Friday Feb 24 2012

This week with all of the inquiry conferences our class was canceled for the first two days. It wasnt until today that we returned to our regular schedule. I feel as if there is a whole lot to be done with class that it might not be the best use of our time to take two days off. It is highly inconvinient as well that classes from Tuesday are canceled and Monday is on Tuesday. That takes even more time from my open Tuesdays and makes me get everything done by today that I usually take five days to do.
After class today I really noticed what it is going to take to get to India. I feel like in the last 9 weeks that we only scratched the surface as to what is required of us. I love the things that we have learned but as for the mechanics of the IRB and all the other documentation that we have to ahve in order its pretty crazy to assume that we would have it all ready in time, unless of course the prep course were our only class at BYU.

Tuesday Feb 21 2012

Today I wrote my literature review. I have been very involved with other things lately that finally when I partitioned off my time to dedicate just to the literature review section of my proposal. I really feel that I learned a ton of what I expect of my self in writing the review. I know now that there are alot of holes in my project. There is a lot that I need to substantiate. I feel like it was a really good opportunity to learn what else I need to do to be ready.

Friday Feb 17 2012

Venkat (out Tamil Language teacher) is on the job of finding us tickets for cheap to Chennia on the 28. Other than that I have been pretty swamped with classes for the last two days and really only have had time to exchange emails with Venkat about the expected arrival times in the field.

I want to capture some of my current thoughts surrounding some of the stigmas that I am trying to overcome before I get to India. I feel like there will be a lot of logistics while on the ground that Ill need to account for before I land in the field. I want to know more about the relations between the male and female populations while in India. How is it that I want to take a sample of all of the different people in the 17-25 yr old generation and I cant even talk to half of them. I think that maybe collaberating with one of the females that are going with us might be my only option. Maybe if one of them needs to do some sort of resarch with males, I might be able to reciprocate that help along with them.

Wednesday Feb 15 2012

Ok so we finally got our leave date. We will arrive in Chennai on the 28^th of April. That is two and half months away! There is so much to do between now and then, most notably, we need to have a literature review done and in a presentable form before this up coming Friday. The methods section of the proposal looks like it will be a huge portion of the work that we will be required as well.

The more of the paper that I write the more I understand why it is necessary. I feel like I understand more of what I’ve signed up to do as I defend my ideas on paper. It is absolutely necessary to move forward as quickly as possible with all things that need to be done in order to consolidate my thoughts as well as possible.

Monday Feb 13 2012

We really need to figure out what day we are leaving for India. We are potentially three months from getting to the field and we still don’t have a leave date. Its great to know that Dave will be there but there has been no progress made on what day we will actually arrive and what the situation will be on the ground. I am feeling the logistics crunch. How can we possibly prepare for all of this research and methods practice when out hands are tied as to where and when we are going to be conducting such research?

I hope that the rest of this progress doesn’t prove to be so difficult as we progress to the field. It would be nice just to have clarity and mutual understanding with all parties involved.

From a more proactive position, It might be wise if we were to assert our selves more and make decisions for ourselves…

Friday Feb 10 2012

Today is the second time that I have really looked into my literature review. I spent some serious time last night filing through notes and pages trying to decipher the meaning of all the different articles that I have come up with. I have come to recognize that the difference between what I want to do and what has already been done is a target age group. I struggle however with the direction in which I’m going to go when I’m on the ground. Steve and I have talked a lot about the methods that we need to use in order to reach the target audiences.

Some of our ideas are as follow;

-Spend significant time with the students at the various universities in Coimbatore.

A reason to stick around the different universities is to be around civilians that speak English. Hopefully we’ll be able to find enough students at the various universities to be able to gather some significant data as to the rising trends surrounding our topics of research. For example, I want to know what people’s perceptions are on the ground. What group is going to be more affected or pressured to utilize western medical care over the students that are studying the various academic disciplines lead so to more western practices of living.

