As we head into the home stretch of our fieldworking projects, it is going to become paramount that you begin to analyze your data (fieldnotes, interviews, secondary sources) for themes. A theme in research is just like a theme in a book or a poem in English class--it is a broadly defined issue or dichotomy that reflects some complexity of "the human condition."
When we were in the library last Monday, Mark, the reference librarian, was telling us about his fieldwork with farmers in the Azores (in Portugal). He said that after living there for a few months, he began to witness a theme he had read a lot about in the research on farmers in the Azores: honor versus shame. This is a cultural theme: honor vs. shame. The farmers' code of conduct was rooted in their honor, in behaving honorably and in sharing their bounty with their neighbors. But, when a fellow farmer would break "the code," he would be shamed by the community. Indeed, there was a true "honor code" that exists there, that keeps the culture "in check" so to speak.
This is where you want to be going--looking for a similar theme or thread that can represent a "code" of your subculture. It might help, too, to represent your theme as a dichotomy (as opposites, two sides of a coin). For example, Kevin might be noticing that, within his subculture, there is a direct relationship between worship and community--peoples' faith in the Dominican-American subculture is directly linked to their connection with their immigrant community here in Providence. They are "displaced people" and find solace, comfort, and community in worshipping God together.
Or, for another example, Xenia might be noticing that, within her subculture, mothers of children with cancer have to be so strong and so stolid and so sturdy that their involvement with a support network of other mothers works to help build themselves back up, to "refill" their energy for the week, their self-esteem, their store of hope. And, there is a long history of women coming together in such support networks to help each other cope and get through. Very cool.
One more example is in Rachael's subculture, where she might be noticing that it's difficult to tell whether "underground artists" choose to be "underground" or if society pushes them underground because they are so far outside the mainstream. Is an "underground artist" something I can grow up to be someday or is it because of my political, edgy art that I will someday be forced, by others, into this "underground" category of artists?
I urge you--implore you--this week to post an idea or two here to SHOW ME that the wheels are turning, that you are thinking and moving forward in your thinking about this project. It's time for the rubber to hit the road here--it is most important that you do not lose energy or momentum now! Keep going!
