My Bad

I will delete this and repost on Monday morning.

I don't have Chosen with me, and although it seems like I was told, I didn't realize I would be using it for my TIPRR. I have seen it, but I should probably watch it again before making an "official theoretic reading."

Sorry if this will throw everyone off, but I will try and post early Monday morning.

TIPRR 9--The one that's forever long...SORRY

It is so very interesting to me to see the difference between two theories that are so very closely named-it's obvious that the transition from one to the other was a bit more reactionary than it was progressive.

To be honest, when it comes to post-structuralism, I think that I'd feel more like a teacher who's looking for flaws in the author's tense, continuity, and pronoun agreement rather than a theorist who is unleashing the power of the text itself. Maybe I just haven't gotten my head around the "decentered" universe yet...I'm going to make some serious efforts in that area before my presentation on Tuesday, I promise.

Structuralism makes a bit more sense to me, but truthfully, it's a bit uncomfortable simply because as a lit teacher, I want to analyze the so-called egg! Taking a look at the chicken is great, but I REALLY like the egg and looking at it is so much more natural for me. So, here goes my attempt...feel free to correct and or mock.



In looking at a text from a structuralist point of view, there seem to be a variety of approaches one can pursue. Barthes identified five specific codes that can be used when examining a text: the proairetic code, the hermeneutic code, the cultural code, the semic code, and the symbolic code. These don't seem to be the only way of approaching a text using structuralism, however, and so in looking at Ang Lee's Chosen, I chose to be a bit more general, looking for the "underlying universal narrative structure" while still maintaining the conventions of a car commercial.

In examining Chosen, it is very clear that this is not your "typical" automobile advertisement-the length alone makes that obvious. In addition, you lack the typical "watch-the-car-go-as-the-voice-over-waxes-eloquent-about-its-many-fabulous-features" element. Rather, what you have is a film, and it's one that follows a very typical narrative structure in a very small amount of time.



Basic (VERY basic) narrative structure begins with an exposition, which sets up the characters and setting. In Chosen, once the credits have finished, the exposition takes all of about 23 seconds. Characters: boy and driver. Setting: stock/ship yard of some sort. In typical narrative structure, towards the end of the exposition you get a "call to action" which often introduces the main conflict of the narrative. In Chosen, the boy is handed over to the driver, thus intimating the call to action--get him where he needs to be safely, and the boy hands the driver a box stating that "It’s for later," indicating that what’s inside may be useful at a later time.

The next section, rising action, often consumes much of the rest of the text itself. It is in this section that the texts builds in suspense, the characters facing challenge after challenge, some of which move them toward the goal, and some of which are hindrances to progress. In Chosen, the rising action of the narrative consists of the car chase within the stockyard. The driver is able to maneuver his one (white) vehicle around the three (dark) vehicles of his opponents in his efforts to protect the boy. While they are shot at, it's not until they are completely trapped that one bullet is able to make it inside of the car. (But, he's able to anticipate the shot and tell the boy to duck just in time.) The challenge of being trapped gives the impression of being the ultimate climax, and the driver is able to conquer the opponent by using his BMW as a battering ram.

The climax of a typical narrative structure is the moment in which the culmination of events creates the peak of the conflict--it's the big battle between good and evil. The "I'm trapped; let's use my car as a battering ram" incident may initially seem to be the climax of Chosen, but it is not. This occurs when the driver arrives at the "safe house" to drop off the boy and the boy recognizes (from the black cowboy boots) that this man is not a good guy. So, yet again, the Driver must battle the bad guy--this time with fists, after scaling the outside wall and entering the room just as the boy is about to be shot with some neon pink liquid. THIS is the true climax of Chosen, the rescuing of the boy from the awful fate, in the nick of time.

Falling action shows the result of the climax, in this case, the spinning apparatus and the visual connection between the driver and the boy. And the denoument, or falling action, is the narrative's conclusion. In Chosen, this is done with the driver's return to the car and the box that is sitting in the passenger's seat. By opening the box and finding a bandage, the creator of this text is able to tie up the loose ends regarding the box's contents, as well as demonstrate just how close the driver came to meeting his own doom.

This text, in its limited time, follows the universal narrative structure, and thereby appeals to our sensibilities as consumers of stories. By doing this, Ang Lee and company are still able to sell us their product--the BMW. As you watch the film, it becomes clear that the driver has, by far, the superior vehicle. Not only is it white (a symbol for goodness) while the others are dark, but he is able to drive circles around them (literally), showing off the power of the car. By making the rising action of the narrative consist of mostly car chasing, BMW is able to show off their stuff, much like any other car commercial. Therefore, I, personally, think that while the structure is that of a narrative, this film still maintains advertising conventions. (And why wouldn't it? After all, isn't the ultimate point to sell cars?)

Okay--now I need your feedback...am I way off base on this structuralism thing, or am I on the right track? Again-so sorry for the length.

TIPRR 9 - In which Michael Bay makes a brief appearance

So, as far as I understand it, the goal of this TIPRR is to show how Structuralism (or Post-Structuralism, but I'm not feeling decentered today, so I choose Structuralism) operates in Ang Lee's Chosen, thereby demonstrating that I am on my way to understanding what Structuralism does and how it works. So, here goes.

As I understand it, Structuralists assert that no texts have meaning in isolation, but rather, that we understand them (and create them!) only by understanding societal and language codes. Our reality is made up of a system of codes, and each text is merely one iteration (parole) of the larger code at work (langue (which my spell check suggests should be "languish". Apparently blogger also has a difficult time with theory)). To me, a discussion of Structuralism and film naturally leads to a discussion of IMR--Institutionalized Modes of Representation--and how these codes function to shape our interpretation of the text. For example, in American film (and most other films...) we as viewers and practitioners have agreed to a code of editing that says that it's okay that in just three shots we move from dock/parking lot to bridge/highway to house. When we cut to these places, we do not believe that each of these things are connected to each other, we understand that Clive Owen is on a journey. The cut signifies time passing. This is not inherent to the cut--we could have decided that every moment needed to be concretely represented--but it is how the language codes operate within film.

So, when looking at Chosen through our Structuralist glasses, we first need to identify what coding systems operate here. We could go into great detail about specific editing codes, but there are codes that operate even more generally. I want to look at Chosen through two generally accepted and understood codes: as an action film, and as an advertisement.

This film relies on many codes of the action film (and of melodrama, which go together more often than you would think) for the viewer to construct meaning. To do this, the film employs a series of oppositions, resting mostly in good/bad (chosen/not chosen?) For example, from the get-go we understand that Clive Owen is the good guy because he's driving a light car and the bad guys are driving dark cars (white hat/black hat), but we are also to understand that Clive Owen isn't a sissy do-gooder--that's no white linen suit he's wearing. He's good, but he's not afraid to bash some heads. We look at this car chase (in which Clive Owen is the good driver, and all the others are bad drivers) in the context of other car chases; we understand that the chase has bigger stakes than just driving around, because other car chases in other films have similar stakes. Frankly, I'm surprised no cars blew up, but I guess this is Ang Lee not Michael Bay. When the boy arrives at the house, he notices the fragmented character of the evil monk--monk's clothing with cowboy boots? POINTY BLACK cowboy boots? It's gotta be a bad guy--and with a meaningful look lets Clive Owen know that this is not a good guy. All this is communicated with no dialogue--Lee is relying purely on pre-established codes in order to create meaning.

