MY RESEARCH IDENTITY: A REFLECTION

 I find my personal identity as a researcher to be defined by my human-centric approach. Personally, I find most of my own research somewhat incomplete without a return to form by using surveys and personal interviews to see how it relates to the everyday person. After all, I think that's what research is all about anyways. What's the point of doing it if it affects nobody? 

    In most of my research projects, I take on the role of not just a scholar, but also a reporter. When my work focuses on humans, and thus human problems, I find it awfully impersonal to only take into account what other scholars before me have said about the problems people face. That is why I find it to be much more useful to collect the data myself. I also find the process of collecting info itself to be very enjoyable, as I love talking to people and getting to know them better. Through facilitated discussion I think I can get a much broader view of who it is that I want to learn about.

    My favorite part of research is just that. During, for example, my last project, I interviewed around ten different people to understand better what made Stanleys and other fad water bottles so intriguing. During this time, I learned what made people buy them on a much deeper level than simply surveying the internet could allow me to understand. I think this human-centric approach is necessary to create a good final project, especially as a high schooler, whom adults tend to be a few degrees of separation removed from. I think that real back-breaking labor is what really gets the job done.

    I really enjoy doing research this way for a few reasons: firstly, I enjoy talking to people! I am a very extroverted person, and research tends to get lonely after a while, at least for me. And ultimately, the way research works somewhat prevents you from working with a partner. Secondly, it offers an alternative to the usually very mundane research process. While it can be fun sometimes, when doing human-centric anthropological research in particular it is incredibly tempting to go on your own and ask people if what you are writing is what they agree with or not.

    In conclusion, I think that research is much better done with a human perspective. It is imperative to include a grounded idea to bring home all the points you want to make in your research essay.