gossip and I want to know why, but I honestly can't explain why I do it so I think this would be really hard to get an answer to... it also relates to "why gossip" from earlier)
-How is gossip spread? How does thsi affect people and the community? (How it changes people's views on ideas, people, etc)
-What is the correlations between rumours and gossip? (the game "telephone" is a good example of how I think it works because the truth can get mangled by gossip, but that's a personal opinion) Do you think there's a difference between spreading rumours and gossip? What is the difference and does it matter or are the affects the same? Is gossip typically accurate or is it distorted information? What is the danger of gossip?
-Southwestern has a "Mouthwestern" shirt, does this encourage or just condone the spread of gossip? Why do we think that gossip is unique enough to Southwestern to name it?

I didn't realize how much that was until I wrote it out so I'm thinking that I may need to cut a bit, and if you could give me any help, that would be amazing because I have an interview lined up for tomorrow afternoon after class so I'd like a pretty strong base for what I'd like to say. Thanks!

Visual Culture

The readings were very interesting. It struck me how often visual metaphors were unintentionally evoked in the reading and even in my mind as I read. The isolation of visual aspects of "reality", culture, and other aspects of or issues addressed by ethnography does indeed some problematic.

For my project, I do not see (no pun intended) the analysis of visual culture playing a prominent part. While the images produced and used by the staff and their bosses have entered my observations, taking photographs or videos would not be appropriate and probably not very helpful given my focus.

The idea to "shar[e]...agency" between the researcher and "the researched" (a problematically structured sentence, I realize) struck me as at once novel and then as a incredibly obvious. (Such a consideration delves into the purpose of anthropology, which seems even more nebulous than the definition of "ethnography", "culture" or "visual culture". In any case, I do hope to include the wishes and needs of my subjects. I feel as if I am working for them, telling their story. I hope that is not an improper angle.

Trying to pin-down visual culture may prove problematic to the point of being unproductive. As with any other source of information about this grander, truer reality (which seems the aim of all academic study to elucidate without suffering the blindness of the man that became wise in Plato's Allegory of the Cave). While reflexivity and ethical issues must be addressed, the author made a great point: the utility of image-capturing tools depends on everything from the projected identity of the researcher to the culture that is being studied.

More on this later after some mulling.

Updates

I have emailed the director of The Georgetown Project and am now just awaiting his reply so I can set up times for an interview and observations. Thanks to Matt Kamas, I now will be able to get in contact with a member of Project Sarah. I plan to call her tomorrow to see if she would be interested in being interviewed.

In the meantime I have been working on my IRB which I plan to submit this Tuesday as well as the interview questions for my first interview.

It seems that things are coming along and I think I have decided to see how different organizations in Georgetown approach homelessness instead of specifically The Georgetown Project. I think it would be interesting to compare the different methods they use. What do you guys think?

Interviews

I have told both of my Spanish professors about my project and they have ok'd it. I will let both classes know about my project this week and begin to observe. I've kind of already started observing and taking notes, but I don't know if it counts because I haven't disclosed anything to my classes. Maybe I can just use that as practice for future observations?

I also know who I want to interview and have confirmed with two (one native Spanish speaker and one non-native Spanish speaker) of four people. I'm off to a slow start because I have been busy with other things, but I will definitely get this going at a much faster pace this week!

One down....

Hello friends.

While I would say that on the whole I feel comfortable with my progress with the project, I am a bit worried about some details of my research.

I feel relatively on schedule when it comes to what I am doing to cover the bases: I am conducting weekly participant observation, I am emailing those I would like to interview, and I have announced my research intentions to most of my subjects (the ones who escaped my grasp were in and out). I conducted my first interview this Saturday morning with the clinic manager from the clinic where I worked. I hope to receive a word back from the front desk manager soon. I will try to ascertain a third interview as well, hopefully with the general practitioner at this clinic. I finally caught up with my field notes as well this weekend, which feels great and did bring up some more questions and ideas for me to address in the coming weeks.

But the devil is in the details. I wonder if I am allowing myself enough exposure and access to be able to obtain a truly deep understanding in a very specific question. My question is still in the works of being defined, but I am not sure if it will come together given my work so far. Also, the transcription process is more tedious and frustrating than I realized. As much as I would like it ready for tomorrow, this will be an impossibility if quality is a concern. I would also like some more time to think about the interview before I return to it and listen to the specific contents of our talk. I expect my mind to draw out important elements as time passes, and I would like to see how those compare to a second hearing.