When discussing Structuralism and fashion, Barry points out that often times fashion will break established codes in a knowing way in order to make a statement (46). Examining Chosen as an advertisement leads me to believe that this is entirely what BMW was interested in when it commissioned all of these films. While including staples of the conventional car ad--showcasing the car's superior handling abilities, strong safety features, lush interiors--it dispels with narration and sales figures in favor of telling a story. The fundamental code is still, "I want you to buy this car," but BMW ditches traditional modes of communicating that message in favor of this one: "This car is cool." We still have to know and understand car commercials in order to understand how different this film is, and to begin to understand for what purpose it might be different.

Okay, I'm already at 700 words so I should probably end this. I think that Structuralism is cool and interesting and useful, and I think that Post-Structuralism is cool but I do wonder a little bit what good it actually does anyone. Post-Structuralism seems a bit like a person who consistently points out problems yet does nothing to attempt to fix them. Who does it help to deconstruct and decenter everything? Maybe I'm not giving Post-Structuralism credit, but it seems like a theory-person's way of saying, "Forget You Universe! There's no truth anywhere!" (I thought of several other possibilities for that first phrase, and then decided to make it BYU appropriate). Maybe there are other cool things that I haven't seen yet about Post-Structuralism that will make it seem more helpful.

tiprr 8

Recurrent Ideas #3:
“Language itself conditions, limits, and predetermines what we see.” Nothing is just “there” because we construct everything through a language. In media terms, everything is coded and interpreted by the writer and reader. Meaning is intended and implied by the author or unintended and inferred by the reader.

“Language doesn’t record reality, it shapes and creates it, so that the whole of our universe is textual”

Therefore an experience can’t be recreated, no matter the mode, without significant “problems.” But, I don’t think there are really problems per se. It is just interpretations. Some may value Realism over the Impressionism art movement because their values can be argued.

If we had a holodeck that could show us a perfect recreation of an event, would it replace all art? Of course not.

We tell the same stories over and over again, and not just the same theme, but also quite literally the same story. Is there a definitive Hamlet? Which actor is the best at portraying James Bond? I don’t think we would ever find the “best” one and then stop. But these are fictional characters.

Jesse James has been portrayed in a lot of film.
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0000001/

Here is an example of Joan of Arc.
http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0027188/

What if it was a less romantic character?
Alyssa Milano, Drew Barrymore, and Noelle Parker are played Amy Fisher in TV movies 1992 or 1993. I think this would be really interesting to view the news coverage of this story and ask why we retold this story we all knew and how did the filmmakers do it differently? The results may be less artistic and more financial.

Who has played Adolf Hitler, C. S. Lewis, George Washington, Richard Nixon, Pablo Picasso, John Quincy Adams, and will play Alfred Hichcock in a film next year?

A Leavisite-style reading Sister Knowles’ “If I Were a Boy”
(Side note: Did anyone listen to the BC Jean version?)
This type of reading is driven by the moral convictions without taking form, structure, genre, etc. into consideration.

I wonder if we will read “I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl!” in class.
Beyoncé is saying that men should not be able to get away with behavior simply because it is typical of their sex. Who is letting loved ones get away with unacceptable behavior. Here is post from youtube under the video:

“soberbob0911
I think most attractive cops can't help it...they are always in positions that put them into meeting other attractive persons ...the cop's spouse should know what they're getting into, either sex. Just from what I've seen with cops I know.”

Are there a lot of attractive criminals? I really just wanted to post that because of one phrase he uses, which might be my most hated phrase: can’t help it. That is one of the major purposes of me being here on earth: to learn to help it. Stereotypes and gender roles should not limit us.
Why do we let ourselves off the hook with such a mentality as to suggest we can’t do anything other than the what is currently appealing?

I am way over the 500 words and I ‘m sorry. I’m sure we’ll discuss this is class.

TIPRR 8

In tenet 9 of the Ten Tenets, it states that “What is valued in literature is the ‘silent’ showing and demonstrating of something, rather than the explaining, or saying, of it.” In my English classes on creative writing back in high school, my English teacher pursued the necessity to clearly explain what is happening and never do the “telling” of that thing. We had to show what was happening, not tell what was happening in the story. What seems to be paramount in this tenet is that discussion of an idea as merely an idea is poor use of “literature” and therefore a disservice to the art form. Instead, literature should be “showing” what is happening and allowing the ideas to organically grow from the context of the action itself rather than the imposition, by the author, of meaning because of self-reflexive discussion or the mere words used to didactically imply a specific agenda. I would say in film this is possibly demonstrated by our recent watching in Film History of “M” and how the action was played out without the subtext of music helping us to feel a particular way but instead we are shown the story and derive our own meaning from the unfolding of events. This approach in our study of media would have use concentrating on what is “happening” in regard to the media act more so than a concentration on the idea agenda of the author. This could be useful if we are trying to understand the moral implications of the actions taken in-and-of-themselves rather than the stated purposes and objectives of the media authors. Such a separation would be useful in determining through analysis, however, if the author is necessarily meeting their prescribed agenda or not – a step to a full analysis of the media.

For me, from a Leavisite approach, the moral argument of the music video is a look at “commitment to the self” and “commitment to the other” and ultimately asks which commitment will bring lasting happiness. Of course, the disaster is that when you do take for granted the other and commit only to yourself, no one ends with happiness. The meaning is inherent in the lyrics, first of all, in the altered, reprised chorus, “You don’t care how it hurts / Until you lose the one you wanted / Cause you’re taking her for granted / And everything you had got destroyed.” This is displayed in the course of action as the female character in the “male role” as the police officer, despite the possible “improvement” that is alluded to that a girl would do a better job in being a boy (i.e. “a better man”) is subverted by her actions not being unlike those that could be expected of the man, as is also reflected in the lyrics which say merely that we (both sexes) believe that we would do a better job but are, in fact, different in our actions regardless of what we think. Of note is that she, in the male role, actually continues to approach the role from an inherently female perspective having the “come ons” from men when it would be expected that she, if truly fulfilling the male role, would be doing the predatory role that the men were portraying and doing the “coming on” to the men. Thus, a woman in the same position would still be a woman in her actions (more about acceptance of male flirtation) but would nonetheless be no different than the man if merely concerned with commitment to self over commitment to the other. The shift at the end between perspectives shows that it is possible for both to achieve the same moral grievance and emphasizes that if the individual (regardless of gender) is only concerned with themselves, everyone will be unhappy.

TIPPR 8

Prompt #1

As Barry explains it, Liberal Humanism contends that, " a literary text contains its own meaning within itself" and although context of the socio-political, literary/historical, or autobiographical background of a text is valuable, the information is not necessary to properly explicate the text. Applying this theory to my classroom means that although it might be nice for my students to know that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in an effort to rally others to the abolitionist cause the information is not necessary to examine the text and decipher its meaning.

This also has implications for media studies because we are now free to examine any text and evaluate it for meaning without knowing anything about the creator. I can watch District 9 and I don't need to know anything about the cultural background of the filmmaker to properly understand the movie. If it sounds like I'm being a little sarcastic it's because I find this idea completely ridiculous. I suppose it is possible to examine a text's aesthetics without knowing anything about the context in which it was created but I do not believe you can gain an understanding of the author's intent without knowing something about the context. I suppose a liberal humanist may argue that it doesn't matter what the author's intent was because the critic is not concerned with intended purpose only in what is present on the page but I can't help feeling that this lends itself to a very shallow understanding of most texts.

