I went to an inquiry conference this week where I listened to a few presentations by students who had recently gone on a field study. Everyone had great and interesting presentations, but there were a couple of girls who spoke that said some things that really stuck out to me.
One girl, Robyn, went to India to interview women about the social and physical effects that HIV has on them and their families. She interviewed 10 women and also facilitated a focus group. I was actually surprised by the small number of women she was able to interview--having majored in psychology, we always put so much emphasis on a large quantity of participants in research. That said, I feel like she still had a lot of informative and good things to say from the data she did gather. I don't know, I guess it's just giving me a better/different feel for what a field study entails... The other thing that I thought was interesting was when she, talking about mothers in India, said "women want to make sure that their children are taken care of." I feel like although her statement was referring to mothers in India, it actually described most mothers around the world--including Italy. I think a potential reason that you adults continue to live at home in Italy is because their mothers want the best for them, and if that means supporting them for a few more years, that's what they do.
The other girl that spoke, Hailey, talked about how it was hard to understand a different culture from the perspective of someone in that culture because they treat you differently based on the fact that you are a foreigner. I'm excited, but I guess the more I learn, the less sure I am of what to expect...
You have pointed out a big challenge, and have pointed out quite a few more in other blogs too. It is daunting, isn't it? As you have mentioned and as others have talked about in Inquiry Conference, a lot of factors exist that limit us from viewing what life is like for the natives of the location. You have been thinking of these and trying hard to prepare and over come them, and continue to do so of course, but also realize that there are some things that you can't change. You can't change the color of your skin. You can't change the fact that you are American. What do you think are some ways in which you can kind of "roll" with that and make the best out of that challenge?
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