Please forgive the minutia of this report. Urgh.

Talk of the readings will soon follow...and I should have some visual documents to talk about!

First interview

So I completed my first interview. I found a person to interview in the Austin area which will be nice to compare to my phone interviews. The interview itself went very well. The girl that I interviewed was so open and honest, she genuinely wanted me to know everything I possibly could about the situation. After the interview was over she called her parents (who currently live in Juarez) to see if she missed anything or if there was any new news from this week. I am currently working on transcribing the interview. I also had the idea of interviewing people that had grown up in El Paso, the reason for this is because I have encountered more recently former El Paso residents in the Austin area and many of them have been effected by the violence in Juarez. I would really like thoughts on that but that would allow me to do several more interviews in person which would really be nice.

lemons

As much as I love my interviewees, their scheduling skills are a little sketchy. I have had to reschedule my formal interviews for early March, so I don't have anything recorded just yet. However, while I am behind schedule in that, I am increasingly determined to get them accomplished in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I am working on doing somewhat of a self-interview to turn in with the rest of my materials tomorrow. I think we've talked a little about reflexivity in class - as Pink says - "ethnography is a process of creating and representing ethnographers' own experiences" (Pink, Ch. 1, p. 2).

As a skater myself, it's hard to make my account of roller derby an objective one so I want to further explore my own personal feelings about this sport as well. I think that will help me with my other interviews - I will hopefully be more aware of my own personal viewpoints and opinions - hopefully this will prevent me from trying to steer the questions in a particular fashion, etc.

interviews

So I've completed my first interview and started to transcribe it. One thing I'd say is that I for sure underestimated the transcription procedure. Thus far it's taken me around an hour of transciption for ten to fifteen minutes of interview. I't fun though to go back and listen to what people say. I wasn't aware how much people contradict themselves until I went back and got a chance to look at it. Themese kinda pop out at you and the entire process is like a huge review. Although tedious, I think it's helpful. It does suck to hear myself on tape though. I wasn't aware of how horriblu inarticulate I was. I guess I can work on that. Although the first interview was rough, I'm confident that my second one will be a lot better. I'm going to shoot for longer more detailed answers on behalf of my interviewee.

basketball game summary

Upon walking into the stadium and seeing the crowd and the teams, I realized that athletics are one of the rare places at Southwestern that you’ll find diversity. I was struck by the percentage of African American non student fans there were compared to the number of African American players on the team. As the game started, an interesting series of events started to unfold. Although I can’t speak for the entire crowd, I was able to hear my friends and two parties, one of which was primarily comprised of African Americans and one of which was about half African American, behind me. The first thing I noticed was that although everyone was cheering pretty hard for the team as a whole, the people around me would erupt when the starting African American point guard was given the ball. The African American kids behind me knew his name, only his name, and insisted that he shoot the ball every time he got it. The adults seemed disappointed every time he passed it away, voicing their sentiments for him publicly. This may, in part, be because the point guard is very short, a senior, or a variety of other reasons but as I looked around I saw the same response from most of the African American players in the crowd. His parents or at least I assume they were his parents, were surrounded by African Americans who seemed to live and die every time he touched the ball. Although I was very aware of it, I don’t think it was something that was noticeable to the untrained eye. Halftime brought more entertainment. The athletes of the year were announced, the African American point guard and a white female golfer, and they came to the center of the court to get their trophies. After posing for pictures with their family, they exchanged what may have been the most awkward hug I’ve ever witnessed. This could be because the girl was dressed up and our point guard was sweaty and shorter than her, but the crowd seemed to think it was for other reasons. A man behind me said something along the lines of, “oh man did you see how scared that boy was to hug that girl. Haha. Man black guys just need to learn to squeeze white girls.” Although it was funny for all members of the crowd, it seemed a bit odd for two reasons. First of all why would hugging each other be something that the two athletes decided to do if they weren’t comfortable with it? My guess is that they felt pressure from the crowd to create a picture perfect moment of that it was something that they were told to do. Secondly, was the crowd’s response legitimate and why did only the African Americans react to it? Was the point guard scared to hug the white girl in front of a crowd? It seemed as though most of the white members didn’t see anything unnatural about it but it elicited quite a response out of the African American crowd.