Prompt #2

First, I should say that I love Beyonce and am very familiar with a lot of her videos and music and I found it difficult to distance myself from that contextual knowledge for the purposes of this activity. With that said, in just listening to the song and reading the lyrics it seems that Beyonce was describing "boy" behavior as selfish, unfaithful, etc. and contrasting that with the behavior she would exhibit if she were a boy, understanding, sensitive etc. This seems like a fairly classic take on the battle of the sexes, men are brutes, women are long suffering and so on. It becomes more interesting when examining the lyrics in combination with the visual imagery of the video. In the lyrics Beyonce places herself in a dual role as both the insensitive jerk and the sensitive boy who understands the pain that he is capable of inflicting on his partner, yet the visual imagery shows Beyonce acting solely as the loutish jerk with no moments of sensitivity to alleviate the behavior. Perhaps then we are to understand that it doesn't matter if you are a boy or girl because both sexes are equally capable of misbehaving in a relationship despite the author's protestations that girls would act any differently from their male counterparts. The takeaway lesson here would be that we are all capable of acting poorly in a relationship and that we should all make an effort to be sensitive to our partners and treat them as we would like to be treated.

TIPRR 8 -- If You Liked It Then You Should Have Put a Theory On It

Here is something that is interesting to me: as I was reading the ten tenets of Liberal Humanism, I found myself agreeing with them because I found them logical. Barry is right; these are the things that we are familiar with. These are the sorts of things that we teach students in introductory classes: study a text, determine its meaning (decide on a theme?), and support it with examples from the text (demonstrating a fusion of form and content). However, as I was reading the five recurrent ideas in theory, I also found myself agreeing with them, even though many of them are IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION with the tenets of liberal humanism. How does that happen?

Case in point:

Theory idea number five basically states that theorists (I assume this means theorists in general, not in specifics) "distrust all totalising notions" (34). This denies the possibility of fixed notions such as "humanity" and "reality", and instead chalks these up to negotiation and renegotiation. Though certain theories tend to adopt the notion of fixed meanings (Marxism tells us that all art is created to perpetuate the domination of the ruling class...right? Am I remembering this right?), theory as a whole rejects any notion of fixed meanings. As our friend Einstein probably wouldn't say but will anyway in this cliched phrase, "It's all relative." So, when a TMA 114 class has a screening of Dr. Strangelove and I insist that it is a political satire but one of my students insists that it is a straight ahead portrayal of cold war realities, who is right? Theorists might argue that depending on which theory we were using, we might both be right (though let's be clear: I'm right.).

Liberal Humanism tenet number 4 stands in direct opposition to this notion: "Human nature is essentially unchanging" (16). It asserts that there are certain universal truths/values that transcend time and culture. Reality and humanity are NOT negotiable, but can be found as constant truths in all literature. So, in TMA 102 when we ask students to locate a theme in a film, we are essentially asking them to look for an unchanging lesson about human nature: love conquers all, pride leads to unhappiness, or my personal favorite dillusionist theme, the American Dream is a joke and/or a lie.

Initially, Barry seems to set up Liberal Humanism as the opposite of theory, but it seems to me that Liberal Humanism isn't an opposite, it's just another theory; another way of looking at the world and literature and their relationship to one another. The Sixth Core Principle of Media Literacy Education states that "Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages." And, if my personal belief is that human nature is unchanging (which I sort of do...), then that constitutes my own set of theory glasses. However, when teaching any sort of media, we always need to be open to the option that our students will disagree with us about what a text means, and that's okay--maybe they're just using a different theory. Theories offer us interesting and different ways of engaging with texts and with the world, and it never hurts to try a few on before deciding which one we subscribe to. We do our students a disservice if we attempt to only offer them one view of literary theory, one way of deconstructing a text, because maybe they'll like the way the world looks through cat-eye glasses way more than those John Lennon specs.

Okay, moving on to our friend Beyonce (whose name, my spell check tells me, should be "Bey Once"), and I'm going to try to say something that isn't exactly what Timbre said. Also, Barry's Leavisite analysis is quite brief, so mine will be too.

A standard, intro to film type theme to emerge from this video might be: "treat others the way that you want to be treated." This is effectively illustrated by having the characters play both roles. Beyonce's behavior as the cop is unacceptable, and when you (mentally) play through the video imagining the roles reversed, the cop's behavior is still unacceptable. The video implies that both characters are equally capable of cheating, and throughout the song Beyonce keeps insists that if she were the boy, she would treat a girl the way that she wants to be treated. (I feel like I'm fumbling over my words like none other. I hope this makes sense). The choice to film the video in black and white illustrates the black and white nature of the issue; it is not okay to live a double standard, to expect complete commitment from someone while not remaining committed yourself.

TIPRR 8

Prompt 1/Reading:
As I looked through the "10 Tenants of Liberal Humanitarianism," it became very obvious to me why Sharon said that this stuff would ring pretty true with us; much of this certainly coincides with my own personal convictions regarding literature. Two, specifically, jumped out at me because I feel they go hand-in-hand and because these are things that I discuss with my students on a regular basis:

1-"Good literature is of timeless significance."
2-"Human nature is essentially unchanging."

There is one reason that I chose to teach English-the literature. I have always felt that when interacting with a text, one is able to learn about life. Why is this possible? Because good literature contains universal elements that transcend time and space. Because of these universal elements and because of the consistency of human nature (or at least some aspects), no matter where or when you are reading, good literature can apply to you in some way; you can learn from it. The specific example that I've been dealing with these past few weeks is that of The Scarlet Letter. Does it have timeless significance? I say yes, and here's why: while my students will never be adulterating Puritan Women living in the mid 1600s, there are still elements of the novel that directly connect to them, now. Do we still deal with issues of love, hate, jealousy, and hypocrisy? Yes we do. Do people still feel guilt when they do something wrong, and do they sometimes take the self-deprecation a bit too far when they have "messed up"? Of course they do. Why? Because human nature remains essentially unchanged, even though the setting does not.

So what does this mean for studying media? Well, I think that it means that, just as literature has become a means of transmitting meaning by accessing universal elements within humans, there will be other pieces of new media that will be able to do that very same thing. I think we're already seeing that with various films...there are some that just seem to speak to a very wide audience, allowing them to learn and grow through their interaction with the film. I also think that we're starting to see a "canon" of film develop, much like the literary canon. Eventually, I think, there will be at least one section of that canon labeled as "timeless" because it will move across time and space as something that is more than just entertaining.

Prompt 2/"Practical Criticism":
Beyonce's video, for me, examines the double standard regarding what is acceptable for men vs. women within a relationship, but I think that this take on it may a bit feminist. Practically, it is evident that the video addresses the universal nature of people by implying the question, "How would you like it if I acted that way?" By juxtaposing the girlfriend's day with the boyfriend's day, the lyrics of the song are illustrated until the climax, when the roles reverse. At this point, when the viewer realizes that the first half was really a reversed depiction of the couple's actual in the relationship, he/she is jarred into paying attention to the message-that treating your significant other in this way (ignoring them, flirting with others, making them look stupid at parties, etc.) is hurtful. In addition, the formatting of the video is also very organic when looked at with regards to the lyrics; it makes a lot of sense to have the couple swap places-it's very effective in conveying the moral.

