Audiences for Volunteering

I think that a lot of people would benefit from reading about volunteers. While I was doing my scholarly research, I found a lot of articles that talked about the effects of volunteering on people's lives. Whether it related to health, well-being, or cultural effects, there were a lot of people who were interested in volunteers and their lives. Also, I know that there are a lot of individuals out there who want to be involved in their communities through volunteer work, but they just don't know how to get started. This ethnography would be helpful to them by showing that it doesn't take anyone special to make a difference. It will show that the subculture of volunteers is made up of normal, everyday people like you and I, and that they can and should start finding ways to involve themselves with it.

audiences for my research

Although I am researching this subculture out of my own personal interest, I think that there might be some people interested in this work. I have found multiple people who have already studied this group and find them as facinating as I do. There seems to be a need to understand these fans of Twilight. Scholars don't just want to read about these people. They want to study them and understand them. Twilight is a big thing right now and this ethnography could just be a quick read to better know these kids. I would hope that parents would take an interest in this. Not that I want parents to restrict their kids from reading this. Kids shouldn't be restricted from reading anything they find interesting. I think that parents should just understand what kids are reading. Being aware is an important thing for more than just parents. Anyone who has sat back and watched an alarming rate of children obsessing over the same thing, no matter what it is, should look into it. So this work could be educational for people who are worried. This could also just be informative to those who are curious. This could possibly be the spark for someone becoming a new Twilight fan. It can go many ways. I chose to research this group because I saw an interesting subculture and wanted to know more.

Field Research week 3

This week, I observed another board meeting of the Volunteer Service Board. It was basically the same as the first one I observed, which was nice. I saw the same kinds of behavior and organization this time as the first time, which shows that this group has a pretty solid foundation of rituals. They again discussed the events of the week, and delegated tasks to be completed throughout the course of the week. They were very open with each other, and were also really positive; which reinforced my observations from the first week. Each person had something to say, showing that each position is important. Another thing I noticed this week was how respectful the group members were of each other. They all paid attention when someone was talking, and they never degraded or made fun of each other. They all seem to be very kind-spirited people.

Week 3 Observations

Monday I did my third observation at the Moyle Farm out in Star. They actually have quite a few plots of land around Star and halfway to Eagle where they plant corn in the late Summer and also potatoes mainly. Potatoes are planted in the spring so the entire farm is gearing up currently for the Moyle's farm's largest crop. I saw a couple of their fields within eye shot of their house. All the plots have been cultivated and ready for planting. It has rained the last couple days and it has been great for the soil is what he explained to me. Juan is the Moyle's main worker and he has worked for the family for a decade at least I'm sure. He showed me what they were doing that day (Monday). They were making sure all of the irrigation or watering equipment was ready for planting of the potatoes.

Field Research for Week 3

This week I observed a small fundraiser where several local musicians, including the main subject of my ethnography, Steven Palin performed. Joining him was local musician Jeremy Snook, and local band The Arctic Turtles. They were all set up to play in the basement of a pretty small house out toward Meridian for just a small audience of people. They had pretty good audio equipment but all the musicians were sharing so they didn't have to change the setup between acts. Steven performed first and did a set of about 10 - 12 songs that lasted for around 45 minutes. He talked about the show being pretty fun but it was small and not very professional and he really hopes to be able to perform for bigger audiences with more advanced equipment in the future.

Feild research, week 3

This past Saturday at 12:00 am was the release of the New Moon DVD. I went to Walmart to observe their release party and I even got to participate. I got there an hour early and only counted about 7 people in line. Walmart had created Twilight Land in the middle of thier store with all the Twilight merchandise displayed. They had cake with the characters faces on it and red and black balloons everywhere. They had twilight games ready and you could win prizes. As midnight came closer, more people came. I lost count after I reached 150 people because they brought the movies out and people scattered. It was pure chaos and really fun to watch.

Blog 3/16/10

I would say that the experts in my culture would be the farmers themselves, companies like Simplot and McDonalds and members of the Idaho Department of Agriculture. Those members have the voice of authority along with leaders in the food industry. Some outsider's that might be experts would be citizens against the use of pesticides and chemicals alike because of their environmental views. What pest control devices are currently use on farms? Why do you disagree with the use of these chemicals? What are alternative methods to farming? And how are prices determined when purchasing goods from farmers?

