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I will be interested in political attitudes in my research. Since a lot of political rallies and such focus on younger actors, I can envision myself looking for opportunities to “hang out” with people my age, doing things that they would normally do in order to engage in common everyday political conversation. I can see myself hanging out in bars (sipping on coke or fanta) having wonderful conversations with half drunk men who are more than willing to provide their “superior perspective” on life.
“We would recomnzend thatresearchers choose settings in which the subjectsare strangers and in which they have no particularprofessional knowledge or expertise:”
–I disagree with this idea. For some traditions of research, particular the interpretive tradition, it is actually recommended that the researcher immerse themself in the culture and he is often not even taken seriously unless he has spent years in the field. This provides a different kind of insight than the recommended fashion of unfamiliarity, but allows the researcher to better interpret the behavioral characteristics of individuals and why they do what they do. I prefer this approach more than the objective one. Because of my background I am also in a good position to use this approach whereas others would have to invest much more than me to get to the desired point of immersion.
Abraham Contos 