Reflections on Assignment

Now that the research assignment has been submitted, I thought I would reflect on my experience with it. I was grateful to have had the opportunity to complete this assignment because I think that having the experience of completing research is good preparation for grad school.

I also thought that having the opportunity to observe what other students were doing for research was also a useful learning experience. Other students in the class approached their research in ways that were a lot different to the way that I approached mine. It was good to learn not only from Angela but also from others in the class.

Completing the ethics proposal was a frustrating process because I had difficulty accessing the ethics tutorial on the website. I wish that I had completed the tutorial in advance of writing the proposal because once I was able to access the tutorial, some of the aspects of how to write the proposal made more sense to me.  On a positive note, I am glad that I have now completed this tutorial because it is one thing that I won’t need to do next year.

The research assignment helped me to identify what further learning and/or experience that I need to gain in order to be successful in grad school. For instance, at this point, I am not strong in theory and am aware that this is something that I need to learn more about.

The literature review took a lot longer than I thought it would. This was partly because I needed to learn how to use the online database. In 1994 (the last time that I needed to look up journal articles), the issue was that there did not seem to be enough information readily available for students. In 2014, the issue that I found was that there was too much information. I learned that it takes time and skill to narrow down your searches to find journal articles relevant to your research.

On a related note, I LOVED using Refworks. I can’t believe how much easier it is to track journal articles and reference work properly. I still fill like this is something that I need to learn more about. For instance, it was in about the last hour of writing my research report that I learned how to “add” resources that I had not found using the online databases. I am sure that there are other features with this tool that will be helpful and am eager to learn how to use it fully.

In conducting the actual research, I learned that it is one thing to say that you are going to do something “on paper” and another thing to actually do it.  I understood why we needed to have a thorough process to ensure that we were conducting research ethically (i.e., have an information letter and a feedback letter, explain that the research was confidential and voluntary etc.), it took a lot of time to do that. As I watched people’s body language as I went through the “intake” process, I could see them losing patience with it. I found myself trying to strike a balance between wanting to do things “right” and also maintain good relationships with the volunteers.

The presentation of my research to my classmates went “o.k.” for me. Even though I am used to speaking publicly, I still get nervous. I didn’t think that I was at my best for that presentation…particularly in the beginning as I was rambling away in my introduction! On a positive note, I also appreciated the knowledge translation piece of this assignment that happened “naturally” as we were able to share our research with the Festival Manager.

Thank you Angela and Nina for everything that you did to make this experience such a successful one! I learned a lot from both of you.

Reflection: A Conversation Between Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy: Arts-Based Research, Performative Social Science and Working on the Margins

Source: https://uwaterloo.ca/murray-alzheimer-research-and-education-program/research/projects

This is a reflection of the article "A Conversation Between Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy:
Arts-Based Research, Performative Social Science and Working
on the Margins". As the title implies, this article is an interview with Kip Jones and Patricia Leavy who are arts-based researchers.

The articles starts off with defining what arts-based research is. It is defined as "as the use of tools from the Arts (and Humanities) in carrying out Social Science research and/or disseminating its findings" (page 1). As the interview continues, they talk about the benefits of arts-based research and in particular the importance of  making research more accessible to the "lay person".

As I read this article, I thought about the work of MAREP (Murray Alzheimer Research Education Program). MAREP conducts psycho-social research related to dementia and quite often their research is arts-based.

While there are many of examples of the work of MAREP, a very simple and practical example that comes to my mind is the "A Meaningful Life" photo exhibit that they supported through the "Journey through Dementia with Photography Project". Through this project the life of a man living with dementia was captured through photographs. The photos are displayed through the Alzheimer Day Program in Cambridge. To me, this is an excellent opportunity to share information about what it is like to live with a dementia and do it in a way that is accessible to people -an excellent example of arts-based research.