Progress - Field Research

The only issue that I have had with my research and observation so far is that there is so much going on on the farm. It's sort of difficult to get a good grasp on everyone and everything that goes on here. It is fairly simple to find information online about rural Idaho because our state seems based around agriculture. There is also a lot of stuff about how our valley's population is growing and destroying rural areas. Greg is a book of knowledge because he grew up on their farm. A few of my questions are how exactly do the products get to the market etc.? How have farms been affected by the poor economy currently? And what do they like to do on the farm when they are not working?

Experts in Volunteering

The experts in my field seem to be the board members. They plan all the events, organize them, manage them, and discuss them afterward in order to improve the next event. They know how to contact other volunteer agencies, and they handle basically everything that goes on in the Volunteer Service Board. They get ahold of all the members of the team, and let everyone know what the upcoming schedule is. They know all about volunteering and the attitude that it takes. They truly are experts in their field.

Experts of Twilight

Every fan would consider themselves an expert of the books and the movie. They have read, watched, and studied every aspect of Twilight. I think the true expert would be the author, Stephanie Meyer. She has her own 'official website' and gives updates for everyone to read. There is information about upcoming movies and the soundtracks. She has her own biography posted and details about each of the books. I think she is the voice of authority, but she enables all her fans to be experts as well. There are also some outsiders who have already studied twilight fans and vampires and written books on it. There are experts inside and outside of this culture.

Experts in the field of Piercing and Tattoo

I would consider the experts in this field to be the actual artists themselves, along with the people who have tattoos and piercings and have taken the time to fully understand the care and procedure that goes along with them. It is hard to say who the authority would be, but in the case of my observations at the tattoo parlor, the head tattoo artist is clearly the most experienced and the one in charge. I would say it is possible for an outsider to be an expert if they have learned all they can about tattoo and piercings but don't personally have any. I however have not encountered anyone like this so far in my research. As far as questions go, I think it would be appropriate to ask after the care of tattoos and piercings, and so on.

Field Research

Today I did my first field research. I went to a meeting that the Volunteer Service Board was holding. I learned a lot from it! They started on time, showing that they are punctual. It was really informal-nobody was dressed up except for the advising staff (1 guy). Everyone else was just wearing normal clothes. One girl was even wearing exercise clothing, so it was pretty basic. They were all really open with each other, and they all had a lot of input. There was a lot of laughter, but they stayed on subject and never really got too far off-track. Also, I noticed that they were all really positive. Nobody said anything degrading or negative for the entire meeting. All of their attitudes were really positive and helpful. They all encouraged one another, and were all willing to bend a little in order to make someone else's life a little easier. They were all open to suggestions of how to make the service projects better and more successful, and they were all down-to-earth, with really realistic goals. This meeting showed me a lot about their subculture.

Field Research

This week I had a lot of success and a lot of surprises. My observation was easy since I just had to go see a movie. It was a lot like the first time I saw this film which was good. This means that what I was hypothesizing about this group is somewhat correct. Both times I saw this film were almost parallel to eachother in how the fans react the same at the same parts of the movie. There were some things that I was not expecting though and it may change how my next observation goes. I assumed that the fans of twilight were around late middle school/early high school age. I was definatley proven wrong when the majority of the people in the theatre were late elementary/early middle school aged. I was planning on studying high school aged kids, but this may change now. So my new question now is how young are the youngest fans? And at what age do people start viewing the movie as the fantasy movie it was made to be and not a nonfiction film?

Subcultures

I can only think of a few subcultures to which I belong:

Idahoan-lived in Idaho my whole life, love of potatoes,

College Student-attending Boise State, everyday is filled with note taking and online quizes, closet is filled with blue and orange shirts.

Part time worker- cleaning houses, can only work a few hours due to school and lack of an opening for a second job, work for lots of different elderly people that each want their house cleaned a certain way, not what I want to do with the rest of my life. Rituals: having to clean their bathrooms every time I see them even if they aren't dirty. Insider Phrases: "Rake the carpets" means to take this rake made of tiny metals spikes and literally rake the carpet before I vacuum. We do share the same value of having a clean house.