Dilemas

Some moral dilemmas that ethnographers face occur with the idea of being “undercover.” Ethnographers face the dilemma of feeling as if they are lying to the group they are observing. As the book expressed, it may feel as if they are deceiving the, for lack of a better word, culture they are trying to belong in.
To resolve this issue, they just need to think about how they are not necessarily deceiving anyone. They have to think about how they are doing research for themselves and that if they are changing for the culture they are trying to belong in, they are just adapting to their surroundings. This is something that everyone does. We adapt to our surroundings and in many cases we change our actions in order to feel as though we belong. I feel as though most ethnographers are observing a certain group because they are interested in that group, they are not observing to make fun of or be mean to that group. But they are observing and researching because they are trying to make sense of that particular group. This is not something that everyone is willing to do, especially with an open mind. Ethnographers are not judging or putting biases on the group, but they are observing and analyzing. They should not feel as though they are doing any thing morally wrong, unless they are truly doing something mean.
Although our actions may change, who we are does not necessarily change. When adapting to our surroundings we can pretty much fit into a certain group or culture by still being ourselves, just adding little kinks to be able to make sure we are acting appropriate for that culture. This is not mean. It would be a harder situation if the ethnographer makes up huge elaborate lies about themselves and have people depend on them just to go away and deliberately hurt the culture. So in other words, Ethnographers can resolve the issue of feeling as though they are being deceptive by still being themselves just adapting to their surroundings. They need to realize they are doing the research to better understand, not to hurt, the culture.

Ethnography

Out of all the research methods listed in table 13.3 I find ethnography the most interesting. I got my first glimpse of the ethnography method last semester in my Comm100W class, and ever since found it interesting. I did not take the opportunity to research using the ethnography method because I was unsure of what it was, but once I learned (both in my Comm100W class and in this chapter) I have been intrigued. The idea of being able to be a part of my research and immersing myself into a new, or old, culture to observe is exciting to me. Having the option of taking one of two roles helps to not over stress one self in the researching situation. I also like the idea of conclusions emerging from the observations being made.
Assuming I want to study an aspect of deception I would ask, “What are the primary uses that deception is used for in a college classroom?” I would use ethnography for my method because I would be able to be a part of a classroom environment without disturbing the natural feel of the class. I would be able to observe and find my conclusions through taking part of the class.

Commonsense ways of knowing

I enjoyed reading the section about problems with commonsense ways of knowing. I didn’t realize the analysis of how we go about thinking or interpreting events on a day-to-day basis. But reading this section I kept saying in my head, oh my gosh that is so true. The section starts off by explaining how in everyday life we usually adopt the first plausible explanation as a final answer without looking further into it. This is true in so many instances, some people will just ask a friend or an acquaintance about an issue and if the answer sounds about right, they accept it without any further explanation. Next came the idea that “our everyday models of human behavior are often models of our own behavior (p.368).” This again hit me over the head how when discussing things with friends, if friends have not seen it with their own eyes, they are not wiling to believe. Lastly, the heuristics, “rules of thumb that allow us to avoid careful information processing (p. 369),” rang just as true. When reading the examples of the simple cues, the status cues, and formal aspects, I recognized each and every one of the sayings. I have said or heard those exact examples due to my simplistic ways of thinking. It was interesting to see in more detail the way in which we think on a day-to-day basis. It made me feel like I am too simple of a thinker.

face 2 face and cyberface

I have not made friendships exclusively from cyberspace, every friend I have contact with on the Internet I’ve had some type of f2f relationship with beforehand. There have been some relationships that have grown through cyberspace, such as people who I have met on vacation or some type of trip. Our relationship may have started as a quick acquaintance while on vacation and grew into a full on friendship by keeping in touch through email, facebook and AIM. It is really useful to be able to have cyber relationships now a days especially because, like it has said in our book, our world is turning into a global village. With so many every day transactions that are being made from city to city the internet helps make it easy to keep in contact with those we meet while either at work or on vacation. The Internet has been a huge turning crutch in my long distance relationship with my boyfriend. He is in the Marine Corps and although he has not had to deploy yet, he has gone to schooling and been stationed all around the country. At times the best way for us to communicate was the Internet and thus propelling us into the cyberspace relationship.