TIPRR/Response Oct 20—Peter Barry, 1-35

Tuesday, October 20, 2009—Peter Barry, 1-35

TIPPR/response #8 -- Intro to Contemporary Theory and Critical Approaches to Viewing, Reading, Thinking and Writing (Barry 1-35) In his Introduction and first chapter, Barry has a great deal to say about his own experience as well as the history of British literature and criticism. Not all of it is equally valuable. Please focus your attention on pp. 1-7 and 12 to 25, with particular attention to 6, 16-20, and 31-35. (You’re looking for central scholars, points of view, and concepts. Try not to be put off by Barry’s extreme “Britishness” and his devotion to literature.)

Prompt 1/Reading: Select one of the “Ten Tenets of Liberal Humanism” (i.e., its half hidden curriculum or underlying assumptions) or “Recurrent Ideas of Theory.” Clearly summarize your understanding of the concept; give a possible example of how it might operate in literature, dramat or film; and speculate on what it might mean for studying media.

Prompt 2/Close Reading/'Practical Criticism" of Beyonce's If I Were a Boy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c0wqoj3lEM) After carefully considering what Barry says about Leavisite style reading and examining his Leavisite-style close reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, “The Oval Portrait, please do a similar close reading/practical criticism of Beyonce’s If I Were a Boy.
(The lyrics of If I Were a Boy, written by B J Jean, are included below. The music video was directed by Jake Nova, a British music video, advertising and feature film director.)

Response: Please comment on one of your colleague’s entries on either the reading or analysis of the music video.

(Since I'm new to this, if you have any questions, please e-mail me, sharon_swenson@byu.edu)


Lyrics “If I Were A Boy” by B.J. Jean

“Intimacy”
“Honesty”
“Commitment”
“You.”
“ Me.”

“If I were a boy
even just for a day
I'd roll out of bed in the morning
and throw on what I wanted and go

“Drink beer with the guys
and chase after girls
I'd kick it with who I wanted
and I'd never get confronted for it
cause they stick up for me

“If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her
Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

“If I were a boy
I would turn off my phone
Tell everyone it's broken
so they'd think that I was sleeping alone

“I’d put myself first
and make the rules as I go
Cause I know that she’ll be faithful,
waiting for me to come home, to come home.

“If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to love a girl
I swear I'd be a better man
I'd listen to her
Cause I know how it hurts
When you lose the one you wanted
Cause he's taking you for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

“It's a little too late for you to come back
Say it's just a mistake,
think I'd forgive you like that
If you thought I would wait for you
you thought wrong

Him: “When you act like that, I don’t think you know how it makes me look. Or feel.”
Her: “Act like what? Why are you so jealous? It’s not like I’m sleeping with the guy.”
Him: “What?”
Her: “What?”
Him: “I”. . . . huh. . .laugh . . .”said,. . .I said, ‘Why are you so jealous?” “It ain’t like I’m sleeping with the girl.”

But you're just a boy
You don't understand
and you don't understand, ohhhh
How it feels to love a girl
Someday you wish you were a better man
You don't listen to her
You don't care how it hurts
Until you lose the one you wanted
Cause you're taking her for granted
And everything you had got destroyed

But you're just a boy

TIPPR 7

As I read through Berg's insights on using diaries and blogs in particular as a means of unobtrusive research I was reminded of a TED talk we watched last year in my class. The presenter was a young man named Jonathan Harris and he had created a program that archives emotions posted on the internet.  We Feel Fine is one of the coolest things I've ever seen and I think it's a fantastic example of the kinds of things that are possible using only unobtrusive research methods. 

This reading also made me think about the blogging projects we've done in Service Corps. The first year we tried blogging as a class we created a livejournal account for the whole class and everyone used tags to differentiate their posts and comments. Looking back over that journal now it's interesting to see how performative most of the posts are. The students are clearly writing to an audience and although I think they accurately reflect some of the students with other students they are clearly a persona which I think nicely illustrates the Berg's warning about being careful to analyze data collected from the web and the need for triangulation of research to verify it. The second year we decided to blog a little differently. Instead of using the class account and tagging the posts, each student created their own livejournal account and they would post to a common community journal for their required posts but they were also free to post in their own journals whenever they wanted. It was very interesting to see the difference in posts that students posted to the community and the posts in their own journals. There was a very clear level of performance in their community posts that was not present in their personal journals. In fact there were several times when students seemed surprised I had read something they'd written in a personal journal entry, despite the fact that it was posted on the internet and at least somewhat created for a class assignment. Again, I think this nicely illustrates why blogs can be a very interesting means of unobtrusive research.

ETA: Ha! I told you all that I never look at everyone else posts before posting my own because I'm worried I'll inadvertently copy someone and now I see that Jason has also mentioned We Feel Fine .  I guess I'll take that as a second witness of the awesomeness and applicability of the site to this week's discussion.

tiprr 7

I think I had the wrong mindset while reading the “Unobtrusive Measures in Research” chapter. Instead of thinking of obtrusive as noticeable, I was thinking of interfering or being intrusive. I even went as far as to write a rather mean spirited review of the chapter, but then a phrase from the chapter suddenly made a lot of sense to me.

“…unreachable through any other means.”

Then the chapter became much more clear to me, in the sense that I was able to see how my research can benefit from exploring all methods, especially those that are not typically used.
Although it may be obvious, I’m not positive that I would have (before reading this chapter) included my more observational recording in my research. That sounds horrible, but I can honestly see myself focusing so much on my research question and the data that I was anticipating that I would look past all the other methods of fact-finding.

****

In the next chapter “Historiography and Oral Traditions” I grabbed onto the theme of the voice for the voiceless. Although I’m sure that that exact Dean Duncan phrase was never uttered, in between the seemingly endless corrections of the confusion, I saw an honest need to find and give voices to those that were limited.

In reference to biographies: “…they give powerless people a voice.”

Something I have learned about myself through this assignment is that no matter how procedural the chapter, I practically require myself to write on some personal aspect of the chapter or at least how I would personalize it. Odd.

This chapter has really made me rethink my 689 paper because I am not really using this method to its fullest. I’m not choosing multiple events or searching for super awesome sources. Hopefully I am alone on this because it isn’t a very good feeling.

TIPRR 7

Amy was right. This section is very applicable to me. What was interesting to me, however, was that there was much less written concerning the “how to” of these specific methods as there was of other methods previously. There were the same considerations, such as the need to watch out for identities, but otherwise, much of it was an illustration of things that have been done and thus an “idea generator” for things that could be done by a researcher. At least, that was my take on it.

With that in mind, as I read I was tremendously influenced about the different possibilities of how to approach some research topics that have been of interest to me. “What people do, how they behave and structure their daily lives, and even how humans are affected by certain ideological stances can all be observed in traces people either intentionally or inadvertently leave behind” (268). I am tremendously interested in media and its connection to this very concept. For instance, the extended discussion of violence through media was not only a reminder of what work has already been done in this field, but I loved this specific concept that Berg brought up: “Television certainly offers an inexpensive education in a variety of violent techniques, but so too can video rental stores” (280). First of all, I like his terminology “an inexpensive education” in relationship to media because that is a particular interest of mine. I also liked the thought of looking at video rental stores and getting an idea of what media is popularly consumed through video rental store documentation. I had never thought about that but it makes far too much common sense to be ignored.

