The reading about finding a field cite were actually very interesting. First of all, I realized that we are really lucky to have a contact already set up for us. It's really nice to know that we are going to have somewhere to stay and have some contacts upon arrival. I also think that the "field" that I will be doing my research in is one that will be very accessible since all I need is to have families and homes to be in.
The following quote from the reading is one of my most favorite that I read from all the readings so far: "The researcher does not participate in the lives of subjects in order to observe them, but rather observes while participating fully in their lives.. . through living with the people being studied." Ashley sort of talked about this last week when she was saying how important it is for us to remember that the people we will be are interacting with, and researching in a sense, are people, and not just subjects there for us to ask questions. I have stated this before, and alluded to it several of my learning journals, but it just keeps hitting me over and over again that it's so important that we keep in mind that these are people who are being kind enough to let us in their homes and in their communities and they aren't just subjects for us to use to do research on. They are people who have lives of their own. We talked last week in class about how much they will probably want to do for us, as far as taking care of all of the housework and cooking and stuff like that. I think it's very important that I make sure to do all I can to try and help and not take advantage of their kindness.
As much as I hope to be immersed in the culture, I think realistically my kind of experience will be "participant as observer." They will know that we are there to observe, but hopefully for the most part my research will be observe and I will be able to build real, intimate relationships with some of the families and community members. Obviously, to others I will fill the role of "observer as participant" since I won't have close contact with them and to some I will probably just seem like another student there for school or whatever. But with a little luck, and cultural sensitivity, I will be able to build actual relationships with the Tongan people that I meet.
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