I can't believe we only have one month before we go to tonga!!! Some days I feel totally prepared, and then other days I feel really unprepared! It's like one day I'm thinking ok, I have my project pretty settled and it's very doable, and I'm going to hang out with the family and figure everything out as I go, then the next day, I'm like what am I going to do down there? what am I going to wear? what am I going to do with my hair? how am I going to meet people and get involved in the community???? Mostly, I'm just really excited!!!
As I continue to read this book about migration, I'm so impressed with the people in the book. One thing I read in the most recent chapter said something about how the people don't have very many things or very much money, but they don't really need it and it's not "sad" if they don't have much money. The author was saying how the culture isn't driven by power and money the way that our culture is, so it's like they most of them are totally content with what they have. It's funny because I don't consider myself to be a super materialistic person, but I'm always thinking about money and how I wish I had more, so I could buy these other things and pay for more things. I really think that the mentality of being content with what you have and not always wishing you had more is something very admirable. I would love to pick that up when I'm in Tonga!
Showing posts with label Book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book review. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Learning Journal 11
This past week has brought on several new discoveries for me! First, I decided on a book that I want to read for my Book Review, called "Becoming Tongan." It's all about the Tongan family and I feel like it will be very beneficial in my research on the family. I think this is a great opportunity to help me gain a little bit of insight, and if nothing else, have some conversation starters for my encounters/interviews with the Tongan people.
Another thing that I learned this week was the importance of preparing good questions before going into an interview and learning how to be a good interviewer. Obviously, I haven't mastered the skill by reading a couple of articles and practicing a couple of interviews, but I think it's very beneficial to gain an idea of what you can do to make your experience better. I'm very excited for the opportunity I will have to sit down with the Tongan people and ask them questions about their families and their views on things. I think one of the most important things I learned about that though, is the importance of guiding the interview and keeping it some what structured while still tailoring it for the situation at hand. I think I learned that it's actually ok to change your questions around a little based on the answers that the interviewee gives and that you don't have to stick to strict number or order of questions, etc. I think that keeping this in mind can really help you to have more successful interviews and help the person you are talking to want to open up more.
Lastly, I changed the topic that I will be studying around and am taking a different angle on studying the family. Instead of studying aggression, I am going to ask the Tongan people multiple different questions about family life in Tonga and get a general consensus of what the family norms are like. I am hoping to gain insights into the norms of Tongan courtship,marriage, pregnancy, child discipline, gender roles, along with a few other things. I think that this project will allow me much more flexibility and will help me to gain a broader understanding of several aspects of the family rather than one specific thing. I'm really excited about this topic and think it will make a successful project in Tonga!
Another thing that I learned this week was the importance of preparing good questions before going into an interview and learning how to be a good interviewer. Obviously, I haven't mastered the skill by reading a couple of articles and practicing a couple of interviews, but I think it's very beneficial to gain an idea of what you can do to make your experience better. I'm very excited for the opportunity I will have to sit down with the Tongan people and ask them questions about their families and their views on things. I think one of the most important things I learned about that though, is the importance of guiding the interview and keeping it some what structured while still tailoring it for the situation at hand. I think I learned that it's actually ok to change your questions around a little based on the answers that the interviewee gives and that you don't have to stick to strict number or order of questions, etc. I think that keeping this in mind can really help you to have more successful interviews and help the person you are talking to want to open up more.
Lastly, I changed the topic that I will be studying around and am taking a different angle on studying the family. Instead of studying aggression, I am going to ask the Tongan people multiple different questions about family life in Tonga and get a general consensus of what the family norms are like. I am hoping to gain insights into the norms of Tongan courtship,marriage, pregnancy, child discipline, gender roles, along with a few other things. I think that this project will allow me much more flexibility and will help me to gain a broader understanding of several aspects of the family rather than one specific thing. I'm really excited about this topic and think it will make a successful project in Tonga!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Learning Journal 9: A few frustrations and some enlightenment!
The good news is I think I found another book that will be a much better choice for the book review. I'm very excited about that! I was thinking that reading books about Tonga, and especially reading books that are famous in Tonga, will not only give us a better understanding of the culture, but will also give us more to talk about with the natives. If we can go over there and say, "oh yeah, I read that book by that Tongan author!" it will show them that we are trying to learn more about their culture and immerse ourselves in their ways.