As I turn a chapter in my own life and am about to embark on grad school, I hope that the research that I conduct has impact on other people's lives. I don't want to conduct research that ultimately "collects dust" because the only people who read it are other people in the academic community. I think that using art within research is very important because it is a way to make research accessible to everyone in the community.

Post-Class Reflection

photo source: http://mashable.com/2012/03/02/twitter-bird-name/

Over the past two weeks, we have had the opportunity to present the findings of our research from Night\Shift 2014 and also listen to the presentations of the rest of the class on the research that they did for the event.

Of all of the presentations that I watched, the ones that really "stuck out" for me were the ones on the use of social media. This is not an area that I am very familiar with. I  have little experience with social media in my personal life and definitely not in doing research. I suppose it is one of those "generation gap" issues. While most of my family/friends use Facebook, very few people in my own "social circles" use Twitter or Instagram. I just have no reason to use it as I don't know anyone that I would use it with.

As I reflected on this leisure behaviour, I thought it was interesting how people tweet about their experiences during leisure. Then there is a secondary leisure experience as they talk about it through social media. I suppose there would be a third experience which is when all of the people who did not actually attend Night\Shift are living vicariously through their friends and family who attended and reported about the event.

What strange times we live in.

Yes, I know....I am dating myself.

The other thing that I reflected on was the fact that I need learn more in terms of understanding social media and the opportunities to conduct research through this medium. As my fellow classmates seemed to effortlessly talk about hashtags and doing searches for different types of tweets, it occurred to me how skilled they were with this AND how unskilled I am at this! There seemed to be a lot of information generated from social media and it seems like the research was very easily attainable. I really can see the benefit of becoming more "social media literate" . Watching their presentations really piqued my interest in the subject and I have added it to my "list" of things to learn more about in 2015.

Post Event Reflection

As part of our evaluation, students in this course are evaluating an event. Below is a reflection of this event. Since this is a public blog, I have intentionally left some details out to try and keep my comments relatively anonymous (knowing that the TA/Faculty who are evaluating this blog are aware of the contextual details).......

One of the things that we learned in class is the importance of also keeping a journal of our own observations as we are conducting research. The idea is that the journal would help to add another "layer" to our evaluation and therefore deepen our understanding of the findings and also evaluate the research methodology.

With that in mind, I am going to reflect on my experiences at the as I was administering the survey to volunteers. Here are some random observations:

Thoughts about Event Leadership

"John" the event coordinator arrived about 1.5 hours after our agreed upon meeting time because he had accidentally locked his keys in his car. Naturally, when I saw him, he was "frazzled" and stressed...as would anyone be who found themselves in this situation.

As I reflected on this occurrence further, one of the things that I also observed is that there did not seem to be anyone else from the agency that was organizing this event (staff or volunteer). There should have been other people at the event other than John who were leadership.  In my opinion, John needed to have a volunteer committee to help him to plan and implement the event and there should have been other staff available to provide another level of leadership. I realize that the organizing agency is very small but when it comes to special events, the expectation in the agency should be that "all hands are on deck".

Occurrences like locking your keys in the car, getting sick or having a death in the family "happen" and that is why it is important to have more than one person in charge (so that other people can provide leadership in the absence of the main leader). Further more, if the goal of this event is community development, one of the most effective ways to have the community be engaged is for the community to be part of the planning and development of the event. Not only does a committee provide input into the planning and delivery of an event, leadership volunteers informally help wipth marketing the event to the larger community by spreading the word through their personal contacts. They also can help with volunteer recruitment (by recruiting volunteers through their own personal "pool" of friends and family).

Observations about the Survey
In addition to the main observation above, I did have a couple of observations about the survey itself:
-I forgot to include "retired" as an option under the question that I asked them if they were working full-time, part-time, a student etc.
-Under the same section that I asked about their highest level of education, some people were confused about the wording of this section.

In hindsight, I wish that I had given the survey to some of my friends and family to review for their feedback. What seemed obvious to me was not always clear to others and getting a different perspective when writing the survey would have helped to troubleshoot that.

