Field Notes III

Before class on Wednesday, please post your final set of fieldnotes here to our course blog as a comment. Make sure and include the same kind of information as in previous fieldnotes. In this final set of notes, though, you might try and sketch out any tentative conclusions you are making about this space and its significance for the people who use it.

Field Notes II

After you conduct your second observation of your space for your mapping project, please post a second set of field notes here before class begins on Monday, May 17.

As you make notes from your observations, please make sure you include the following information: 1) Date, time, and place of observation; 2) Specific facts, numbers, and details; 3) Sensory impressions: sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes; 4) Personal response to your observations—both the act of recording and how others responded to you; 5) Specific words, phrases, summaries of conversations/interviews, and any insider language; 6) Questions that your observations generate for you as the researcher (ones that you might pursue in your subsequent observations).

As you conclude this set of notes, please write a paragraph in which you summarize your observation, paying attention to what you noticed that was either similar to your previous observation or different. What do you think accounts for this?

Finding Sources for Your Mapping Project

Find one promising source for your mapping project and post it—formatted according to APA style—to our blog. Also, copy the abstract into your comment, too, and explain why you think this source will be useful for your study.

Field Notes I

After you conduct your first observation of your space for your mapping project, please post your first set of field notes here before class begins on Wednesday, May 12. As you make notes from your observations, please make sure you include the following information: 1) Date, time, and place of observation; 2) Specific facts, numbers, and details; 3) Sensory impressions: sights, sounds, textures, smells, tastes; 4) Personal response to your observations—both the act of recording and how others responded to you; 5) Specific words, phrases, summaries of conversations/interviews, and any insider language; 6) Questions that your observations generate for you as the researcher (ones that you might pursue in your subsequent observations).

Ideas for Your Mapping Project

Before you leave class today, please take 5-10 minutes and tell the rest of us what your focus for our final project will be. What space will you be mapping? What group(s) of people do you think you’ll be observing and interviewing? What’s your plan for the next few weeks to complete these observations and interviews? What do you hope to learn from this project and why do you think this particular space is an important one to study?

Measuring Authenticity Qualitatively

In the conclusion to her study on Bodie, Califorina, Dydia DeLyser writes, “Authenticity is not the end result of a visit to Bodie. Rather, it is a vehicle through which the narratives of the mythic West, of progress, and American virtues, are made tangible and believable to visitors.”

What do you think DeLyser means here? Based on her observations, what forms of authenticity do the tourists and the staff members experience in this ghost town? How does she as a researcher measure these authentic experiences? As you reflect on her conclusion, cite at least one concrete example from her observations that supports or illustrates your response.

Observing People & Places on Campus

Before class on Monday (May 3), I would like you to practice observing a public space on campus and how people use it. You’ll need to reserve about 45 minutes for this exercise, and what I’d like you to do is find a space on campus—like Jazzman’s, Driscoll Green, or a nearly coffee shop—where you can practice taking field notes. You’ll need to write down your observations in as detailed a way as you can. Describe the space, its layout and design, colors, smells, objects—whatever you can observe. Then describe the people you see there, what they are doing, how they interact with the space and each other. If you can, I’d like you to interview a few people briefly and ask them about how they use this space and why it is significant to them. Last, you’ll need to type up your field notes and post them to our blog before class on Monday, May 3.