-Utilize the position we have as university students from the US to pursued doctors and clinicians to let us interview them and when appropriate their patients;

I want to see what doctors think is appropriate in India as far as a patients medical options are considered. Do doctors allow their patients the option of choosing between traditional or western medicine? Or does the fact that the patient came to said doctor imply that they have already chosen their particular healthcare option.

Wednesday Feb 8 2012

These last two days have been so full of other activities that I havent had a significant amount of time to really think a lot about what I can be doing to prepare my self more for my Field Study. The one big thing that I have been doing is focusing on the language. I realize that there is a lot that I can be doing and I am trying to tie up all the loose ends of, Trave, Couse Plans and Money, I realize that my experience will be based of how well I was prepared in all aspects of my preparation.
My goals currently outside of logistics are as follows:
-Develop further in the language. Be able to speak on the streets and as basic questions.
-Learn the basics of the customs regarding medical care and health in India.
-Read the Ramayana

Monday Feb 6 2012

Just realized that my post on monday never went up, here it is:

This weekend we had the assignment to do the Participatory Observation. At first I was skeptical as to the reasons behind why we would do a observation study. I felt that it was a bit arbitrary and wouldn't help me qualitate or understand anything about the world around me. I found that nothing less that the contrary was what I actually pulled from the methods practice.
I really for the first time in my life began to realize how intricate and involved we are as human beings in the social situation in which we are placed. Possibly the most eye opening aspect was the introspective viewpoint that I gained as I realized just how well that I had adapted to my own social circumstances. I know all the rules. I am completely comfortable in my own element and I really understand how effective communication relies so much more than on verbal communication alone. The way that I sit, move and communicate through my posture and gestures sends messages to everyone else in my social environment before I say anything.

I did the project on a different floor of the Library that is notorious for being the social floor. I decided that it would take me out of my element enough to be able to really observe others in their, environments but that it was still one that I would fit well enough into, allowing me to do an introspective look at my self simultaneously.

The biggest advantage that I saw from doing this assignment was the fact that in India I will have little to no understanding as to the real cultural mores and the stigmas that govern the ways that they interact with one another. It seems like a daunting task now to undertake such a large scale cultural assimilation with such little time. However now I feel as if I am prepared to work towards the goal of mutual understanding with the people of Tamil Nadu.

Friday Feb 3 2012

I started reading the Ramayana Wednesday night. I have studied several similar texts in the past and I really enjoy the ancient texts and their significance. I feel that in just reading the prologue and the introduction combined with the first 40 some odd pages really helped me understand a bit more about the culture that I am going to be immersed in.

In my first college experience I did the concurrent enrollment program and I was able to take a myths in human culture course at the community college in Charlotte where I grew up. I learned a ton about Native American text, Buddhist texts, Hindu’s text and early Christian texts as well. As I have re engaged myself in the Ramayana I really have begun to connect with all of the other early tests that I have had my eyes opened again to the parallels in the myths that ancient cultures posses. 

I do wonder how my knowledge of the people's traditions and religious history might affect the type of research that I will do in the field. I also realize that if I am to understand these people I will have to understand their traditions and customs.

Wednesday Feb 1 2012

I have been thinking a lot recently as to the status of financially how I am going to make ends meet in India. There is little to anticipate since we haven’t been able to talk much about the logistics at this point. I realize however that there is much to be anticipated and I really need to sit down and budget out an expense report.

I also have gotten a bit further on my proposed project topic. I had an interesting conversation with my grandmother the other day. She and I talked about the differences between Western healthcare and what I will be coming in contact with in Inida. Suprisingly enough she had done a bit of research (personal) on the Ayuveda and I really enjoyed talking with her about the differences. It made me want to investigate speciffically how at-risk group are affected by the practices of western of traditional health care. So instead of getting a general consensus as to the perception of medical practices, I would rather focus on the effects on those who are deemed at-risk. This would include pregnant, infant, children and seniors.