Ogles-WHAT?
Eric Coy
(ericcoy@uiuc.edu)
(not ready to use)
Coauthors
EXPLORE
About the ethnographer
I am a quiet person that enjoys watching people interact in order to understand what makes people tick. I am, therefore, a very curious person. I also enjoy playing drums with is somewhat hipocritical since i enjoy my solitude and dont like to make a scene. This is my first inquiry unit and i have enjoyed being able to transfer some of the ideas and observations i have had to others that may be interested in what i have to say. |
Unit Keywords
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kw:cliques kw:clique ke:discrimination kw:prejudice kw:subculture kw:psychological interactions |
Partner Projects
| Ethnography of the University |
INQUIRE
Rationale of the Unit
What subculture have you chosen to research and why? What do you know about this group and what do you want to know? List your intial research questions.
There are many different subcultures at the University of Illinois. The one I have chosen to research is the girl's fourth floor of Oglesby. This group of girls is very close. They are like a family away from home for eachother. The strange thing is that not one of them is alike in any way. They all come from completely different places and have completely different backgrounds. One of the girls comes from the bad part of Chicago and has a lot of experience with very scary situation. Another girl is from the country and could never imagine anything being as bad as what the other has gone through. They are really close friends. This is why this is so strange. Most subcultures have a common thing that brings them together. This group is definately not a stereotypical subculture, but they definately are one. What I want to know is why they are so close. What is it exactly that brings them together? What traits do they share that can not be initially seen? I am first going to find out about each and every girl's personality traits through observation and interview. This will definately be a good starting point to get in a little deeper into this project.
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Project diary
Oct. 27
The idea of cliques is becomeing much more dominant with this inquiry. It is a little agreviating to hear my informant lie about how she was an outcast in highs school when she definately was not. I wonder now about how cliques ar formed and what makes them strong. |
Research Plan
Discuss your initial research method. How will you begin to seek out answers to your research questions? Where will you begin taking field notes? Who are you considering as a possible informant?
I am going to start researching through field notes. This will not last anymore than a day. The doors are always open in the hall so just being in the hall and walking around will sufice for good field notes. Then I will start to narrow people down to their rooms. I will have to perform private interviews with every girl to understand their personalities a little more. I will ask them questions about their attitude about certain life situations and things about their past. To go a little deeper, I will use an informant. This person is a friend of mine from highschool that will be able to tell me a lot about the girls that they may not be able to tell me or i may not be able to determine. I will also research the history of of Oglesby and find out the type of interactions and traditions that may have been passed through the years. Hopefully, my friend and my notes will get me the answers I need to understand the strange subculture. |
Project diary
10/31/03
I am finding now that interviewing everyone is not needed. After taking field notes, it is pretty aparent through their conversations that the girls share a common trait dealing with a hatred towards cliques. i will interview my informant on things aobut the subculture that i dont see and use that the clear up any differences in their actions because of the fact that they are being watched.
11/04/03
Field notes are going to be the biggest part of the this project considering I need to understand the actions a personalities of many girls. This obviously means that it will take much more than a dy of field notes to understand what is going on within the subculture. The more extensive my field notes are getting, the less important the interviews seem. Basically observing the interactions and discussions between the girls will provide much niformatino on why they are so close. I will also need other sourses to show me what causes "cliques" to form nd break apart. This will allow me to see how strong this subculture really is. It may just be a bunch of emotional, home sick girls that think they are something they are not. it may alos be something deeper keeping them together. This, again, emphasises the importance of my field notes. I have learned the the most unstable of the girls just happens to be my informant as her information and actions are contradictory. She is the most hipocritical girl on the floor considering i know her past of cliques and she claims to be an "outsider" in a huge world that she loves to observe and analyze. Her actions show her being just as stuck in cliques and popular culture as the next kid. All she knows of life is highschool, but this world is huge. I will need to make a few interviews because of this and find out the other girls' past experiences with cliques and their perspective of the social world. This will give me a better look at what is under the surface of this diverse subculture that is keeping them close.