The bad news is, my ORCA Grant Application was denied, so I don't have that source of income I was hoping for. The other bad news is, because the grant was declined, the mentor I had been working with for the last few months is no longer going to work with me on the Field Study. So, I have to find a new mentor. This could also change my project proposal a little, as well. The reason that I had chosen to do the methods that I did was because my previous mentor had worked on a similar study and had hoped to get the at published, now my options are a little more free. Hopefully, some nice professor will decide to help me out with the Field Study!
Something that has been on my mind since I have been reading the articles about research and interviewing skills is how great this type of ethnographic research is. Most of the research that I read in my major and for my classes is experiments and studies that have been done to try and prove (or disprove) a specific hypothesis. With our Field Studies, so much of our research is interviewing and observing, that I think you really get the first hand experience of what the lives of the people are like. It seems to me like they aren't your research subjects, but rather they are people that you get to know and learn from (and about). The interviewing process is very important, but I think the most important thing in my mind (and probably something that will take real effort on my part) is that when you are interviewing other people, it's important to just listen, and let them talk. The more I think about Field Studies research, the more excited I get to go to Tonga. Going back all the way to the first article, it's not just about what you learn about yourself and the experience that you have while you are abroad, it's about what you learn from the people and their culture. I'm hoping my mind will be open and I will be able to learn a lot from "the Tongan way."
The bad news is, my ORCA Grant Application was denied, so I don't have that source of income I was hoping for. The other bad news is, because the grant was declined, the mentor I had been working with for the last few months is no longer going to work with me on the Field Study. So, I have to find a new mentor. This could also change my project proposal a little, as well. The reason that I had chosen to do the methods that I did was because my previous mentor had worked on a similar study and had hoped to get the at published, now my options are a little more free. Hopefully, some nice professor will decide to help me out with the Field Study!
Something that has been on my mind since I have been reading the articles about research and interviewing skills is how great this type of ethnographic research is. Most of the research that I read in my major and for my classes is experiments and studies that have been done to try and prove (or disprove) a specific hypothesis. With our Field Studies, so much of our research is interviewing and observing, that I think you really get the first hand experience of what the lives of the people are like. It seems to me like they aren't your research subjects, but rather they are people that you get to know and learn from (and about). The interviewing process is very important, but I think the most important thing in my mind (and probably something that will take real effort on my part) is that when you are interviewing other people, it's important to just listen, and let them talk. The more I think about Field Studies research, the more excited I get to go to Tonga. Going back all the way to the first article, it's not just about what you learn about yourself and the experience that you have while you are abroad, it's about what you learn from the people and their culture. I'm hoping my mind will be open and I will be able to learn a lot from "the Tongan way."
Monday, January 24, 2011
Learning Journal 7: Finding a Book
I have been looking for several books to read about the Tongan culture for my book review. I have noticed that there aren't nearly as many books about Tonga as there are about a lot of other cultures, which makes it difficult to find a good book to read for the review. However, I have been able to find a couple that talk about adolescents and social problems, which will hopefully be helpful and applicable to my project. As I continue to search for articles to use for my proposal I am noticing that there are a ton on adolescents and aggression, and children and social problems, but not many on children in Tongan, especially on aggression.
As I continue to think about my project, I am wondering if I might run into problems with the topic that I am studying now. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the topic might be sensitive among the Tongan people. I am concerned that people might not want to talk about their parenting styles, especially to someone like me, who is likely to perceive them as harsh. I need to look more into this and see if this is a possibility.
One last thought I have had is about my paradigm that I am looking through. We have been talking about this in class, and I think it's important to make sure that when I am in the field, I am trying not to view the culture through my American-LDS paradigm. It's important to look at the culture with open eyes, but that's easier said than done. I think that will be something that will take work throughout the whole time I'm there.
As I continue to think about my project, I am wondering if I might run into problems with the topic that I am studying now. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if the topic might be sensitive among the Tongan people. I am concerned that people might not want to talk about their parenting styles, especially to someone like me, who is likely to perceive them as harsh. I need to look more into this and see if this is a possibility.
One last thought I have had is about my paradigm that I am looking through. We have been talking about this in class, and I think it's important to make sure that when I am in the field, I am trying not to view the culture through my American-LDS paradigm. It's important to look at the culture with open eyes, but that's easier said than done. I think that will be something that will take work throughout the whole time I'm there.
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