Research Blog Exploration 2

The short reading I selected was “Ethnography of Police Work in an Affluent Community.” Otis Jeffrey White wrote it. I think the general purpose of the paper was to study the behavior and the culture of the police force, specifically in a well off community. He used the traditional method of referencing books, including the date of publishing, as well as the page number. Also after some trivial means of gaining access to it, he also used field research. I would say both methods are good ways of gaining the information he was looking for, but the ride-along ended up providing much more relevant information for his paper and was by far the most successful method.

I would say the advantages of the second method are numerous. Typically you can glean basic everyday information from past written works, which is a good starting point. But to get the real story on what is going on, you have to be as close as possible to what you are researching. He was able to determine without a doubt that both of his subjects were indeed real cops regardless of whatever the general belief of the public was. He was also very surprised that both cops followed protocol up until the point of determining what the actual penalty would be for the violator. In the end though, both methods worked. Another benefit of being up close and personal with his subjects was the ability to inject some humor into the paper from the dialogue he had with them. I personally loved the extra categories every age range in school had. Especially that some of them were classified that way based on rumor and hearsay. I don’t think there were any disadvantages because he chose to use more than one method to research. If he stuck with just the written works, I don’t think he would have been able to relate to the specifics of that particular town as well. I also felt that he answered most of the questions and changed any pre-conceived notions he may have had going into the research.

Personally I like both methods of research. I am an empirical type of person, but am also able to get and understand the information from books, the Internet or whatever other written source you may use. I hope that we are able to have assignments in the future that are similar to this. Being able to choose, even if restricted to six or seven options, was very nice.

Research Blog Exploration 1

While reviewing the topics I had brainstormed I realized that most of them revolved around sports, people, places and things I wonder about. Sometimes I ask myself where is it that I am going or where do I want to go? Often I think about the great places I have been and wonder how I will be able to make it back there. I wonder how I will be able to make it to new places on this lousy college budget. I also have a lot of people in my life. From friends to family, I am learning that I tend to appreciate each and everyone a lot more as I get older. I have people here that are constantly trying to get me to stop thinking about moving back to Denver, or to another destination.

Some other things that I have pondered about is whether or not I will get this degree. Of course by “this degree” I haven’t even figured out what that will be. I wonder how long it may take me. I wonder how am I going to keep paying for tuition/books out of pocket without any assistance, financial aid or otherwise. I constantly try to figure out if I’m making the right choices or not, even when I know some are terrible. One thing I do not wonder about anymore is whether or not I’m a cynic. This is something I have come to grips with to an extent. I also tend to over analyze things. I still cannot figure out why this is.

Finally some of the things that matter to me most would be the collection of sports teams that I do follow with great interest. I want to be able to attend more of these events like I was able to do in Denver. I’ve debated several times on going down to SLC Utah to catch some NBA games, yet decided against it every single time. Just can’t stand that place I guess. I went back for the AFC championship game 2 years ago in Denver. It ended up being one of the greatest times of my life, even though we lost. Something strange but fun about tailgating and being hammered by 8-9 in the morning with people you enjoy.

Not sure if it’s necessary or not, but just to make sure, let’s get these questions out of the way. Some of my research interests are listed above, but in reality there are too many to list. But if I have interest in it, you can bet that I will be giving it my all. However if I do not, good luck to the both of us. The communities that I’m interested in are probably similar to everyone else, in that I am interested in the ones that hold the same ideals and beliefs that I do. I want to know more about success. I need to get back into that mindset and being goal-oriented again. I am curious about the amount of time this class will take up compared to your standard English 102 class.