11/11/03
What are the main aspects that distinguish a subculture? For many groups, obvious factors such as ethnicity and shared interests can separate them from the rest of the population. Discrimination is definitely something involved in the formation of subcultures. It creates a sense of unity within a group when they also share a common dislike toward another group or type of person. That is what makes them subcultures. The extent of the strength of the relationships within the subculture can actually define a subculture as another type of group. I am referring to a clique which can be seen as a weak subculture. Through my inquiry, I have learned the difference between the two and some of the factors that may determine these differences. For example, the psychological state of the individual within a group can inevitably weaken or strengthen the group. Also, similar past events among people that cause grudges towards a different kind of group can cause the formation of a group; the fourth floor Oglesby girls show this type of formation that also ends in a very hypocritical way. The particular type of group that the Oglesby girls exemplify is a very weak clique and should not be considered a subculture. In seemingly strong, organized groups that can be considered a subculture even though no obvious trait is shared between the members, psychological aspects of the individuals can be the defining factor of the group’s strength and unity.
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Readings, Keywords, and Constructs
Discuss what sources, other than your own field notes, that you consult for your project.
After much searching, one atricle was found that will offer more information about my inquiry. It is an article called "Structure and sentiment: explaining emotional attachment to group." in the March 2003 edition of Social Psychology Quarterly. This article is primarily about the causes of emotional attatchments to a group. These causes range from participating in activities and achieving awards as a group. When it comes to my subculture, it will be helpful because the subculture has grown mainly from the many activities that they do. I will be using other resorces such as a special location that they shares for many gatherings. This location is a dorm room that contains many "artifacts" that represent the group. These objects have not yet been explored, but they have been reported to exsist by my informant. Hopefully, these sources will help to establish the strange connection between these different girls. |
Project diary
11/9/03
The only traditional souces I was able to come up with were articles from Social Psychology Quarterly and the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology. |
Field Notes
Use this space to discuss what interesting, significant, revealing, and/or strange information you've recorded in your field notes. What are you learning about your chosen subculture? You might also begin to synthesize the information you are getting from your observations and the other sources you consult.
So far, through my field notes, only some situation are coming up that i hadn't noticed before. For example, the girls have formed small subgroups for many possible reasons. A large one is business. Another thing that i have taken notice to is the large amount of girls involved in sororities. They are all different, though; so how is that feeling of competition not ripping them apart? This just adds to the peculiarity of this subculture. There is a lot of talk about an event in the central location of one girls (mom's) dorm room. This is taking place on thursday and is called thirsty thursday. Obsevations will be made during that date, but for obvious reasons that the title of the event suggests, interviews will begin either before or after that occasion. I have decided to interview one person from every subgroup within the subculture to get a general feeling of personalities that go well together. Further interviews will be conducted if needed and my informant is working as a living camera as she tells me of new events and news about the subculture.
Some other minor events that are significant was and event that dealt with an accident. One particular girl was not paying attention at where she was walking and plowed right into another girl. They laughed about it. This relates to a discussion a large group of the girls had about their highschool. Everyone believes that when they left highschool, the became happy because they ere trapped in hell. They hated the pettiness and just went for the grades. They thought the teachers and policies were all a joke. A small paradox arises as they look down upon cliques and have developed one at the same time. It is tending to be a selective one, too. I have not talked to my good friend suzanne for quite a long time and if i try to do something with her and her new friends, i cant. If i do, i am left out because the conversations are based upon inside jokes (one of the aspects complained about in the discussion). Could this be the reason for their connection? Has their common dislike for cliques caused them to become a clique? What is a clique? Does everyone need a clique or naturally flock to places the fit in? The only difference i see with this new hipocritical clique is the fact that it is not petty at all. It is just fun. Personally, i believe it may be a little to much fun because another common belief is their central idea that all college is for is personal growth through social aspects of life. HA! |
Project diary
11/04/03
The Oglesby girls have created a subculture that is hipocritical of itself. Everyone is completely different on the surface, but the thing that is bringing them together is their common beliefs of high school. After observing one of thier group conversations in "mom's" room, I found that they girls all hated high school. They had friends in high shcool that they all call aquaitences. They claim that they were never part of a "clique" because they hated them. It goes the other way around. They hated cliques because they were left out or at least felt they were. I know for a fact that my friend in the group was involved with a clique. I know that because I was too until i got a grilfriend and spent all of my time with her. That gave me an outside perspective of things and my informant definately was in a clique. She along with all the other girls was just bashing them and called themselves "proud outsiders." This is obviously very hipocritical considering that they have formed a giant clique and even smaller cliques with in that. Suzanne is a model for the group and has shown me that she is in a clique that she cannot get of and no one else can get into. She barely talks to me anymore. She is doing all of the things the group discussions have complained about. They also describe themselves as people not really part of the world becuase they see it differently then everyone else. They like to watch and analyze people and their actions for their own knowledge of the world. An outsider would see these girls as normal. Every one of those girls has a trait that they see as different. For example, Suzanne really likes the band Radiohead. That musical group is sort of "out there" so she considers her self "out there" which is not true at all. She is just like any other girl in the world. She just as different tastes. If having a personality makes people "out there" then every peson in the world is "out there" making it normal. Every organization eventually goes through entropy. It breaks down. this subculture of girls will be torn apart with normality. |
Findings
Discuss your findings.
