Ethnography Proposal

Revolution in Happening:
An Ethnography by Evin Schuchardt, Jeremy Nelissen, Ryan Kerbow and Wesley Konderla


Abstract:
This paper explains the reasoning and process of how Evin Schuchardt and Jeremy Nelissen will observe the atmosphere and people frequenting Revolution Cafe and Bar in Bryan, Texas.  The purpose of this study is to explore the habits and ways of Downtown Bryan focusing on one location in particular, one with which we are very unfamiliar.  As neither of us regularly visit bars or cafes, Revolution provides a mix of both and is centered in the heart of Downtown Bryan.  We expect to learn the personality of the people, their interests, habits and reasons for being there, the local vernacular and how they interact with one another.

Introduction:
We have heard tales of the happenings in Downtown Bryan - the people, the music, the environment - but have never experienced it for ourselves.  The eclectic environment provides opportunity to see a different side of the community we live in and more than likely a different life style than we are used to living as engineers.

Methods:
We will observe them for roughly two hours per week.  The way in which we plan to do this is to venture there together on different days of the week to get the full feel of what goes on there.  We will first attempt to go together so we can ease in to the atmosphere and have a companion to fall back on if need be.  While there, we will visit and talk with the bartenders, guests, musicians and other patrons.  We will observe from a distance and through conversation their interactions with one another as well as with us.  We will attempt to show our feelings of the environment in order to give an overall picture to the cafe.  We will comment on their speech patterns and mannerisms as well as our hypotheses of why they come there.  We will also gather the quantitative information of the number of people present, expected capacity, how many people are by themselves verses with others, how many people are outside and inside, at the bar and at the tables.  For interaction, we will speak with the bartender as we stand at the bar, ask to join people at their tables for a chat, hopefully interact with any musicians after their performances.

Conclusion:
We are about to enter a world unknown to us in a culture possibly completely dissimilar to us.  The excitement is high and the anticipation is building.  Results to come soon!


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Everything below this line is old stuff that we trashed
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Title:
 Computers and Class

Abstract:
This report explains the process in which I, Evin Schuchardt, would be able to conduct ethnographical research on the topic of students bringing a laptop to class.  The purpose of this study is to find answers to the following questions:
1. Do students at Texas A&M who bring a laptop to class think it aides them in comprehension, why?
2. Do students at Texas A&M who use laptops in class believe themselves to be more productive overall in class, why?
This paper will give the the background to why this study would be meaningful, give the methods to which I would use to conduct the study, and end with my final thoughts on the project.

Introduction:
At the beginning of last semester, I traded in my desktop for a netbook for various reasons.  Now I carry my netbook with me where ever I travel, including class.  I often pull it out in class to take notes, do homework, or research the thoughts running through my mind.  I have noticed that many classmates in all my classes also use their laptops in class for reasons I could only guess at.

It seems logical that with all the information on the internet, the possibility of a person being able to type quicker than write, and so many professors reading from slides published online that having a laptop in class could greatly aide to the student's ability to take in the information being presented in class.  On the other hand, this also paves the way for students potentially not paying attention to the lecturer and instead browsing online or doing other personal matters when they should be listening to the professor.  This could however be a benefit as many believe that professors often lecture on things absolutely meaningless to the class or anything relevant thereof. 

Methods:
For this study I would create a survey in which participants would be asked to provide information of whether or not they bring a laptop to class.  This would separate the user group into two and give viewpoints from two different angles.  They would also be asked how often they use their laptops in class and what they use their laptops for in class.  Finally, participants would be asked to evaluate their efficiency and productivity with their laptop and without to compare.  The user group would be focused on students at Texas A&M of any classification, and may include opinions of professors.  The survey would be both online in a Google Docs form as well as hard copies.  Facebook now allows for information to be distributed to many people at one time, so I plan to use that to publicize the online survey.

I will also observe students in my classes to gain quantitative information on who is using their laptop during my classes throughout the weeks.  I can keep track of what class I am in as well as how many of the students pull out their laptop during class.  I can also qualify my observation of the amount of attention the students who have their laptops seem to have.  I could also compare this to the perceived attention of those without a laptop.

Conclusion:
I am interested to see the results of this survey and see whether laptops in class seem beneficial or not.  I know my opinion which I will publish in the final report and I want to see if people share my same views.