Lonely Volunteer

One final observation that I had mentioned in class is that I also experienced one volunteer who seemed to be quite lonely and I wondered if that is the reason why he/she was volunteering. This volunteer had a self-described long and detailed history of volunteering in the community and appeared to have some health issues (was older and had a cane).

As I was talking with this person, it seemed to me that the person may have felt marginalized because of these disabilities and also because of ageism. The person seemed to have a need to be validated for all of the contributions that the person had made in the community which I tried to do as I was engaging in the conversation. The conversation continued for quite a long time and I felt that the volunteer was "hanging on" to the conversation longer than what is typical.

The survey was made anonymously and therefore I do not know which specific survey was completed by the person. However, I suspect that the reasons that I observed regarding why this person was possibly volunteering would not have been captured on the person's survey because the person may not even be aware that he/she has these needs.

At the same time, these are only my observations. Maybe I have misinterpreted the person's motivations....I have worked with many lonely older adults throughout the years and am aware of my own personal bias about this.

Post Class Reflection -Beads Bodies and Trash

I really enjoyed our class discussion today about the book Beads, Bodies and Trash. I have found that my fellow classmates are very insightful, intelligent and interesting. Having not been in an academic environment for many years (at least not at a university level), today was "one of those days" that reminded me of everything that I have enjoyed about being within an academic environment and the intellectual stimulation that results. Not only did I enjoy listening and reflecting on the ideas of my fellow classmates, I also found your (i.e., Angela) experiences with being on a Krewe in New Orleans to be intriguing.

You  may recall my reflection about Chapter Three of Beads, Bodies and Trash wasn't very positive. I had an "aha" moment during our class discussion today as we got onto the topic of theory. Some of my classmates commented about the theory that was discussed in the book and how Redmon related theories to his analysis of the significance of Mardi Gras beads. You (Angela) also made a comment about the a significant aspect of Graduate Studies involves the application of theory and the important role that theory has in expanding our understanding of concepts.

With this in mind, I decided to re-read Chapter Three and intentionally focus on some of the theories within this chapter (example: Durkheim, Simmel, Goffman). I found that by doing this, I was better able to reflect on the importance of the various theories and the role that they played in helping to understand the social significance of the Mardi Gras beads. I could also see how David Redmon used various theories to extend and explain his understanding of concepts.  The reflection made me realize why it is important to have a sound understanding of the various theories related to recreation and leisure studies. This is an area that I am going to focus on strengthening as part of my academic goals.

Source: http://www.permanentculturenow.com/introduction-to-theory-2/

Reflection -Chapter Four -Mardi Gras: Made in New Orleans

Source: http://www.bigspringenvironmental.com/mardi-gras-trash-cleanup/

Chapter Four of Beads, Bodies and Trash by David Redmon is was about the Mardi Gras bead's final "pit stop" on the commodity chain: the trash.

In this chapter of the book, the reader is introduced to a number of people who are connected to the beads "as trash". We meet the clean up crew at the Superdome, members of VerdiGras (an environmental movement group),Bucket Brigade (another environmental group) and various artists (example: Katrina Brees and Jack Lawson). These are people who have an interest in the beads once they are disposed of once as Mardi Gras is finished each year. We also learn about the problems that discarded Mardi Gras beads cause to the environment and to the health of people who are exposed to them.

David Redmon, states that he wants to focus his discussion in this chapter "on the effort of the Verdi Gras movement to experientially transform plastic beads into aesthetically deviant objects through sensoral encounters with them" (page 98) and that he wants to "explore the sensuality of deviant objects embedded within the impacts of globalization" (page 99). The focus is on describing the sensory journey of these beads and on what happens to them (and to the environment) when they are disposed of (not only in New Orleans but also the world).

Frankly, the impact of these beads to the local and global environment and also the health of the people who come into contact with these beads is quite scary. It is amazing that the beads "leech" into the environment once they are disposed of and also that the beads are made of some very hazardous materials such as lead. After reading this chapter, I have decided to never purchase those beads again and will be spreading the word among my family and friends about how harmful they are.

