Journal 15

I think that the article we read for this upcoming class period (Choosing a Site and Gaining Access) was interesting. The idea of the different types of involvement and ways of gaining confidence in an area were particularly of worth. The read in and of itself wasn't really that captivating but it did make me think about where I will go and what I will be doing. Of the 4 different types of roles researchers play in their study I think I hope to be a "Participant as Observer" (researcher that is overt and an intimant friend of the participants). The reason I am hoping to be able to be a participant as observer is because I feel that since I am going to be retrieving personal information about HIV it would be best to have a relationship with the women that I am interviewing. In this way I would be able to really get a feel for, and understand their relationship with HIV, their story, and how much they know about the disease. I agree with the quote by Holy, "The researcher does not participate in the lives of the subjects in order to obseve them, but rather observes while participating fully in their lives..."I think that ideally, being able to conduct this type of research will lead to a better understanding of the lives of women in India. However, the problem with this type of observation is that it assumes that you are able to become friends with the people you are observing. I think that this might be a difficult task to gain the confidence and trust enough to talk about a sensitive subject; however, I believe that it is possible. I also think that getting in contact with the gatekeeper (I believe in my case it would be the organization I am working with, Shanti Ashram), will aide in getting in contact and gaining the trust of the population I am observing. Luckily I think that the gatekeeper in the community I am observing will have a positive affect and not a negative one, on how the women will react. I am assuming that Shanti Ashram has a positive reputation (from what I have heard from other students who have been there) among that community and that through them I will be able to get into contact with the necessary women in order to conduct the research.
One thing that I realize that I have not yet thought of is my strategy for entering the community. How I will do it and how I will gain their confidence. I also think that I need to narrow my target population more so that I will be able to more easily identify what I am researching and so that I will be able to ask women more effective questions. I guess that is something that I will have to think about and figure out.