Who wants to fund my research institute?
Oct. 4th, 2010 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apple_pathwaysOne of the courses I'm taking this semester is Social Research Methods. I'm a little peeved that I have to take this course, considering I already have lots of experience and have even presented my research at symposia, but whatever, I have to take it, it's fine.
Our major assignment for the semester is a review of literature on a topic of our choosing. I need to choose a topic, do some preliminary research, and write up my proposal by Wednesday. And I still haven't picked a topic.
I can think of plenty topics I'd like to cover, but either they're psychology and not sociology-related, or they're so obscure that it's unlikely I'll be able to find enough research. Some ideas I'm DYING to use:
Idea #1: I'm very interested in examining how people's tea-drinking habits relate to their feelings of national or ethnic identity. As a white American tea drinker with no immediate ties to my ancestors' heritage, there is no prescribed way for me to drink my tea; in fact, whether or not I choose to drink tea at all is a socially-neutral choice. I ascribe most types of tea (black, green, white, herbal, etc.) equal weight, and don't have any particular feelings about what sort of person would choose which sort of tea. (For an example of the reverse, there's the Doctor Who "Big Questions" interview wherein Karen Gillan asserts that her character, Amy, is a lover of green tea; Matt Smith's reaction "WHY?!" hints at a deeper cultural evaluation of her tea choice. British tea is strong black tea, and very closely associated with national identity; choosing "green tea" says something about the chooser, and I'd be interested in exploring exactly what that is.)
Of course, not all Americans are bereft of tea-drinking culture. I grew up with a lot of Asian-American friends, and two of my closest friends are first generation Chinese-American. The default tea of choice in their parent's homes (or restaurant, in one case) is green tea. When I drink tea with them, there's no mention of sugar or milk, which is fine with me, as I drink all kinds of tea plain, with no additions. If I'm drinking tea with a white friend, I'll be offered milk and sugar or honey. (If they're drinking tea at my house, I'll forget to offer it to them, forcing them to ask and rendering me a bad hostess.) Even though most of my asian friends eating habits have become thoroughly Americanized, tea drinking habits tend to remain largely unaffected.
Basically, I'm interested in how people feel about tea, and how different tea-drinking habits might be viewed in terms of national and ethnic identity. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that anyone else has wondered the same thing.
Idea #2: I'm fascinated by "slash fiction" as a cultural phenomenon. When I say "slash", I mean: fiction about (mostly) heterosexual male characters participating in homosexual relationships, written (largely) by women for other women. (Of course femslash exists, but it's not as popular and I'm not sure it's motivated by the same forces as slash-slash.)
It's amazing for several reasons; for one, it's almost exclusively confined to the internet and fandom, and totally ignored (and largely invisible) to the mainstream media. For another, it's dominated by heterosexual women. I'd love to examine how women get into slash, what they get out of it, and what it says about internet culture that it's so prevalent.
Idea #3: I'm crossing my fingers this one will work out, and I'm having some luck finding sources. I want to examine how the proliferation of the internet has influenced people's real life sexual practices.
When you think about it, we have SO MUCH access to information about private sexual habits. Last week I was talking with a friend and her roommate, and I mentioned that I read and write fandom-based porn, which has exposed me to sexual habits and preferences I never in a million years could have dreamed up on my own. I couldn't imagine a woman of my age and social position knowing what omorashi was 15 years ago. (And for those of you who don't know what it is, Google makes it possible for you to find out in about five seconds.)
My friend's roommate is into BDSM, and socializes with other people who are as well. Again, 15-20 years ago, if you wanted to be part of a BDSM "community", you had to know people; you had to place ads, and search free papers, and rely on word of mouth to find others with your interests. Now, I could find and join a BDSM online community in under five minutes.
All of this available information has to influence people's actual sex practices. So I want to know: are we kinkier? More knowledgable? More willing to experiment?
I hope I find the research to get the answers, because I don't want to think of another topic!
Our major assignment for the semester is a review of literature on a topic of our choosing. I need to choose a topic, do some preliminary research, and write up my proposal by Wednesday. And I still haven't picked a topic.
I can think of plenty topics I'd like to cover, but either they're psychology and not sociology-related, or they're so obscure that it's unlikely I'll be able to find enough research. Some ideas I'm DYING to use:
Idea #1: I'm very interested in examining how people's tea-drinking habits relate to their feelings of national or ethnic identity. As a white American tea drinker with no immediate ties to my ancestors' heritage, there is no prescribed way for me to drink my tea; in fact, whether or not I choose to drink tea at all is a socially-neutral choice. I ascribe most types of tea (black, green, white, herbal, etc.) equal weight, and don't have any particular feelings about what sort of person would choose which sort of tea. (For an example of the reverse, there's the Doctor Who "Big Questions" interview wherein Karen Gillan asserts that her character, Amy, is a lover of green tea; Matt Smith's reaction "WHY?!" hints at a deeper cultural evaluation of her tea choice. British tea is strong black tea, and very closely associated with national identity; choosing "green tea" says something about the chooser, and I'd be interested in exploring exactly what that is.)
Of course, not all Americans are bereft of tea-drinking culture. I grew up with a lot of Asian-American friends, and two of my closest friends are first generation Chinese-American. The default tea of choice in their parent's homes (or restaurant, in one case) is green tea. When I drink tea with them, there's no mention of sugar or milk, which is fine with me, as I drink all kinds of tea plain, with no additions. If I'm drinking tea with a white friend, I'll be offered milk and sugar or honey. (If they're drinking tea at my house, I'll forget to offer it to them, forcing them to ask and rendering me a bad hostess.) Even though most of my asian friends eating habits have become thoroughly Americanized, tea drinking habits tend to remain largely unaffected.
Basically, I'm interested in how people feel about tea, and how different tea-drinking habits might be viewed in terms of national and ethnic identity. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that anyone else has wondered the same thing.
Idea #2: I'm fascinated by "slash fiction" as a cultural phenomenon. When I say "slash", I mean: fiction about (mostly) heterosexual male characters participating in homosexual relationships, written (largely) by women for other women. (Of course femslash exists, but it's not as popular and I'm not sure it's motivated by the same forces as slash-slash.)
It's amazing for several reasons; for one, it's almost exclusively confined to the internet and fandom, and totally ignored (and largely invisible) to the mainstream media. For another, it's dominated by heterosexual women. I'd love to examine how women get into slash, what they get out of it, and what it says about internet culture that it's so prevalent.
Idea #3: I'm crossing my fingers this one will work out, and I'm having some luck finding sources. I want to examine how the proliferation of the internet has influenced people's real life sexual practices.
When you think about it, we have SO MUCH access to information about private sexual habits. Last week I was talking with a friend and her roommate, and I mentioned that I read and write fandom-based porn, which has exposed me to sexual habits and preferences I never in a million years could have dreamed up on my own. I couldn't imagine a woman of my age and social position knowing what omorashi was 15 years ago. (And for those of you who don't know what it is, Google makes it possible for you to find out in about five seconds.)
My friend's roommate is into BDSM, and socializes with other people who are as well. Again, 15-20 years ago, if you wanted to be part of a BDSM "community", you had to know people; you had to place ads, and search free papers, and rely on word of mouth to find others with your interests. Now, I could find and join a BDSM online community in under five minutes.
All of this available information has to influence people's actual sex practices. So I want to know: are we kinkier? More knowledgable? More willing to experiment?
I hope I find the research to get the answers, because I don't want to think of another topic!
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-05 02:43 am (UTC)