Ethnography Reaction & Questions

I also apologize I hadn't realized this assignment was due last week but here are my thoughts on interviewing challenges:

I agree with Clark said in terms of the barrier that exists when you act as the interviewer and another person is the interviewee. Studying people from a scientific standpoint whether that be social science or natural science will always present that barrier. Like Irina said, we are both interested in psychological elements of fashion choice and what fashion choice shows about the individual. By finding out what fashion means to an individual, we can start to paint a picture about cultural/moral forces which shape the individuals thoughts and perspectives.

Some questions I have so far:
1. How do we establish rapport with our interviewees despite being from a different country and different ethnicity than they are? To help them understand our goals as non -intrusive and exploratory?
2. I think personal every day experiences will still differ significantly from the way media portrays a certain issue (such as banning a religious type of dress) how do we reconcile public news or literature with what participants say if they happen to be going in different directions? A good thing is our question itself is rather open ended so there isn't be a "prove" or "disprove" goal at least.
4. And as Irina said, we would like to include both meet up & spontaneous interviews as well as observations but at which locations and how often? How do we juggle this?

Reactions to Murder in Amsterdam

Murder in Amsterdam really helped me put into the history of the Netherlands as well as the current political turmoil. I really liked how Buruma came from a position that clearly had some bias, being an acquaintance of van Gogh, but at the same time held a pretty neutral view and showed multiple sides of the debate over Muslim assimilation. There were times when I felt he leaned towards sympathy with one side (for example Hirsi Ali) but he often says something right afterwards that looks at her actions/personality in another light. Throughout the reading I felt I couldn't put my feet onto any ground where I "supported" but that is what I appreciate. I also appreciate that I could follow along and discover the country's history and social setting instead of being thrust into the story without any backing.

I personally think alienation or "other"-fying of Muslims truly exists in Europe right now. From the historical description of the Netherlands, I also think tolerance may have become an embedded word in national identity. However, this doesn't cover up for natural human instincts to distrust those of difference or to be uncomfortable with certain differences. There is also the need for a unity - thus any factors that can threaten a Dutch "mentality" may be seen as dangerous. Ironically, the presence of one group whose ideals/background culture may not be deemed "tolerant" enough to belong to the native community is being in a way discriminated against which goes to show the native community's "intolerance." So it seems like to protect a national ideal, the nation has to go against the ideal.

Interview Exercise: Stranger's Fashion Choice

I had originally planned to find a Moroccan or Muslim individual but came across difficulties in time constraints and non-response. I emailed the Muslim Students Association asking for volunteers who would be willing to sit down for an interview but got no response so I decided to instead to do the 'casual sitdown' method.

I went to Odegaard's By George cafe and found an individual sitting at one of the tables on Friday afternoon (May 18th) around 4:00 pm. It was pretty shaded in the building like most days and there were almost nobody there so I talked to the person who was available and conducted the interview and got permission to digitally record the conversation.

My interviewee's name is Yunlin Zheng (who was eating some snacks and waiting to meet up with a friend at the time) and she happened to be a 20 year old undergraduate student here at UW who was born in China and currently lives in Issaquah. She's Christian and holds a moderate political position. She's currently a fulltime student but she works a side job at a cafe in downtown Bellevue.

The introductory question I posed was where she situated herself in youth culture here in the US. She responded, "I'm not a party-er. I work hard. I do activities with my church."

The main questions I asked focused on choice in fashion, because I wanted to do some modeling for interviews in Amsterdam. Second question was what clothes she was wearing and why she was wearing them. She responded, "I'm very casual. I'm not trendy, I wish I was (here I laughed lightheartedly and she smiled) I'm wearing a t-shirt and a zip-up because it's comfortable and clean. It's what I usually wear. I wear the same kinds of clothes - jeans, t-shirt with something over it. Because it was warm this morning I wore something lighter."

Third question was whether any of the items worn had personal value or religious/cultural value. Her green sandals that she pointed to underneath the table were from her dad. Her dad had recently passed away. This came as a shock and surprise so I offered my condolences and she thanked me for them. I took a brief tangent and asked about how it happened and she replied it was due to liver cancer a year ago. An interesting quote is she said, "It's different than when I get my own things."

I was curious and asked where she bought her clothes. Her zip-up was from China, her t-shirt was from Nordstrom Rack, and her jeans were from GAP. I found that to be a very ecclectic collection of sources - which may reflect upon her cultural background as well as attitude towards fashion. Here I hope next time when I ask questions like this to do more probing and asking what each place she buys clothes means to her. This will be helpful for making inferences.

My fourth and final question related to Buruma's quote where I asked my interviewee her reaction to the statement that religious attire is often worn more for a personal statement than for religious purposes. She replied, "I think you can wear whatever you want as long as you believe in it. I know some people who wear crosses just because it is trendy not because they actually believe in their religion. Like the Muslim hijab for example, people who wear it and are Muslim that's fine but if I wore one that would be wrong."

Overall I found that answer to be particularly interesting. To her, it seems that the meaning religious attire worn for individuality is more along the lines of trend and is separate from religious affiliation. Recently, the response that Irina got from her friend Zak sheds some light that trend is definitely a big aspect. A main difference it is people of the Muslim faith wearing it as a trend. So I hope to continue defining our research focus, and see how much of the dress is making a statement about their own religion/cultural identity within society and how much is more for trends or associations that are largely commercial. And who knows maybe those two categories turn out to be really not all that different.

e-Research Reflection

I think e-research is both a combination of using digital media to collect information, approach one's research question, and facilitate easier dynamic communication whether that be within a research team or between a researcher and his/her subject(s). It's a combination of studying the world with tools in our digital age but at the same time it involves reflecting upon one's own integration into this world. Being able to see and step back and forth across that boundary is to me key to e-research. Involving oneself purely in studying development of e-research tools for example in a removed position or simply passively living in a digital world is not enough to be called e-research. E-research is a balancing act in which "E" in this case means "engaging." The extreme ends are either completely detached or completely submerged in digital medium. There isn't a level of engagement between both sides of the boundary to see how e-research can probe into areas previously inaccessible or difficult to access and value this new information, but at the same time reflect on how the world of mass communication and internet can in turn shape researchers and their goals. Intervention becomes a two way force.

In terms of our group's research on second generation Moroccan immigrants and their choice in fashion I find it promising that we can use the internet to find background information and establish a setting before going in to conduct research. We will be using the internet in the way many e-researchers are looking at today - seeing what new ways of data collection and analysis can be performed with new tools. We will also be using e-tools to communicate with our research subjects and ensuring that we can set up a time and place to interact with them that would be most comfortable for them. This will help us to understand what it is like to be a "part-time participator" in the digitalized world. It's like having 3 eyes. One eye focused on our study of immigrants. Another eye focused on how the internet shapes our research question and process. And the third eye keeps an active tab on the times when our 'distanced researcher' position shift towards 'closeup participant' and at those moments whether there any special developments. This will help guide a better course of research in the future - forever fine tuning the boundaries between research and participant that is increasingly relevant with the rise of e-tool based research.