Last Week

Last week I attended the Salon @ Wildfire which had to do with homelessness in Georgetown. The speaker was Gene Davenport, one of the directors of The Georgetown Project. It was a really interesting talk because I was able to see the community's response to the issue. I took many notes and I got a chance to talk to him afterwards. He seemed willing to participate in interviews so I just need to schedule an interview now. I might be getting somewhere finally! :)

technical difficulties

well, my recent clash with technology has reached an all-time high. looking back through the posts, i just realized that my last three posts have not been posted, nor can i find any record of having written them on my computer or my blog-homepage-thing. great.

but anyways, things have been going fairly well with my project. i've been attending the two churches on alternating sundays that i'm going to do my participant observations at, and began jotting down notes. i've found that i can do this fairly unobtrusively if i try to make it look like i'm taking notes of the sermons, such as only writing anything when a new point is displayed on the powerpoint. i've also been in contact with my two interviewees, and am in the process of deciding a time for the interviews that will work for them. that's about it, i might have my first interview later this week, and i'll update y'all on how that goes. :)

Interview problem

I have just made contact with one of my interviewees. He said he would be happy to do an interview with me, but he is very busy and asked to have two, shorter, separate interviews, rather than one long one. Have any of your interviewees requested this? I feel that it could very easily go better, because I would have more time to formulate my second line of questions, that respond to the answers, but I worry about losing track and the second interview being a repeat of the first. What do you think?

Actually

What do you guys think about doing an ethnography project looking at how "Mouthwestern" works? Sort of a comparison to how the game Telephone worked when we were little? I'm not really sure how I'd do participant observation on that, but it could be interesting? And I know that a lot of people have a lot to say about it because we've all been affected by it at some point. The only problem I foresee with doing a project on "Mouthwestern" is that the outcome I feel would be really obvious since we all know what it is and basically what it does. Would it be too lame to chose something like that? I'm thinking that maybe I could listen to conversations in the cafeteria to see what people are talking about and if it's about other students (which would be evidence of the "Mouthwestern" subculture?), or would that not be okay because I'm supposed to inform the people that I'm studying about what I'm doing. I know we talked about how people fall back into old habits fast, but if I chose to study a group of friends since I feel like they'd be more likely to let me eaves drop on them, do I have to explicitly tell them that I'm trying to see if they are gossiping or not?

Crisis!

So apparently none of my emails to our prof have gotten through and my email for my IRB form didn't go thru because they aren't in my outbox and I haven't gotten a reply from anyone, so now I'm on a quest to find a new topic that I can do on campus that doesn't require an IRB form. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm more or less hitting panic mode since I'd set everything up for my other one and my email is just not functioning... Thanks!

Interviews

I have been working on finding the people I can interview so that I can begin my first interview this week and so far I have three people, each has given me a little background information that helped me select them. One lives in Juarez but works in El Paso, and has actually began staying with a friend in El Paso during the week to avoid going home because the violence makes her nervous. The second moved to El Paso last year when the violence began peaking, and they admitted that they did move because of the violence, and had the violence been less they would have stayed in Juarez. The third person comes from a prominent family in Juarez. she was actually kidnapped and held for ransom for several weeks. The interesting thing was that these people were randomly selected, yet each has had a personal experience with the violence in Juarez. My first interview will be with the third person I described and should be some time this week. It will have to be a telephone interview because she resides in Juarez and I can't go down there to interview at this point in time.

The Readings...

It may be drawing close to the eleventh hour (quite literally), but I am going to go ahead and comment on some of the readings after I have had some time to synthesize my reading.

In "Discourse-Centered Methods", I found several ideas quite striking. While the theory about cultur and self construction through speech and "signifying acts" seemed really intriguing, I could not see how to apply such thought to my research. The examples where discourse centered methods were used seemed to occur in more traditional anthropological research sites: distant lands populated by people quite foreign to the researchers. While I would like to look at how accent and code shifting may be important in "interactive performance of identity".

I cannot say that I fully understand the following excerpt:

"When...persons are viewed instead as causally empowered embodied agents with unique powers and capacities for making meaning, discursive practices emerge as the means by which social action, cultural knowledge, and social institutions are achieved and enacted."

From the "Structured Interviewing and Questionnaire Construction" reading, I hope to apply a few pointers. The question format seems most prescient (e.g. combining open-ended and rating questions, choosing words exactly, making comparisons between certain groups to elicit more detailed responses). I do not think that I will have much time to do an extensive "general information" questioning session. Might I be able to apply this structure to individuals, though? Through the course of the interview, I intend to move from broad to more exact questions, adapting questions as I go along according to what I hear and see. Based on the first reading, it seems a good idea to note body language while informants respond to questions.

