Performance Research

I have always found performance as a research quite fascinating. I never thought a performance was anything other than entertainment until I took a performance as a practice course. Knowing that every performance has an underlining reason behind it makes critiquing it more exciting. If I wanted to study some aspect of deception, I would pose the question "How does deception in the musical Sweeney Todd advance the characters' relationship with one another?" I love the musical, and if anyone has ever seen it, the whole play is about deceptions of the character to obtain their goals, all of which are different.
Of course, judging by the question, I would choose the performance research method. This method would be the best, in my opinion, because I am framing a research question around the performance of the characters within the play. Since it is a performance, I would also be critiquing the characters choice within the play about the forms of deception and adding depth to the meaning of the play as well as the specific characters involved.

Ethnographers Dilemmas

Ethnographers face many dilemmas while trying obtaining information for their research. First, if the researcher goes undercover without telling the participants involved, they face the dilemma of becoming attached to the persons they are studying, then feeling guilty or betrayal for publishing parts of their research. On the other hand, if they tell the people they are studying them, and taking notes on their behavior, they persons involved with study will behave differently, and the ethnographer will not obtain correct information about what they are studying because the persons may not be truthful. Also, any informants that are interviewed may not credible, because they could be bias against the subject being analyzed.

I don't know if there are any good ways to resolve these dilemmas. The only thing I can think of is being strong while immersing yourself within the project, and try to be as unbias as possible. If they cannot take emotion out of the research, then they should publish their finding anonymously.

Cyber-Relationships

I have made a friendship that exclusively exists in cyberspace. Though I no longer speak to him, we started talking because we were playing a game on pogo.com, cribbage I think, and we started talking about where we were from. He was from Canada, then we started talking about hockey (which I love)... and the next thing I know, we are messaging each other every time there was news about our hockey teams.

Cyber-relationships are different from face-2-face relationships because, at least in my case, I couldn't tell how old, this person was, if they were male or female, their ethnicity, and therefore, didn't judge them on their looks, but rather what we had in common. There was nothing sexual about the relationship and how the relationship progressed was based on our common interests. At times it was difficult because I couldn't tell his meta-message through visual and vocal cues. Overall though, it was like a face-2-face relationship, except everything said had to be direct.

McLuhan

I agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message. I have always believed that how the message is transmitted, whether it is written, over the phone, or in face to face, has a different impact on the person receiving the message, even though the message would be the same every single time. It seems weird, but different mediums have different effects on people.

The idea that television is a "cool" medium, that is the viewers have to fill in the details, is an amazing way to think about message-medium transmission. How often have you watched a television program and not like it for some reason, but you knew that the narrator was doing all the work for you? For me, it has happened three times this week. Television was not implemented as a way to be told what to do, or demand the view be cognitive while watching. Television was invented as entertainment for people to relax to, or now-a-days, be background noise.

When we watch television, we are not just listening. We are taught that communication is 10% verbal and 90% nonverbal. The 90% is what makes television interesting. Sometimes we are not paying attention to the words being spoken (Kate Upton commercial anyone?), but just watching it, filling in the details as we see fit. With television, we are simultaneously engaged and mindless at the same time.

Ch. 7 concept: Interdependence

A concept in which I liked in Chapter 7 is interdependence. Trenholm (2011) states that "interdependence... means that separate individuals have become a functioning whole" (p. 166). I love this concept because, if anyone has ever worked in a group project, or has had a conflict at work, the moment interdependence is established, is the same moment in which people behave and treat each other as equals, rather than as individuals. I am currently working on a group project, and until today, we had no idea what we were doing, who was doing what, and what the end result of the project was. Now, after a meeting, we are functioning like a clock. Our normal two hour meeting was only held for thirty minutes, most of which was silent, because we were all functioning as a whole, rather than many. It is an exhilarating feeling, and one in which I relish. No conflict, no miscommunication, no he-said she-said, just work and everyone contributes without people talking behind their back. Love, love, love this feeling, and I am so glad that the feeling actually had a name!

Relationship roles

I think the most difficult pattern to change in a relationship would be the rigid complementarity. Being in a state where one person takes orders and the other gives them seems to be natural in our society in every part of life except for our personal aspect; excluding those in abusive relationships. Those within an abusive relationship often have a hard time leaving because they are being controlled rather than in a relationship. Kind of like the parent and child roles, but rarely do people question their one-down role.

I would say the most damaging would be the competitive symmetry. competition everyday would take so much energy out of the person, they would no longer be in a romantic relationship, but rather a friendship, and eventually that friendship is going to crumble if one is the one-up role more than the other.

Finally, the submissive symmetry would be the most damaging to the self-esteem of the individuals involved. At least in the competitive symmetry relationship someone is pushing you to be your best, in the submissive symmetry no one cares what you do, and both parties are not supporting each other as they would do in a real relationship. I think a healthy relationship is a healthy balance of all three.

Attractiveness

Let me see, what characteristics/behaviors have lead me to judge others as unattractive. Well... first and foremost: clothing. I have seen men who have stains on their shirts, dirt on their pants, and unkempt hair, who have not just worked in their back yard. If you can't take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of me when I need it? Second, they have to be smart. If I cannot hold a conversation with them, on MANY levels (because I love to learn and talk about everything... and everything is not an understatement either), you're out. I need to be intellectually stimulated. Third, I need to laugh. I love to laugh. I have made myself laugh so hard that I cry; and that was over a thought I didn't speak out loud. Basically, I need someone who is the male version of me minus the emotional and nervous breakdowns. Oh wait... I have one! *phew*

And yes. I was just reading Duck's attraction filter theory to my boyfriend, and I realized that we have gone through all four of Duck's filters, which is probably why we have lasted for so long. I can't remember if I have ever eliminated someone by using a sociological or pre-interaction cue only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cure. For me, I use the filter backward; I need to know that we have similar interest and engaging conversation before putting in time and effort into a relationship.