Mapping a Field site for University Students

My week 2 research involves developing a field site for addressing the problem of balancing life commitments such as work and University whilst maintaining and prioritising eating well and exercising. A field site is the spatial characteristics of a field-based research project that enables researchers to “define the objects and subjects of their research.”

As a full-time university student, and casual employee who is living out of home it is tough to know what to cook that is easy whilst also having nutritional value and how to effectively manage time in order to fit in a quick workout. Headspace conducted research finding that University students are experiencing high or very high levels of stress, lack of motivation and distress. Prior to beginning my ethnographic research on University students’ health behaviours, I need to determine my field site as this will further help shape my DA. I am going to focus my field map by recognising the spatial characteristics and how relevant interactions take place.

My field map will include the different characteristics that will influence the development of my DA, and explore potential media platforms and their affordances that will allow to me reach my audience.

https://soundcloud.com/ella-saunders-874403075/blog-field-mapping

This week in lectures we also focused on observation, and how observation in ethnography is defined by a researcher’s relationship to the field of study. This means that the data collection is analysed and an interpretation is produced through the lens of personal subjectivity. I am going to prioritise observing in the next stages of my DA, to gain a deeper understanding of the current behaviours and habits of University students. I will also be analysing their interactions with University content on TikTok that discusses eating and budgets, whilst also using Rachel Dillon’s MoveWithUs program to help inspire my workouts, aesthetics and meals.

These influencers will also allow me to further create an online persona that I can carry across the different platforms of my DA. Rachel Dillon has a super friendly online presence that is also highly informational and easy to follow. She uses the caption effect to describe her workouts and meal plans either as a separate caption or embedded within the video, depending on the platform whether it is Instagram or TikTok. For this reason, I would like to direct the more informational content to Instagram, as TikTok does not let you write length captions as the platform is designed to be more visual. Instead, I will use TikTok to include content such as workouts and quick tips and suggestions segments. I will use Instagram for more recipes so that users can screenshot the process in the caption so they do not have to constantly pause it.

By exploring the University student niche I will also be able to engage in participatory research, as I am able to experience some of the issues and have a greater knowledge of the available resources available that can help University students find a healthy balance.

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