Field Narrative:
Our research has been slow but steady. So far, our survey has over a hundred responses, and is easily reached by a wide variety of people because of how easy it is to access. However, gathering interviews is a slower and more daunting process. The very first time we asked a couple of people sitting and drinking coffee in the Viking Union, they declined to answer any questions, which was not an optimal start to our data-gathering process. However, we have found that interviewing fellow English 101 students, both in our class and other classes, is easiest to manage. They are more open and willing to sit down and answer a few questions. I also explored the wide range of answers we may receive by interviewing my own mother. She had some very useful insights, not only on what I specifically asked for, but also offered a new perspective on the idea of banning books as a whole. As someone who is different than the demographic we have access to, her thoughts were very valuable to our data-gathering process. A lot of people that we interview are surprised at which books have been challenged at some point, furthering our research process with their reactions and disbeliefs.
Personal Update:
Our project is right on track with what we expected. We have allotted a lot of time for our data-gathering in order to record a wide variety of different responses and reactions. In terms of adjusting our approach, we have learned that doing random interviews can either be a gold mine of data, or a complete rejection. We have sent the survey out on our social medias, as well as passing it on to high school students and teachers. We plan on passing it on to more students and faculty here at Western, adding up to a demographic of both young and old, educated and educator. Getting results specifically from teachers and professors is very important to me, as they usually have a better insight into the context of a specific book. So far, our results, while some have been unexpected, have been very useful in developing an answer to our research question. We still have lots of data to gather, and lots of time to do it.
Interviews, and surveying can really be horrible if you never find willing people. Don’t let that discourage you. It is a valuable lesson to learn: that most of the time when things go wrong in data collecting it is not your fault.