[Social-sciences-list] Seeking Opinions on Blind Research Techniques

[Gabias, Paul]

Hello Elizabeth,

You could team up with a sighted student, or bring an observer with you.  It's the same problem as you would have if you had to read a printed page, and there were no devices to help.  Establish in advance, the kinds of events you want the observer to observe.  I imagine that you would be looking for a frequency count of behavior.  Very rarely is research conducted without some questions mapped out, in advance.  Even Jane Goodall, probably had some questions that she was hoping to answer, before ever observing any chimpanzee.

All The Best

Paul Gabias PhD LLD

From: Social-sciences-list [mailto:social-sciences-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Mohnke via Social-sciences-list
Sent: January-26-17 5:43 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list; social-sciences-list at nfbnet.org
Cc: Elizabeth Mohnke
Subject: [Social-sciences-list] Seeking Opinions on Blind Research Techniques

Hello All,

I hope everyone is off to a good start to the beginning of a new semester. I would like to participate in a service learning project for an anthropology class I am taking this semester, and I am wondering if anyone has any tips or advice on conducting participant observational research for social science classes.

The research includes twelve visits observing a first grader during lunch at a local elementary school. We are then asked to propose a specific research topic related to behavior and food, and write a paper based on our observations along with some scholarly resources.

I have never conducted participant observational research before, so I am not completely sure how I would be able to do this as a blind student. Since observing other people includes both visual and non-visual aspects of the environment and the people in it, what would be the best way for me to be able to obtain the visual aspects of the environment and the people in it as a blind student while conducting my research?

Some suggested specific topics for the research paper include food waste, peer pressure related to food choices, socialization during eating periods, physical movement during eating periods, gender differences, influence of authority over food choices, aesthetic presentation of food and its relationship to food choices, and marketing related to food choices.

If anyone knows how I could successfully conduct a participant observational research project as a blind student, I would greatly appreciate hearing from you. However, please note there is also a more traditional research paper assignment for any student who does not wish to complete the service learning project. So this research project is simply an option that I would like to be able to do if I can figure out a way to be able to do it as a blind student.

Thanks,
Elizabeth
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