"I heard it through the grapevine."

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 8 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
I found it really interesting to read about the history of the saying “I heard it through the grapevine (pg.224).” I have used this phrase many times in the past without even knowing the story behind it. I found it amusing that the saying came from the Civil War telegraph lines. Also, it was funny to read that information on the grapevine is usually 75 to 95% accurate. I assumed that a lot of the information one hears through the grapevine was false rumors. Especially after reading about the example of the game telephone. I found that example to be useful because information does get distorted when being shared through many links. I felt that the information on the grapevine could be like information in telephone but now once I think about it, it makes sense that information can be incomplete and still accurate.
The grapevine is an informal communication structure and I feel, through both reading the book and my experience, that the informal structures are the most effective. Just as the book discusses dissatisfaction of employees with downward communication, formal communication runs with the same stride. People can take formal information worse than they would informal information, especially because with informal communication information comes out smoother and can be situational. More formal communication is less situational and personal.

Filters

I found Duck’s filtering theory very interesting to read. It was easy to relate his theory to my life and it was fun to think about how I filter people into my life. I did however find that the physical proximity part true and false at the same time. The example he gave made sense to me with the houses which face inward becoming closer than the houses that did not. But the idea of that is situational as well. Also, with our world becoming a global village (as our book would call it) our proximity is not as important or relevant any more. Long distance relationships have become a lot easier than before, this I know from experience.
Thinking about the filters I use to eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners was fun for me. Characteristics that lead me to judge others as unattractive would be rudeness, self-centeredness, and close mindedness. I cannot stand when people are rude to others for no apparent reason, being rude is one of the biggest things one can do to make themselves ugly. To be confident and aware of yourself is good but to be all about yourself and not care for any one else is very unattractive. You may be important but you are not the only person living on this planet. And lastly I try to be as open minded as I can be so I find it very attractive for someone to be open. When people are so closed minded that they wont even listen to a different idea I find it incredibly rude which as I said before is ugly (in my eyes).
I have eliminated people before using sociological and pre-interaction cues only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues. I see now the sociological cues were due to stereotypes I had given to people from certain places. I am very happy that I was able to open my eyes and see people for who they were oppose to their sociological and pre-interaction cues because some of them are my closest friends now.

Culture and perception

When I was reading the section about culture and perception it reminded me of when I lived in San Diego. I had just moved down and was living with three other girls who I had only just met. Two of he girls grew up with different cultural backgrounds than me. I had to keep an open mind to some of the things the girls would do. One girl in particular would always yell at her parents when speaking to them on the phone. This was extremely odd to me and the other girls especially because we would have gotten in big trouble if we spoke to our parents the way she was . It wasn't until I had gone up to her house to visit that I realized this was how her family was. She grew up with different norms than I did and the way she spoke with her parents was completely acceptable.
Another thing that this chapter seemed to repeat a few times was the "us" and "them." I feel like this is a problem I see all over. It is sad but true. People feel as though they are of higher value than other people from different cultures. My very own cousin falls victim to this way of thinking and as much as I try to educate her and open her mind she is very stuborn. It is something we need to start teaching our children from a young age so that they don't become the people seperating themselves into the "us" and "them."

"Creatures of culture"

I do agree with Ruth Benedict that we "are creatures of our culture" and our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture. I agree because, like I have previously touched upon, I feel as though our culture is what shapes us. And like Benedict has stated it is our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities that are shaped by our culture, it is even when our habits, beliefs, or impossibilities differ from our culture, it is our culture that makes us come to those conclusions.
As to how we can break through the limits of our cultures, I feel, once again, it is through openness. Like the book discusses it is often overlooked that the way someone acts may be due to his or her culture, and in turn we label people. It is when one has an open mind to the idea of people growing up with different norms and habits is when we can break away from the limits of our cultures. Realizing peoples different backgrounds and cultures helps to identify why a person is the way they are.