Remind me and yourself of what your critical question is.
My critical question is, “When transitioning to adulthood, do we as humans become more or less close minded, and therefore does it limit the potential happiness we can have in our lives?”
Explain what single person (a profile) or group of people you plan to study for your project.
This has been an extremely difficult decision for me, just because of the limitations that come with taking a summer course, where kids aren't in school etc. But I have chosen to do my interview on a group of retired folks in a nursing home. If it falls through this next week, I hope to be able to talk to as many folks in retired homes, but I am still waiting to hear back from the administer at the Legacy.
Why did you choose them? How will studying this person/group shed particularly interesting light on answering some aspect of your critical question?
My whole project is about the different perspectives we have in throughout our lives and growing old. So, the age group is kind of the “last stop” or last perspective we have in life. If my thesis is true, that people become more closed minded as they get older, by the time they are in their 70s or 80s, they have chosen a certain way of thinking, determining their happiness for once and for all. I am excited to find out what the results actually entail.
What aspect of this person or group will you study specifically?
In my questions, I don't want to scratch the surface. I want to here what they think of life and their purpose. This means I will specifically ask them questions pertaining to experiences of losing innocence and that childhood trust. Of course to keep my assessment fair and accurate I will use the same questions, maybe explained a little different for the younger subjects because of possible misunderstanding, but otherwise, my curiosity is telling me to ask the same questions and seeing the difference.
What is your relationship to your person or group? (How well do you know them and in what capacity?)
My relationship with the people at the Legacy Retirement Home is nonexistence. So most of them I wouldn't even know their names prior to the interview, which I think is essential.
How will you contact or communicate with this person or group in order to set up your observation and interviews?
I want to, in person, interview the individual group.I will be able to see the subjects in their natural environment.
If you are doing an Ethnography of a group:
Include 3 questions you might ask of various group members
-“What was the moment in your life you realized you were an adult”
-“If you could, would you go back to thinking like a child, innocent and trusting?”
-“Do you believe that you’ve become more or less more closed minded as an adult.”
Where you’re first observation will be (and when if you know)
-While writing this I just got a call from Gramercy Retirement Homes that is allowing me to come in during dinner time on Saturday and Sunday. The director of the retirement home is giving me names and table numbers for the residents participating in the interview.
What kinds of things you will be looking for in your observations?
-Not that this is true in all cases, however, most people I believe say they are happier or describe a better life than what is deep down. So, I am observing to see whether the old folks act as happy as their stories depict, when they don’t think I am looking. This is why I am observing them before they know I am there, so that the observation is unbiased and natural. Then on Sunday, they will be expecting me, so I will see the differences in responses and attitude when they know they are being observed.
What will you be using to record your observations?
I will be using my phone to audio record, just because I know old folks are usually less open when they know they are being video taped.
Kally,
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea! The three questions you have to start with are good. I'm wondering, though, what exactly you'll observe, interaction or behavior-wise. I also want to caution you against asking leading questions that tip them off to what you're thinking about. You'll want to ask them things that get them to tell stories, rather than if they've become more cynical. Also, how will you measure if they have become more cynical?