I thought that it was interesting how many of the people who are part of the environmental movement in New Orleans want to change people's value on the beads by moving them away from being seen as a status symbol and changing them to a stigma symbol. They want people to be aware of how harmful the beads are to the environment, the local economy and to the health of those come into contact with them. While it was noted in this chapter by one of the artists, Jack Lawson, that this movement is new, he also said that there is starting to be more interest in it. Hopefully these environmental advocates and artists can work towards a transformational change within the culture of Mardi Gras and New Orleans before it is too late and the damage done to the environment is too significant.

Reflection -Chapter Three: Elementary Forms of Sensual Life

source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/origins-flashing-beads-mardi-gras/

This blog entry is a reflection of Chapter Three of the book Beads, Bodies and Trash by David Redmon.  This chapter is titled "Elementary Forms of Sensual Life" and covers the Redmon's interpretation of the bead's "symbolic and sensoral power" (page 51).

David Redmon goes to great lengths to describe the journey of the beads based on his observations through his senses as they arrive on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. He uses a lot of descriptive, sensoral language to describe his observations such as stench, scream, chanting, camera flashes, nudity etc. as he describes the environment in which the beads are in.

Beyond a description of the author's sensoral observations on Bourbon Street, the chapter gives a description of ludic leisure and an analysis regarding the reasons why people engage in the exchange of beads for deviant/pleasurable acts. 

So what did I think of all of this? Well, to be honest, I did not have a lot of patience in reading about the various "tricks" that people engaged in exchange for Mardi Gras beads. I was also less interested in reading about the reasons why people engage in thsi form of ludic leisure. Their "rationale" is so far removed from how I live my life. While I could understand the rationale, I just could not relate to it or appreciate it.

My personal approach to life is to try to focus my time and energy on being optimistic and thinking positively. While I identify as a "free thinker" with a humanistic perspective, I was raised in a family with a christian belief system. I have found the following biblical passage to be inspirational and "wise counsel" and it came to mind as I was reading this chapter:

  

source: http://www.365daysofinspiringmedia.com/articles/message-mondays-think-on-these-things/

None of the activities on Bourbon Street meet my personal criteria as things that are "noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy". As I read the deep analysis and description about various "tricks"  on Bourbon Street, I questioned what academic or personal benefit I would gain from reading about them.  I was already aware of what "goes on" during Mardi Gras prior to reading this book. The reasons that people would engage in various "tricks" in exchange for beads as described in this chapter seemed obvious to me prior to reading the chapter.

I find that in this chapter and throughout the entire book, the author's writing style is hyper-articulate. Once I "waded through" what he trying to explain, I believe that if we had a class discussion about this prior to reading this chapter, I think that as a class we could have come up with the same reasons that were included in this chapter. I kept waiting for there to be a "revelation" and reached the end of the chapter only to discover that there wasn't one. 

If I consider the benefit to reading this chapter might be about reading about how to conduct research by focusing on the senses, I agree that this chapter did do this. However, I feel like there are other chapters in this book that also do this and that I personally enjoyed reading these chapters more than this one.

On an optimistic note, I am looking forward to participating in the class discussion on Thursday. Maybe the class will bring to light new insights in this chapter that I hadn't thought of. 

Well, this has certainly turned into a negative reflection!! After writing it, I am going to start to read Chapter Four and am hoping that this chapter is more productive.

Hmpf!

Post Class Reflection

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag

In this reflection, I will comment on Maggie Miller's visit to the class where she discussed her graduate research and presentation "Trekking through graduate research: Willing and the Nepali mountainside". 

Through Maggie’s presentation, she described how she used both a photographic journal and also audio recordings to document her journey through the Nepali mountainside in order to conduct preliminary research for her graduate studies.   As I was listening to her present, I had an “aha” moment about the benefits of incorporating the senses when conducting research. The photos that she shared with the class of her journey documented the visually the rugged mountainside and how challenging the terrain would have been to navigate.

