I decided to head down to my site the other day and try out the first draft I comprised of my interview questions. I will include an entire interview for my blog right now as the questions are still probably a work in progress and not up to top level yet, but I will share some of the things I learned.
The subject I chose to interview was a freshman male living in the Blanding Tower dorm. I originally suspected that most of the traffic would come from Blanding and Kirwain, but it is too early to yet say. He originally discovered the Common's Market during a visit to campus prior to admissions. Sure enough, he ended up living next to it and now eats at it regularly(2-3 times per week) due to its attractive close proximity. He told me he usually goes with a group of friends, and they stay about a half hour. I asked him if they always sat in the same area, and he confirmed that yes, they usually all sit in the mid section. This fact also goes along with one of my guesses about the environment, that groups sit in the middle and individuals on the edges. He told me that he felt comfortable in the environment because everyone was there for the same reason, to eat. This aspect helps him and others to feel comfortable and accepted in terms of the entire community. They also have several TVs playing music videos, he told me this created an ambient background mood and helped him and his friends to relax. I asked him what sort of observations he made about other people, his observations are similar to my own. The primary activity of other people is eating and conversing. I asked him if he had ever been approached by a stranger, or ever approached a stranger himself, in which he replied, "No I have not ever gone up to an individual I did not know, it is not something I am afraid to do, but do not feel the need to meet other people here as I am already with my friends. Maybe if I came to eat here by myself then I would try to talk to people I didn't know." I found this statement interesting, perhaps if more people just took the initiative to meet new people, the sentiment would spread and cosmopolitanism would easily emerge.
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2 comments:
Nice interview :)
In my own obervation I too asked if they would go up to someone or a group they didnt know. My interviewees said no except for one. The ones that said no didnt think there was a need to because they were there for a reason, to study, which people in commons go there for a reason too also no? to eat. the one that did say yes to my question mentioned that hes just a talkative guy and likes to talk while he studies. I guess it just takes the right personality to start more of a cosmoolitan type of community?
i agree with reecie's comment. Personality has a lot to do with who is willing to go up and sit with someone they don't know.
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