I was also interested in the extended use of photovoice to the photo-interview. The concept of learning about someone through their relaxed discussion of photos was a relatively new idea to me but one that would be fun to do. Lastly, the discussion about blogs was one that could be a lot of fun (albeit tedious at times) to go through the blogs on www.blogger.com alone and learn about what people talk about and use their blogs for would be enlightening to the relatively newer social media. I don’t have any overwhelming “question” to answer with that kind of research, but it would be tremendously fascinating nonetheless.

TIPRR 7

Reading Berg was a bit different this week, mostly because using unobtrusive research techniques seems so very different from the other types of research methodologies we’ve been examining. One thing I did appreciate, though, is that even though this type of research is more about “examining and assessing human traces,” Berg is still very insistent on the need to maintain and protect the privacy of the research subjects (268).

Throughout the reading, Berg uses various examples of research that has been done, through the use of various unobtrusive techniques as well as historiography, and to be honest, many of them sounded quite interesting. I mean, examining people’s garbage to determine alcohol use in a “dry” town? Using documents to look at the WKKK? Using oral history to illuminate the history of those who didn’t “win” in situations where the history is told by the victor? I find quite fascinating. I’m sure that there are other research studies done using these methods that I would find unbelievably boring, but because of his choice of examples, I found myself very engaged in the reading.

One question that I had, though, was in regards to visual ethnography. I went back and reviewed so that I could understand the difference between this and the photovoice technique discussed with action research last week, but now what I’m not sure about is how visual ethnography is unobtrusive. Berg uses two examples, one with Goffman’s research on gender in advertisements. This I can understand-advertisements are out there, documented in magazines, in newspapers, and on televisions everywhere. You wouldn’t have to bother/disturb anyone in the collection of the research materials here. But then he uses the example of Jackson’s Killing Time: Life in the Arkansas Penitentiary; this is the one I don’t understand. How is taking pictures of prisoners unobtrusive? Do the subjects not need to know that you’re photographing them? And if that is the case, aren’t there issues with using people’s images without their consent? Can anyone enlighten me here; what am I missing?

Just a couple of other things that I noticed/appreciated...

1-While it’s obviously important with all types of research, triangulation seems particularly vital in all of these types of research. You’ve GOT to have different lines of sight when you’re looking into the past, otherwise you can wind up with skewed data and conclusions.

2-The idea of examining physical erosion and accretion is quite intriguing, but it seems to be useful only in very specific situations, though I did find the idea of looking at the amount of dust on books to measure their popularity quite unique. (I probably would have chosen to first look at the library databases to see how often the books had been checked-out.)

3-I really like how much Berg stresses the fact that we need to make sure that, when we’re doing historical research, we don’t impose our modern understanding and cultural judgments on the time/culture we are researching. This goes back to the ever-present discussion of objectivity, I think. In this case, however, we can recognize that we are wearing a very specific set of lenses while examining our research, and we can even go out and try to develop the schema needed to better understand the data within its own historical/cultural context.

Okay, I’m getting a bit long-winded here, so I’ll just finish up by saying that while I think that these kinds of research can be immensely rewarding and very interesting, it’s going to take a bit more thinking on my part to see how I could use it in my day-to-day educational practice. I know that there are ways, but I’m so stinkin’ pragmatic that if I can’t see an immediate, practical, benefit I’d rather choose another method.

TIPRR 7

If I'm being quite honest, I found this week's reading helpful but fairly dull and occasionally "duh". It wasn't the organization, it was the content. It's just dull to have every form of actuarial record detailed for me. I know that it was useful--there are a number of creative options mentioned, like using gravestones to research community values, but it just wasn't that exciting. Here are some things I thought of while reading, organized into mostly unrelated but hopefully thoughtful paragraphs:

Thought 1
I appreciate that on page 301 Berg again iterates that when beginning any research, it may be organized as "a research problem, a question, a series of questions, or a hypothesis of series of hypotheses." I think that one reason that Tuesday's exercise was at times frustrating (did anyone else feel like we were occasionally dancing in circles?) was that we kept trying to hammer out THE research question. True research doesn't have to start out this concrete--you start with a general idea, research, refine the idea, research, etc. I'm not saying that we shouldn't put significant effort into refining our research questions as much as possible, but in practice I think that we need to recognize that it's okay to move past step 1 even without completely setting it in stone. The example Berg offers of doing research about women in police forces is quite helpful in this regard.

Thought 2
The unobtrusive research measures that Berg mentions seem more like research tools and less like research methodologies, but I do find them potentially interesting. These are often the sorts of things that I notice but don't really pursue for further research; for example, has anyone else noticed that the north steps in the library going up from the third to the fourth floor have one section that visibly worn down? The fact that the steps are worn in one place shows that people generally walk on the right side of the steps, I assume because it requires covering less ground since it's at the inside of every turn. This is an erosion measure, and it tells us something about human behavior, but I don't really want to do move any further with it than I just have. I typically use erosion or accretion measures as anecdotal conversation starters, not as anything more. Perhaps I just haven't found a purpose for them yet.

Thought 3
It seems to me that the research that we'll do for our film history papers generally falls under the umbrella of archival research, or perhaps even historiography.

Thought 4
On page 299, Berg states that we "must use care and avoid imposition of modern thoughts or understanding when considering information about the past." This sounds good in theory, but is it even possible in practice? Certainly there are degrees of objectivity and subjectivity, and we can try to be more objective than subjective, but clearly we will ALWAYS view historical evidence through (pardon this cliched phrase...) the lens of our own experience. We will always view history with a "Little did he know...." mentality. And, if we are to use historical research to answer questions about the future (as Berg suggests), aren't we required to impose moderns thoughts onto the data? You can argue with me if you'd like...perhaps I've missed the point.

TIPPR 6

Refined research question:

How does participating in service learning projects in local schools effect BYU student’s perceptions of the community and does the process effect student’s perceptions of their own roles within the community?

TIPPR 6

When I was cleaning out all of my old BYU stuff this summer I came across a notecard with the following quote on it:

While no one liberates themselves by their own efforts alone, neither are they liberated by others. The leaders must realize that their own conviction of the need for struggle was not given to them by anyone else--if it is authentic. This conviction cannot be packaged and sold; it is reached by means of totality of reflection and action. Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the Oppressed 

On the other side of the notecard, I wrote "Development should be a two part process, I learn from others as I help them to learn to develop their own skills". I created this notecard at the beginning of a participatory development class in my last year at BYU. At the time I envisioned an exotic future for myself working in Africa or Asia, but reading back over it now I think it applies to teaching and what I'm doing now. 

As part of that class, we went into local elementary schools to meet with principals, teachers and parents of ELL students to try and understand what challenges their children were facing in starting school and how we could work together to find solutions to those challenges. Reflecting on that experience now, I can see that it was very much an example of empowerment action research, although at the time I never thought of it as conducting research at all. Our goal was to facilitate a dialogue between the various stakeholders in that community, but I can see how the information that we collected during that process could have easily become a case study about the difficulties ELL students face at Farrer Elementary School.

