As I Look Back

Going into the field, I had many assumptions that the America's Buffet wasn't sanitary, the food was unhealthy and the workers were not friendly. I assumed that the workers could care less about the customers and all they cared about was their pay check at the end of the week. Based off of my assumptions, I expected to see a lack of effort from the employees. I expected the employees to not pay attention to the sanitation procedures such as washing your hands, handling the food, etc. After researching, observing and interviewing I have found all of my misconceptions and assumtions very misleading. I found that the employees take great pride in what they do and under proper supervision by a manager they help keep the Buffet sanitary, clean and healthy.

My initial impressions focused on the employees themselves and all throughout my final piece I focused on the diversity of the employees and how the difference in age has caused tension between them. I discarded my initialt impressions regarding the quality of the food at the Buffet.

When collecting data, I had to broaden my search because my topic was so narrow. I had to branch off of dining services and look more into careers available within dining services, dining halls at different universities, etc. The information I was finding regarding food quality just didn't fit since I wanted to focus more on the employees who work there.

My favorite piece of data were my surveys that I conducted online. I sent two sets of survey questions out. One survey I sent out to Lafollette employees and the other survey I sent out to residents in Lafollette. The surveys were sent to get an outsider's point of view looking in on what others think about Lafollette Dining. I found that both surveys only confirmed that there are many stereotypes and misconceptions towards the Buffet. These surveys I  used in my mini-ethnography to help point out those stereotypes that many outsiders feel.

When writing my fieldwork, I not only wanted to record my observations and reflections, but I also wanted to make sure that I included my informants. My informants are the ones who make up my subculture and define the space, so they should definitely be the ones who are most incorporated in my fieldwork.

My best piece of writing was my annotated bibliography. For some reason, it came easy to me when I was writing it. It was only a matter of summarizing my sources and explaining how I planned on using the sources in my mini-ethnography. As I look back, my annotated bibliography definitely helped me stay organize when it came down to writing my research proposal.

Overall, I feel like I could have used more of my voice and my informants voices. I included my voice to describe certain behaviors, rituals, and behaviors of some of the employees, but I felt like I had a tendency to write more of a research paper. Throughout the mini-ethnography, I think that is one thing that I struggled with.

My most significant experiences as a fieldworker was conducting interviews. I was able to obtain so much information from some of the employees that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I also found that the interviews have brought me closer to some of the employees. I feel like I now know them more on a personal level.

Throughout this semester, I have definitely changed as a writer. Most of the writings we have done in class I have never been exposed too, so that was definitely new for me, but I have developed so much in keeping my writing and research organized. It made it so much easier when I wrote my mini-ethnography. Also, I have changed as a writer in the sense that it isn't all about how much research is included, but observations, reflections, informants as well.