However, it wasn’t until I heard her audio recordings of her journey that I really understood how difficult this trip was for her. It made me realize how gathering information from using a variety of senses could be so beneficial for research. When I heard the audio recording, it was if a “veil removed” and the information was so much more vivid and rich. It wasn’t until I heard her audio journal that I truly understood her experience.

Her visit has made me appreciate the book “Beads Bodies and Trash” more. I feel like I am “getting” David’s research more and why he has chosen to study the “sensory experience” of the beads as they travel the commodity chain. I have always wanted to watch David’s documentary “Made in China” however, with this “aha moment”, I am even more interested in watching it. It think that it will allow me to gain further understanding of his research because of the auditory and visual experience of watching it through the documentary (in addition to reading the book). 

Reflection -A Continuum of Leisure Studies and Professional Specialties: What if no Connections Exist?

This reflection is about the World Leisure Journal article "A continuum of leisure studies and professional specialties: what if no connections exist?" by Karla A Henderson. 

In the article, Henderson describes a "crisis" between the academic community and the practitioners working within the various specialized areas of recreation and leisure services. As the leisure community has grown and developed specialties, Henderson pointed out that a dilemma has developed regarding how the academic community and the specialties are going to work together. Henderson proposes that “leisure studies and professional specialties are at two ends of a continuum and that they have had a range of interrelationships in the past which are under major examination going into the future” (page 77).

It seems to me that another way of saying this is that leisure studies and professional specialties are experiencing "growing pains" in how they will work together.  This is natural considering how young the field actually is. As noted in the article, the concept of leisure only became formalized after the Industrial Revolution and it wasn't until the 1960’s that people started studying leisure more intensely. We are a young field!

As the field of recreation and leisure has grown, it has diversified into various areas of specialties. Universities and colleges have responded in a way to prepare students for employment upon graduation. For instance, at University of Waterloo, undergraduates can opt for a variety of majors within Recreation and Leisure studies such as Recreation and Sport Business, Therapeutic Recreation and Tourism and Parks Management. At Conestoga College, in addition to the Recreation and Leisure Services Program, there are post-graduate opportunities to study Recreation Management for Older Adults Program, Volunteer Management, Event Planning etc.

As the field grows and diversifies, the people who work within this field (both directly and within the academic community) will have had to examine/readjust the linkages that were once established. Personally, I would not call that a crisis and am a bit puzzled as to why Henderson thinks that it is. To me that is “life”. Change is the only constant and it is up to all of us to grow and adapt to that change.

Perhaps I have not been exposed enough to the academic community and I am naive in my thinking around this.  I do agree with Henderson who believes that we need to keep leisure studies as a common ground amongst all of the specialties. As the field continues to grow, it seems to me that the challenge will be determining how to most effectively do that.

Chapter Two: Mardi Gras: Made in China

Source: https://blog.etsy.com/en/2010/mardi-gras-made-in-china/

Well, if the theme of the first chapter of the textbook was "intrigue and skeptism", my overall reaction to the second chapter of the book would be that it was an "eye opener".

Occasionally, my daughter (who is ten) enjoys going to the Dollarama as a treat to buy toys and candy. I have never given much thought about where their entire inventory comes from. Yes, I knew that it came from China and yes, I knew that the working conditions of the Chinese workers were poor. I just didn't realize the extent and truthfully, I think that I subconsciously chose to "live in ignorance" so that I wouldn't have to feel guilty about buying from the Dollarama.  It seems that I am no different than the party-goers at Mardi Gras who were interviewed in this chapter of the book. For the most part, never questioned where their Mardi Gras beads came from! They also don't want to know because it would put a damper on the celebration.