For the last two years, Julia Ashworth has worked with my students on devising a theater piece and the more I think about it, the more I think it is a great example of the action research process. The process begins with the students choosing a topic to address and then all of the activities that follow help the students to examine that topic and refine their ideas about it and help them to express their concerns and opinions. It's an extremely powerful thing to see students using theater games to explore their concerns about their lives and communities. This year we are changing the format a little bit and exploring a topic that Scott and I chose. Although we haven't narrowed down a specific research question, we have decided that we want the students to explore the idea of education and their views on why it is or is not necessary and what does it mean to be educated? I think our selection of a research focus may actually make the process more like an actual action research project with the stakeholders (students) addressing a topic that is very important in their lives. Hopefully it will help students to feel empowered about their educational futures.

I do believe that my role as an teacher should be as an advocate for social change and helping students to find their own convictions, I really like the idea of using action research to do so.

Also, although it doesn't really relate to the other things I've been talking about here, I wanted to mention how much I loved the idea of photovoice action research. When I was teaching in Mississippi I always wanted to do an assignment where I sent the kids home with disposable cameras and asked them to take a picture of what they considered home, then I would develop the pictures and we would talk about why they chose to take the picture that they took. For one reason or another I never actually did the project but reading the section on photovoice has convinced me that I definitely want to do this assignment in the future.

 

TIPRR 6, Jeff Hill

The most attractive aspects of Action Research to me are the socially progressive (I mean that like it helps those involved progress socially, not that previous research was offensive) ideas of working together. The “subjects” are now participants or even researchers in their own right. This is important because the intention of doing this research is to solve a problem or to improve some aspect of the subject or process relating to the subject. I can see why this is a particularly popular form of research in the education field.

Significant and sustained progress can only be made if other educators, administrators, and students are heavily involved. We are part of an evolving field where these forms of research (action research and case studies) are very appropriate and conducive to a classroom setting.

Using the reading for this week, we were to refine this question:

What shifts occur in BYU students’ awareness of community before, during, and after participating in service learning in local schools?

Community has become such a difficult word for me lately.

Where are you from? Does that ever change? I went to high school in Texas, but I have lived in Utah for over 5 years. If I was on vacation, I think I would say Utah. Some people say that you are from wherever your parents are, but that doesn’t make sense. Is that your community? Do feel like you are more a part of the people who live, work, and worship around your parents than those who do the same geographically closer to you? You must be homesick. “Where are you from?” probably isn’t the best question because maybe people are just saying where they were born, although I rarely claim Biloxi, Mississippi.

Do BYU students’ have a relationship with Provo or just BYU? I can see how BYU students may be learning about “community” and their understanding of communities may change as they interact with this service-learning project, but does this community ever become theirs? That is what is difficult about this question. Are we talking about “community” as an abstract or Provo?

Action based research is supposed to help a group interactively improve a situation. So, for this research, the BYU students’ awareness or association with this community must be affecting the project negatively or positively. Are the BYU students that don’t see Provo School District students as part of their community not as effective teachers as those that do? Would discovering their awareness and feelings concerning community help improve Hands On A Camera?

My question:

What correlations can be found (if any) between the BYU student’s awareness of the Provo School District students and knowledge of the community the students belong to, and the effectiveness of those BYU students’ teaching in the classrooms of those students?

What is your community?

TIPRR 6

This is a longish post (sorry Jeff):

Okay, so I have now learned that the actual formulation of a research question is a particular weakness of mine. Lucky for me, Berg says, “your research idea should flow into a potential research question that may continue to shift, change, and take form as the research process unfolds.” Thus, I give you my very humble attempt at a “refined” ethnographic question on Erika’s behalf:

How, if at all, do BYU students gain greater community awareness from participating in Hands on a Camera projects?

Now that I have written that, I would like to broach specifically the area of action research.

As I read the chapter on action research I became quickly aware that what I do every day, and have for years, is action research. Let me tell you a story to illustrate.

Only a few months ago I began a new job as Call Center Manager for a small, recently organized call center. My first order of business was to gain an understanding of how the organization was currently designed to meet previously defined goals, and to understand what those goals were (what, how, who, when, and where questions). I defined first a series of questions bent on gaining a better understanding of the organization that I began asking and informing in a focus group with primary stakeholders, then down the chain in both focus groups and informal meetings. This has led to an ongoing collaboration of in-group forums and agencies, and a few community group meetings, both formal and informal. I have to keep a pulse on the organization as a whole to understand what is happening as decisions are made and improvement tactics and strategies are implemented.

From the reading, I have learned that my subsequent “research methods” have been a combination of two modes of action research: practical/mutual collaborative/deliberate mode and emancipating or empowering/enhancing/critical science mode. From a business standpoint, what I do for organizations is build long-term, self-managed learning organizations. I'm an educator. From an academic researcher standpoint, I do action research. Upon gathering and analyzing data, I felt it important to begin empowering management and other stakeholders with a common vocabulary through the use of “book club” discussions that helped to enlighten stakeholders concerning applicable theory. I have taken a specific model of organizational behavior (organizational systems design) to empower the decision-making framework and begin the action part of action research. Therefore, I have learned, thought, and implemented action plans with a highly participatory, purposefully reflexive research, the whole “project” “carried out with a team approach that includes a researcher and members of some organization, community, or network…who collectively are seeking to improve the organization or situation of participants…an effort at creating a positive social change in the lives of the stakeholders.” We do everything that Berg mentions. I could go into greater detail, but this long post would be longer for it. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I am a professional action researcher and have been for years. I feel very cool!

With regard to Glori’s thesis (which was tremendously interesting to me, by the way) it was enlightening to read the chapters and then go to her thesis because her organization was useful in understanding Berg’s action research principles. She gave us a theoretical/historical background to set the stage, discussed the methodologies and why they were used, reviewed the data collected, and examined and drew conclusions from the action research. This alone was useful to me, much less her conclusions that blogging (active interest in reading/writing English) helps ELLs and her suggestion to do ethnographic research to explore social interaction between cultures on the Internet. Okay – I’ve said too much. Thanks for reading!

TIPRR 6

Hands on a Camera Stuff: (I'm not 100% sure if this is the kind of thing that we're looking for here.)

Problem Statement: Research proposes to examine BYU students' awareness of community in relationship to their participation in service learning.

Research Questions:
1-How do the BYU students feel about the Provo community in general? (Before the service learning experience)
2-How do the BYU students interact with the greater Provo community, outside of BYU? (Before, during, and after the service learning experience)
3-How do the students at the Hands on a Camera schools represent the community at large?
4-What are the BYU students' motivations for becoming involved in Hands on a Camera?

****************

I'm going to just take a second and talk about nothing related before I move into this week's reading. Please bear with me...

So, I'm currently sitting in Cedar City, chaperoning the High School Shakespeare competition, and this day has been nothing but a reminder of why I absolutely love my job. I have the chance to work with the most amazing people; these kids are just so wonderful, and they are such a blessing to me. I think that it's absolutely insane that there are teachers out there who don't appreciate the joy that can come from fully investing yourself in these people. Really, what's the point if that isn't it?

