Learning Journal 1

Part of this first journal entry will be from my previous thinking, and the second half will be from the assigned reading for Section tomorrow.

I decided to do my research on dance. Now, dance is a HUGE part of Ghanaian culture, heck, it's a huge part of every culture. I think that's why I want to study it-- it's something we already have in common. Back to the intellectual thinking...... I've been thinking lately about what methods I want to use to gather my research and I've come up with some really good ideas, or so I think.

1. Interviewing. This is a given because if I want to find out what Ghanaians think of dance, I should simply ask them. Thinking of questions is the hard part... good thing we'll have to work on that in a week or two.
2. Observations. Everyone that I've talked to said that there is always dancing going on-- whether its for a celebration or a funeral. By watching them, perhaps I can see the similarities between the older and younger generations. Which dance moves are the same, what is different, etc.
3. Music Testing. I had the idea recently, (Wednesday I think it was) that if I want to discover why the dancing between 50 year olds and 20 year olds is different, perhaps I should start by looking at their music. I then had the thought that perhaps I could get a group of volunteers and play different kinds of music, have them dance to it, and see if anything changes. Then I would definitely know if music has an influence!

Anyhoo, those are just some of the ideas I've been working on methodology wise. Now I need to find some material to read from the HBLL. I tried to contact Connie Lamb (the anthropology librarian) but sadly she was sick today :( hopefully she'll be back soon! HEY! I could go to the dance section and see if the dance librarian could help me too... genius idea!

Now for the reading.... lets see if anything popped out to me.

One thing I realized while reading this article "Cocoa, Marriage, Labour and Land in Ghana: Some Matrilineal and Patrilineal Perspectives" is that I need to have a somewhat solid understanding of basic social patterns in the community I'll be staying in. Before I can analyze the data, I'm going to need the background. Understanding where these people are coming from.
Also, I hadn't thought about the differences between men and women. Perhaps I should pay mind to look at the different views on dance from both men and women, see if they differ at all as well. Perhaps young men don't care as much about dance as young women...and who knows why. Nice! Another viewpoint to take in my research!