Most applicable to my intended method of questioning, the "Person-Centered Interviewing and Observation" article had some good pointers and contextual notes. Its recognition of the need to be ready to move away from the "mechanical" or "cookbook" instructions was also comforting. I have taken special note of the need to treat the interviewee as both "informant" and "respondent".

On the whole, the articles were a bit dry but still intriguing because their topics were relatively foreign to me.

Chugging along....

Though I have done some research into the literature, I have already commented on it and I will rather choose to comment on my field experience from last week.

I have encountered some problem with field notes. It seems whenever I return with a notebook of jotted notes from volunteering, I am immediately inundated by distractions (e.g. the need for food) that lead me to put off my full field notes. I fear the loss of important details and data. So, this week, I strive to be better about this! I plan to volunteer again either Wednesday or Friday afternoon and I will be sure to block off at least an hour after I return for uninterrupted field note writing.

My last observation session occurred on a Friday this week. I had a chance to notice the more personalized possessions of the employees as they were leaving (e.g. purses, coats, even Valentine goody bags). I heard them talk about weekend and Valentine's Day plans, which definitely added dimension to some of the characters I have already become aware of. So far I do not have much analytical insights other than the fact that junk food is accepted in the clinical midst and that casual Friday is mainly observed by the positions on the lower rungs of the secretarial hierarchy. I am beginning to wonder if my background will blind me to unique aspects of work in the clinical setting. I practically grew up in a health clinic, so the rhythm and the long hours even after the door shuts are not too strange to me. I am banking that my lack of familiarity with this clinic will make me hypersensitive to what might be interesting observations. Perhaps most productively, I spoke with the clinic manager some more. I was able to start to ask her questions about changes that were occurring in the clinic (e.g. the redistribution of doctors to other clinics in the same network). In her explanation, she revealed a bit more about her own philosophy about healthcare. We have also started talking about setting up an interview date.

On top of late field note writing, I have another admission: I have not made it clear to everyone at the clinic what I am studying. Because I work rather individually and because I do not sense the "warm and fuzzies" from some of them (especially the front desk manager), I have been hesitant to approach them. Further complicating the matter, the 5 people I work most closely with never stop- they are always running around working. I really do not want to get in the way of their jobs. Also, they are not always all there. While I would prefer talking to everyone in a big group, I think I might write a general letter or email which the clinic manager could send out. I will email the clinic manager for her thoughts while scheduling our interview.

My goals for this week are to break into the clinical side of the office and to spend some more time there this Friday (preferably until they kick me out). Even if it means just setting an appointment for an interview with a nurse or doctor, I would be happy.

Documentary notes

Here are some of my notes from my viewing of Hell on Wheels:

The original name of the roller derby company - it started out as a for-profit - was "Bad Girl, Good Woman" - I thought that was a neat name

Roller derby is Austin definitely started out much more campy and raunchy - fights were encouraged and there were a few choreographed hits. Elbowing, pulling, pushing, shoving, etc. were all included. Some of the founders talked about how, in the beginning, marketing and profits were really important. Sex sold for roller derby and girls "behaving badly" definitely drew in a crowd. However, many of the skaters voiced concerns or addendums to that statement- saying that they also wanted it to be about the skating and the superior athleticism. "We want them to say 'damn they skate good, not just damn, they look good'" - paraphrase

They talked about the fine line between sexy and slutty - another skater also talked about the problematic dichotomy that is often made between expressing sexuality/sex appeal and being a feminist.

Texas rollergirls have come a long way since their inception - the rules are now WFTDA (Women's Flat Track Derby Association) sanctioned and fights are a thing of the past. Usually. They don't have the "penalty wheel" anymore - This foul system was a fun idea but it had some interesting options such as:

"Sold to the highest bidder" - the skater has to go on a date with whatever audience member bids the highest
"Spank alley" - she bends over and skates past the audience while they spank her - sometimes that got reversed however, and the skater got to spank the audience...
"Jackass" - this one was neat - the skater had to wear a set of donkey ears over her helmet for the next jam

Bibliography sample

Hey everybody - here's the rough draft of my bibliography that I've come up with - these are just a few of the sources so far:

Hell on Wheels. Dir. Bob Ray. IndiePix, 2009. DVD.
This is a pretty great documentary by an Austin filmmaker - I think it's a really good introduction to how women's roller derby was revitalized and reinvented in Austin. It was only released last year but the filming took place over about five years. I skate with/am trained by several of the women interviewed in this documentary - I'm really hoping to get to record some of their current thoughts and opinions.