As I've been observing over the past few days, I have thought about this particular group of young people, and how interesting it would be to do an ethnography of children, ages 14-18, who choose to come to this thing. I mean, seriously, Shakespeare? For FUN? That's a very particular group, and it'd be interesting to take a closer look at it. But, that's more last week's reading...

This week, as I read, it made perfect sense to me why action research is of particular interest to those interested in teaching practices. I am of the opinion that if you are a good teacher, you are constantly striving to improve your pedagogy and find more effective and engaging ways to educate, and according to Berg, that seems to be at the core of action research-a desire to improve something.

Like the other research methods we've discussed, whether generally or specifically, this must be systematically planned out and executed and it must be reproducible. But unlike some of the other methods, I love that one of the main ingredients in your action research is the actual stakeholder. From the reading, it seems that with this research there's no real question of needing to "maintain a value-neutral position" or worrying about "becoming invisible" simply because everyone's in on it, and the ultimate goal is improvement. Did I interpret this correctly, or am I being naive here?

As I read about some of the basic information about action research, I kept thinking about something that has been going on at Lehi High for the past year or so--accreditation. Now, I know that the accreditation process probably isn't a full-blown action based research project, but every few years, schools are asked to gather data and compile information regarding various aspects of the school community in the effort to make improvements over the next few years. This is that progressive spiral of continuous improvement that shows up on page 23 of Glori Smith's thesis. Many of the underlying objectives are the same, I think.

And then there is research using case studies. I can see the value of case studies, especially in that it often opens up opportunities for discovery or the development of new theory. I can see how easy it would be, however, to make broad generalizations based on one specific case study, and I agree with Berg when he says that we need to be careful not to do just that. Can we make other hypotheses based on our findings? Sure. Berg makes the very valid point that "human behavior is predictable" and therefore, this type of research does have scientific value (330). But we can't make any conclusive decisions based on one person/situation.

Overall, I really do like both of these methodologies for research. I think that they would be highly interesting as well as informative, depending on the situation. As we learn about the different methodologies, it becomes more and more evident why we have to be so meticulous in our research design so as to be the most effective in meeting our objectives.

TIPRR 6--Blurring the Lines

As I did the reading for Action Research, it occurs to me that what I actually want to do with my students is not an ethnography, it's an Action Research Project using some ethnographic methods.
I am also with Timbre in that I'm not entirely sure exactly what I'm being asked for. That being said, here's my refined research question (that still seems to address an ethnographic model):

Research Question: How does the BYU student's own sense of community engagement change during Hands on a Camera?

• Follow up research questions: How do BYU students describe their sense of community engagement before the project? What does community engagement mean to them before the project? During the project? After the project?
  

Maybe I've done this completely wrong. That's why we're here, right? Well, not to be wrong, but to learn how to do it right.

Okay, now to Action Research and Case Studies.

As I said at the beginning of my post, I realized as I was doing the reading that what I really want to do is an Action Research Study. It seems to me that the lines between Critical Ethnography (an ethnography stemming from a desire for advocacy and with the intent to change a situation or challenge existing research) and Action Research are fairly thin. Then, when I really started thinking about it, it seems like the lines between all these models are fairly thin; isn't an ethnography a form of case study? At the least, all of these have some methods in common (observation, collecting documents, etc.), which leads me to believe that designing a research project is a little bit like making a documentary film (or any story really, but we're talking about documentary modes in my class so I'm addressing them here): there are lots of modes, and some documentaries are more one mode than another, but in reality all documentaries are generally a mix of one or two. We might design a project that is mostly action research, but it's going to borrow a little bit from ethnography. The best method is to know and understand all the tools at your disposal and design a project that best suits your research need.

I really like the idea of action research because (as was clearly demonstrated in Glori's thesis) it stems from the desire to better a situation--to improve practice, to help others. I also like that even though research needs to happen prior to the project, you don't go into the project with the goal of proving a hypothesis. Yes, Glori hoped that doing a blogging project would help her students with their English, but she had no preconceived notions of how the blog would transform their behavior; she let the research speak for itself. I also appreciate the fact that action research is about helping one community with one problem, and though the results can be extrapolated (my goal is perhaps to use the word extrapolate in every post), the goal of the project isn't necessarily to institute widespread policy change or to generate groundbreaking new ideas (though these can certainly follow). Sometimes I get intimidated by research projects because I'm not sure that what I do will actually contribute to the field in any way, but if I better my own practice in some way, then the research is a success.

And that is cool.

I forgot to label.

TIPPR 5, Jeff Hill

I had to keep reminding myself that this was not about documentary film specifically. All I could think about was the Maysles brothers and Grey Gardens and how Nanook of the North would be different if Nanook was the filmmaker.

Early in the chapter, Berg identifies the emic view as the insider’s view and etic view as the outsider’s view. I understand that ethnographic researchers use elements of both in terms of gathering information and then providing interpretations. But this got me thinking about the relationship between the ethnographer and his or her subject. As with the personal voice vs. observational style documentaries, is there an auto-ethnographic research method, or by definition can you not be a personal part of the subject prior to the research?

My favorite parts of the chapter were the discussions on overtly vs. covertly, keeping the neutral position, and the idea of learning more than you want to know. Basically anything dealing with the personal relationships developed during the research, but outside the intended results.

I do feel like I am missing out on the personal voice or the idea of what if you already know these people. That is just one aspect I wish the author had delved into a little deeper. I have seen many personal voice documentaries and am curious how that translates as an ethnographic research paper. I am interested in the positive and negative ideas of doing that.

I really like the inclusion of field notes and especially how Ben did that with quoting himself. It really gives us a close understanding of the subjects. Their personalities show through if we understand the ethnographer. Ben is part of the paper. Knowing him helps, but revealing himself allows us to delineate the “actual” subject from what the author thinks about the subject. Have you ever seen Jesus Camp? I have never learned much about the filmmakers, so I feel like I can’t have an opinion on the film. On the contrary, I feel like I know Michael Moore very well (as a documentary filmmaker) and it makes his films rather translucent. Which I think is good.

TIPPR 5

I had a very difficult time deciding what to write about in response to this week’s reading. I think that Berg does an excellent job of laying out the groundwork that must go into being successful in the field. I found myself nodding along as I was once again strongly reminded of both the successes and the failures I have witnessed in my own experiences with conducting ethnographic research. I was also pleased to see that I had apparently misinterpreted Berg’s attitude towards digital/electronic record keeping and that he is in fact quite in favor of using these tools to improve the quality of record keeping while conducting field research.

There was one thing in particular that stood out to me as very important for successful field research: the importance of spending a sufficient amount of time in the field. I do think that it is necessary to become a part of the community in order to really be able to see people as they are and not as they would choose to present themselves to outsiders. I was thinking about this idea with regards to my own probable action research project. I will likely be doing something within my own classroom so it will be interesting to see if conducting research in a community in which I am already a member and already somewhat invisible to my students—much to my chagrin at times when they are discussing their personal lives over lunch—is more difficult or easier than my previous experiences when I have entered the field very much as an outsider. In many ways, I feel I have both an etic and emic perspective in my classroom, depending on the circumstances. I also suspect that in some ways this may be more challenging because while in my previous experiences with field work I have gone in with the intention to be an observer, in this instance I will merely be changing my role in the classroom at times. I think it will be very important for me to be reflexive in examining my observations and impressions. I also think it may be much more difficult to take a value-neutral or objective stance in light of my personal relationships with my students.