Well, my head was pulled out of the sand in the second chapter of the book as the author described the working conditions of the Chinese teenage girls who make the beads that are shipped to Mardi Gras. In short, their working conditions are very oppressive. They are paid $62 US per month and work 15 hours per day for 6 days per week. The factory that they work in is fenced in with barbed wire and is patrolled by security guards. Every move that they make is monitored and they must adhere to unrealistic expectations in terms of rules (quotas, no talking etc). They even have to wear red hats so that they can be seen more easily and therefore monitored better. I could go on and on but then I would just be summarizing the Chapter and not really reflecting on what I thought of all of it!!

In this chapter, Redmon tries to interview the teenage workers at the factory. Initially he is told that he can interview anyone that he wants to because Roger (the factory owner) knows that none of them speak English. When Redmon hires a translator, they are initally followed around by one of the managers and a security guard so that they can find out what the workers are saying about their working conditions to the author. Even the translator is "in on the act" because she does not really translate what the girls are saying. She just says that they all say that the working conditions are good when in fact they girls are saying that they are not.

Redmon also described the sensual relationship that the girls have to the beads. He describes sensations such as the loud machines that are used to produce the beads, the stained arms of the girls who paint the beads and also the calloused/injured hands of the workers.

So, what did I think of all of this? Well, I was sickened by the working conditions that were described and was struck by how unjust it is.  I feel so sorry for these girls because they do not seem to have a lot of choices in their life and it made me aware of my own "white privilege". Most of them come from rural China where the working conditions are also difficult. They rationalize that at least they are getting paid when they work in the factory. 

At the same time, now that I have this information, I have considered whether or not I will continue to shop at the Dollarama with my daughter and I have decided that I will continue to do this. This seems to be similar to the interview that Redmon has with the owner of the bead distribution company in the US (i.e., that buys the beads from Roger in China). He justified “doing business” with this factory because if he did not do it, then another business would step in and pick up where he left off. He also stated that he thought that the workers were given an opportunity to improve their lives by working at the factory and therefore felt justified in his decision.

Chapter One: Introduction

source: http://www.mylpl.info/mardi-gras-bead-art/

The book, Beads, Bodies and Trash by David Redmon is about the author's multi-site, ethnographic journey in which he examines the sensory relationship of Mardi Gras beads to the global political economy and the social environment. Redmon used a camcorder to videotape the multi-sensory experience of the beads as they traveled through a commodity chain from a factory in China to Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans and then their ultimate disposal when the celebration is over.

In the first chapter of the book, Redmon introduced the central thesis of the book "that the senses shape, form and govern the commodity chain of Mardi Gras" (page 7). He elaborated that he "aims to understand the beads as sensory objects that both unit and divide people through the experiences connected to the objects" (page 10).

My first impression of the book consisted of one part intrigue and one part skepticism. In this reflection, I will "speak to" the skepticism first. One of the first things that I noted was that Redmon was a 20 year-old, male university student and my first thought was "it figures" that he would write a book about Mardi Gras beads. I wondered if he somehow was trying to impress girls with his ties to the academic community. As I envisioned him on Bourbon Street with his video camera recording lewd acts and the interviewing people afterwards, it all seemed a bit creepy to me and I questioned his motivations.

On the other hand, I must admit that the first chapter of the book intrigued me and I could relate to Redmon's curiosity about people who perform lewd acts for beads. I thought that the stories that he shared were quite poignant --especially the dichotomy between the desperate lives of the teenage workers at the factory in China and the hedonistic lifestyle of the Mardi Gras revelers on Bourbon Street. One of the things that struck me is how meaningless the lives of the workers were and also how ultimately meaningless the ritual of exchanging beads seems to be to me. I realize that the exchange may be meaningful for some people but truthfully, I struggle to see it from their perspective. Based on my value system, it seemed to me that there were similarities as well as contrasts in the existence of the workers from China and those who exchange beads for sexual acts.

I also noted that Redmon's book is an emergence of his documentary Mardi Gras: Made in China which has won 21 national and international awards. I have made a note to watch the documentary after reading the book.