Rollergirls - The Complete Season One. Dir. Dan Brown. Sunset Home Visual Entertainment (SHE) / A&E Home Video, 2006. DVD.
The series focuses on players from the Texas-based TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls - I haven't seen this yet but I'm interested to see how roller derby is presented in this series. I'm expecting it to be useful to compare and contrast the two Austin roller derby leagues where I can. They play a pretty different game than we do however - bank track derby is intense..

Coppage, Keith. Roller Derby to RollerJam: The Authorized Story of an Unauthorized Sport. Square, 1999. Print.
I found this book at the library - it looks like it might have some good history, visuals, and personal accounts in it.

Joulwan, Melissa. Rollergirl Totally True Tales from the Track. New York: Touchstone, 2007. Print.
This is a book written by Melicious - a retired Texas rollergirl. She was one of the founding members of the new league and it looks like it could have some useful information in it - "complete with photos and suggestions on how to develop a Rollergirl name and persona, this unprecedented tell-all comes from the woman who's watched the sport evolve from an underground Friday-night event to a bona fide national phenomenon."

I'm also looking into articles on feminist theory - I have some suggestions and leads that I'm still going through as of now. Hope you're all doing well!

sorry for the second post today

Also--just for clarification, what are the readings for this week? I'm sort of lost with where we are on the syllabus. Thanks for your time!!

IRB; Revisions Requested

So I got the IRB submitted on Monday night and it felt GREAT. However, the board asks that I make some changes and include a written site letter from the organization I am working with. All and all though, I feel like I'm on my way! What are other peoples experiences with the IRB? Has anyone else had to make corrections?

I also got my abstract in Monday--does anyone know when we hear anything about that?

Frustration

I have been trying to get a hold of Zelinda Richards and the director of Project SARAH and I have been unsuccessful. I think I am going to have to switch my project to working with the Georgetown project. I feel pretty behind because I won’t be able to turn in my IRB until the next review date.

However I am trying to stay on track by doing a lot of background research. I found a book called Out of Sight, Out of Mind which is about homelessness in small town America. This book will be very helpful in my research.

Permission to Observe

This is a quick update on observations or rather lack thereof. I asked my professor on Wednesday if she would allow for me to observe in class and she was delighted about my project idea. I forgot to mention that I would need to let the class know -- I will do so on Monday. Since my T/Th Spanish class was canceled today due to the Brown Symposium, I have yet to talk to my other professor about my project. I will do so immediately.

Also, I have decided whom I will interview from both classes and I will have them sign the necessary consent forms this upcoming week. Hopefully the initial awkwardness subsides soon after I disclose my intentions.

I found an interesting article today on JSTOR titled, Language and Space, which considers language as an "'everyday' spatial concept" and its relation to cognition. I found it interesting because it relates the way our mind works and how we frame "our" world through the everyday use of language and frames of references in our culture. The following paragraph further describes the concept:

It was suggested...that cognition is the intermediate variable between
language and other aspects of culture. Thus we would expect specializations in cognitive style-correlated with spatial language to surface in other cultural manifestations (Levinson 376).

One's use of language is the result of the prominent frame of references our language makes prominent. I think that it is safe to say that when learning a new language, adapting to a different frame of reference can be a bit difficult. Maybe this is where native speakers have a cultural advantage? I hope this makes sense!

basketball

I've decided that the social dynamic among team sports varies significantly and thus I'm going to focus on basketball, both professional and nonprofessional, in my ethnography. Although I'm disappointed I can't cover a variety of sports I realize that there are some sports that are more classed than others (tennis), some that are more ethnicized than others (cricket, american football) and some more racialized than others (basketball). As far as I know the NBA is the most diverse american sporting league with nearly 40% of its members being of foreign descent. I've contacted my two interviewees and now have to get them their consent forms and start coming up with interview questions.

I planned to ask Su Feminist Voices how they define feminism at the meeting. There were very few people there, most of them my close friends, so I decided to wait till next week or so to ask the question. I want a larger group, so that I can see how people develop and articulate their own ideas with a larger, often interrupting audience.
I am also finding many articles on the subject of negative stereotypes surrounding feminism.

Topic Analysis

I'm currently working on my topic analysis (aren't we all?) and I'm just pretty much trying to break things down as far as questions go. I have the who, what, when, where, how and why, now I just need to put it all together in some sort of coherent paragraph form. I'll have copies tomorrow for all to read.