TIPRR 5

Fascinating reading. I have read about but never done any ethnographic studies except really basic assignments in conjunction with a class, but never what I would call extensive or exhaustive. Unlike Erika, I don’t necessarily find the organization to be strange (at least, not with this writing). It, however, appears that Berg decided on a starting point and went for it. Like Erika and Timbre, I got excited about ethnographic research. The idea of doing a study of online groups and their practices was extremely interesting. It got me thinking about something a little more abstract, but I believe it would be equally of value: I think it would be fun to do a kind of ethnographic research project based around a series of “chick flicks” genre movies (perhaps the most popular films from the last 2-5 years) and study them as if they were legitimate realities (much like doing videotaping and observing within a few subcultures along similar lines) and then analyze the data. As that is going on, use surveys or informal introductions to interview “viewers” (or “participants”) of these films for their reactions and get an idea, essentially, of how the genre and their perspectives are influenced.


This is just one idea that came to mind (of many) and I could not help but inadvertently brainstorm on subject matters since practically anything could be taken as the basis of a study. All that really appeared to matter was that there was a setting and a research problem or question. Because of macro- and microethnographies, the possibilities for research are extensive and can be used very practically for dissemination purposes (there was even the allowance for particular political agendas – so very fascinating).

The section that was most useful to me was the one on field notes. For over two years I worked on Saturday nights at the old Spanish 8 Theaters in Spanish Fork. The purpose of working there was to get free movies, popcorn and drinks for my family and only work roughly 4 hours a week. It was awesome but looking back at it now, if I had been keeping field notes on that small job for those two plus years I would have created for myself an enormously interesting covert and participatory ethnographic study (thus I am very sad that I did not). From all the verbal exchanges about films and other subjects that the teenagers working there talked about to my own personal subjective reflections I related to Alisha, my wife, I would have a plethora of things that could have been useful to secondary education teachers, at the very least. I suffer, now, from the erosion of memory that inevitably comes. Anyway, if I had the grants to do something like it again, I would love to. Of course, I’ve never done it before but I am willing to give it a shot with enough time and study design preparation. I think it would be fun.

TIPRR 5

Well, I have to say I was totally excited to log on and see that Erika had already posted, because I thought, "Yea! An opportunity to 'critically discuss' the reading in relationship to her post!" Then I read it and said, "I totally agree." I know, lame, but if you note the time dated on this post, it's 12:24 pm. I'm home from work, sick-and there have been cold medications involved, so please cut me some slack for some of the randomness that may follow...

I actually quite enjoyed the reading on ethnography, and, like Erika, I was amazed to find that in reading Ben's paper, I am actually interested in ham radio. Who knew? I think that this is the incredibly appealing thing about ethnographic field research as presented by Berg...it's vastly interesting. As he discussed in last week's reading, we really can find research opportunities in everything, so why not choose something that we're into? In addition, as Erika mentioned as well, it is through the ethnographic style of researching that you are able to observe interactions and relationships, the things that make humans, well, humans.

I thought that Berg's discussion of methodology was a bit hard to follow in places, but much of what was said made a lot of sense, and I'm sure it will be helpful as we move into our own research processes. One particular section that I really appreciated was when he addressed the fact that many times, the researcher's mere presence can alter the research field. While discussing the various forms of invisibility within the research setting, I liked that positives and negatives of the different options are mentioned, and while Berg does say that these things need to be taken into account while planning the research process, he does not go so far as to point and say "this is the best way."

Another point that is discussed that I appreciated is this idea that researchers don't live in a vacuum, and so while we may try to "maintain a value-neutral position" it very rarely happens (200). He makes a good point in saying that even in the choice of research topic we are demonstrating a special interest/affinity for a specific topic/subject. I am of the opinion that because we, as human beings with human experiences, are the sum total of all of our experiences in life, we can never truly look at things through a "clear lens." (Is it EVER possible to be truly objective? This is a question I have wondered about for a while...)

I think that this is why I really the idea of subjective disclosure within the research publication. It allows you, as the researcher, to be human. While I read Ben's paper, I felt that he did a really good job of being a human researcher. He is up front regarding his place within the research, about his knowledge and interest going in to the project as well as his findings and the strengths and weaknesses of the research process itself. And regardless of the weaknesses, he was still able to come up with some really cool findings.

I like the idea of ethnography, and if someone were to ask me why, I think this is how I'd respond: I'm interested in people and their relationships and interactions. This is why I teach literature...it's not something that can be broken down into quantitative data. I think that ethnography provides a means for researching the non-quantifiable humanness that I love so much.

TIPRR 5--I'm a spy...no wait...an ethnographer!

So, in my desire to have witty titles for my posts, I sometimes (always?) come up with something lame. Like I just did. Sorry. I also apologize if some of the ideas expressed here end up in my presentation. Redundancy seems to be my forte and also my strong point.

Strange organization notwithstanding (am I the only one who feels this way?), I actually really enjoyed this week's reading. I found it interesting and engaging, and as with last week's reading, it prompted me to think more about what I can do in my own practice to make for better research.

Something that I thought about (that I may or may not address on Tuesday) is that all of reality TV seems to be one large ethnography experiment, where show producers, editors, and audiences participate in observation without ever necessarily writing about it. We are all familiar with the experience of watching something closely, looking for patterns, and trying to make predictions about what will happen next.

I like what ethnography produces, which is at its most basic form a story: a story of people, of their actions, their surroundings, their likes and dislikes, with the ultimate goal of...what? Understanding. Ethnography doesn't necessarily set out to prove that Factor A causes Behavior B (although it might), and it isn't about producing statistics. It is about understanding behavior and people and practices. Also, am I the only person who actually wants to read all of Ben's field notes because they sound interesting?

I appreciated how Berg acknowledged that all researchers are subjective, and I appreciated that he seemed to encourage researchers to fess up to this and allow it to be a part of the research. It may be easy to be objective when studying tissue cells (though maybe not?), but when you're studying people you inevitably become invested in their stories. Furthermore, you have your own reasons for doing the research in the first place, and your own lens through which you view the world, and all of these things affect the research process and any conclusions you may draw from the research.

Okay, I'm at 331 words, and I don't even feel like I've said about half of what I want to. I guess I'll save it for the presentation. What I would like from you is some feedback about the following idea:

In Hands on a Camera, we usually do our project in two or more schools, with three to five teachers at each. This coming semester we want to focus more on refining the curriculum and keeping costs low (economy, you have foiled us again!), and so we are likely to have seven or eight teachers at one school. This significantly lessens the workload for each teacher, so something I'm considering having them do is a little bit of a mini ethnography as well. I always have them write field reports (though they're not nearly as detailed as the ones described in the reading), but I might want them to write more detailed field notes from the time when they are not actively teaching. This is a research project, and I think that we could do even more to beef it up. I think this would be better for the students (especially since some of them want to be documentary filmmakers, and documentary filmmaking seems to be one significant form of disseminating an ethnography--more on that Tuesday), and more informative for the overseeing teachers. Usually at the final exam I give a final interview, but I think that final would be something more like a paper instead where they synthesize their field notes.What do you think? What complications am I missing? What would make this difficult?