After reviewing the possible communities, I have found that the most logical and accessible choice would the restaurant community, both fast and sit down. Although this was not my first choice, I decided it would be easier to go to a restaurant than go to Italy to study Italian culture. I have worked in the fast food community for the past two years and would like to find out all the similarities and differences between fast food restaurants and sit down restaurants. I would also like find out the pros and cons of working and eating at each.
One reason I chose the restaurant community is my easy access to both kinds of communities. I will be able to observe the fast food community through my own work place as well as through my friends work places. I will conduct interviews with employees, managers, and customers. I will be able to get their perspectives on the fast food community and the customers opinions on the food and service. I can get a feel for what its like to work in the morning serving breakfast opposed to working in the afternoon or at night. The managers can give me an overview of what their responsibilities are and what a typical day as a manager is like. The combined observations and interviews will give me a better view of the fast food industry as a whole.
I have a friend that is a top waitress at a sit down Mexican food restaurant and she as offered to hep me with my research. I will be able to sit down and observe the waitresses and cooks and see what it's like to work in the sit down restaurant community. I will also be able to observe the quality and time of arrival of the food.
After observing both the fast food and sit down restaurant communities, i can compare the two and find the different pros and cons of each. I am an insider in the fast food community and an outsider of the sit down restaurant. Even though i am a part of the fast food community, i the share the same views on fast food as many others. Fast food is cheap and a lot of the time quality is not a huge worry. Sit down restuarants tend to be nicer and take more pride in the food they make. The food is not only made to customers standards but it is cooked to their standards as well. I expect to observe all aspects of the two communities and put to test the stereotypes of each one.
Questions for the restuarant:
1. What are some duties as a waitress in the sit down community?
2. What are the working conditions of both?
3. Which job seems harder in the eyes of the employees, managers, and customers?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hmmm... I guess Italy is out, at least for this project. I hope that the restaurant community genuinely interests you. Really unique idea to compare fast food to sit down, and see the similarities/differences, pros/cons. Since you have your own experiences working in one, you can observe the other, and see where that leads you. You have a ton of great questions developing, and I think that after starting your observations, you will start narrowing your focus and figure out where to focus your textual research. There's an ethnographic essay called "The Working Life of a Waitress" on our emich homepage (under the file called readings). I never assigned it to you guys, but you might find it a helpful resource in some way. I also like the way you explain that you want to put the stereotypes to test. Great ideas! I look forward to reading more.
Approved, and full credit
Post a Comment