Thus far, I am becoming more interested in the use of oral language and it's ability to either join people into groups or act as a pulling force. Maybe it would be a good idea to incorporated literature on how spaces are created by language?

2/7/10

Some field-notes thus far:

Roller derby is pretty well-known for the great outfits/uniforms we get to come up with - our bouts are definitely a fun time to dress up a little. In our rec league, we come up with different team themes for each big game - Senoritas de los muertos, Rockabilly Rumblers, Naughty Ninjas, and so forth. However, during practice, most of us wear shorts and a t-shirt - nothing too elaborate - comfort and flexibility are key. It's interesting though - a fair share of the new girls definitely start out in the league "wearing the part" - brand new skates, crazy tights, makeup, and fancier outfits. Yet it doesn't usually take too long for the newer skaters to start wearing work-out clothes that are a little more practical (i.e. stuff they don't mind getting sweat all over.)

I think this might say something about the image of roller derby - from the outside it may be perceived as more about appearance and sexualized-show, but when it comes down it, I think a lot of us wear short skirts or shorts largely because they're easier to skate in...However - I'm interested to explore this some more. We don't have set uniforms in the rec or professional league - the outfits can range from glittery spandex to jean shorts and a t-shirt.

And thanks for your comment Amanda! I think it's a really interesting debate - what does it mean for women to "reclaim their sexuality"? What does that look like? How does one go about that? It's something I'm definitely looking forward to discussing and learning more about through my ethnography.

Okay so I am in the middle of writing my project proposal and have not yet done my IRB. However, in writing the proposal and the analysis it has helped me to develop my idea further as well as got me thinking about some insights and different aspects of my project. In the last class I discussed doing a project surrounding homelessness in Austin so as to provide insight into class constructions. However, I have come to the realization that this topic is not as feasible as I would have liked because I am currently carless (that is not careless mispelled). Because of this, I spoke with Claudia last week and have decided to research the ways in which the epistmological knowledge surrounding pregnancy is utilized as a system of power and that because of this the knowledge of women's bodies by women themselves is devalued and the learned knowledge of doctors, some of whom might inhabit these bodies, is placed at a higher value. My original plan was to somehow view the doctor patient relationships between OBGYNs and their patients BUT given the timeline of the semester, this is incredibly unfeasible. Not only would I have to obtain permission from the hospital and the doctors but I would imagine that patients may not be the most willing participants and if they were they would most likely act differently than they would if I were removed from the situation. Having said that, in the process of writing my project proposal I have come to a standstill. I have NO idea where to conduct the participant observation part of my project. I would like to observe the ways both the public internalizes this learned knowledge as well as their perception of pregnant women. I could go to a clinic and observe in the waiting room or I could go to a mall or I could follow a pregnant woman around for a few days. If anyone could give me a helpful suggestion for this I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

Topic Analysis - what & why

Hey everybody - here's the topic analysis that I have landed on thus far, I'll bring in some copies for tomorrow as well:

For my ethnography, my goal is to learn more about women’s flat track roller derby and how this sport contributes toward the discussion of contemporary American feminism. Through actively researching and participating in the Texas Rollergirl’s Recreational league, I intend to explore how roller derby relates to issues of female sexuality, athleticism, and empowerment. Through this study, I intend to learn more about what this sport means to my fellow skaters and how it has influenced their everyday lives and identities. Through comparing and contrasting these findings with mainstream perceptions and portrayals, I hope to raise further awareness about this sport and generate discussion concerning the role of roller derby in the current-day American feminist movement.

So I have narrowed my new topic down. I am now looking at how the crime in Juarez affects the residents. I will be interviewing current residents of Juarez as well as people that have recently moved from Juarez. I got this idea when I found out the mayor of Juarez does not live in there because of the crime but instead lives in El Paso, Texas. I have finished my IRB form and project proposal for it, I just need to narrow down the questions I will be asking so as not to make the people I am interviewing feel uncomfortable.

Interviews...

So I was thinking about what to say on my IRB form and am currently trying to come up with the best way to interview people. I feel like interviewing people at a party may make for some interesting answers and probably a whole lot more truth than I'd get after the fact, but I'm pretty sure there's some legality issues with having people sign releases while under the influence, so I'm not sure how to go about my interview process? I was thinking of maybe getting in touch with people the day after the party to do interviews on how they percieve the differences between Greek and non-Greek participation in Greek parties, but I'm not sure if that'll be very accurate... or if I'll be able to get a hold of people the day after a party. What would be the best way of going about this? Thanks!