I have found that the definition of a subculture can not be stretched out to things like cliques. The subculture I studied showed strength and a sence of family. That is just on the surface. After digging into what makes this subculture seems so strong, it is easy to see that it is merely an exagerated clique. After taking field notes on my subculture, i was able to find that the individuals coincidentally share a common hatred towards cliques. Some bothersome occurance altered my idea of the coincidence that they all live together, though. For example, my informant lied about her involvement with cliques. She was definately not an outcast in high shcool, but claimed she did in order to fit in. I wonder how many other girls did the same. The strange thing is the fact that she is trying to fit in. The tainted shared belief only makes the "subculture" weaker. At first, it seemed as if the group of girls were very accepting of others regardless of background, race, ect. The last day of field notes showed a distinct discrimination about other girls that held traits that represented a "popular person" The girls saw a group of them that they automatically hated. What they didnt notice was the diverse friends that the had. My informant also displayed this sort of prejudice towards a girl in her spanish class that was trying to meet new people. Everyone flocks to where they personality fits, or where they are comfortable in social situations. Everyone goes to where people share common traits. These girls have come together on the basis that they share a hatred toward cliques becuase of their high school experience but have actually developed a pretty selective clique. The essence of this hipocracy causes this group to be weak. Subcultures are strong.
Through my traditional sources, I have found that groups form and attentions form from groups. Attatchment requires a want to be a memberof a group. This also makes the group a paradox since they complained of not liking group things because people were left out so they were going tobe very open ended. Obvoiusly, they are not. Suzanne's lies exemplify this as she shows her need to be involved in a group. She needs that security. The prejudice involved in group formation also helped to understand the situation much better. In every group, prejudice is done not finding similar trait, but finding traits difference and discrinating against them. When the entire group partakes in activities that reinforce the hatred towards one particular type of person or group, the discrimating group becomes stronger because they are sharing a belief that makes them feel as a competitive team. My subculture did this at "thirsty thursday" against "popular people" and cliques. This just strengthed their own clique making them even more hipocritical. The process of discrimation in this particular group was done backwards. Normally, an individual in a group will see a person in another and imediately pick up on the difference that keep them hating eachother. In this case, most of these girls wre discrimated against. They were not part of another group before, they were loners. This not only may cause a sence of insecurity, but it also causes them to come together as a group of outcasts. The disscrimation against them and process of elimination has brought them together, not a shared discrimation against one type of person. Then as they supposedly got stronger, they developed a shared idea of what they didn't like. By preaching about this during a shared event, a feeling of family within a bunch of insecure outcasts was developed. The feelings were strong making the strength of the group feel even stronger within each individual. They are ignorant to the fact that it really isnt as strong as it seems considering that paradox that lies within. On a side note, many of these girls are involved with sororities. When they move into the house, another feeling of shared competitiveness will tear this group apart. this is an ongoing process consering every organized (or lack there of) group will eventually go through entropy. |
Project diary
Refer to other EOTU work
At the close of my research for this project, I conversed with a collegue of mine that was also researching a newly formed subculture in a dorm, but her findings were oriented around a bunch of guys. Her finding were a little different considering it was a much more light hearted topic then a bunch group of hipocrits that think they have something they dont. The impression i got from talking to this person was that her group actually had what i wish mine did. It was probably the closest thing to a subculture without having some predominant trait such a race and being formed on something below the the surface. She said the most if the guys were just a bunch of fun, nerdy, clean guys that were absolutely hilarious. They all had nicknames and evne exhibited a "team" type situation by showing an unwritten prejudice against the guys in the short hall "around the bend." These sorts of things do form strong bonds as they would in frats, sororities, sport teams, ect. The reason my group does not have that as strongly as it should is because (i believe) their closeness is based on self pitty and lies. That can not, in any way, form a strong family. They barely have anything to represent themselves as strong. |
Project diary
Project diary
This inquiry began as a very intriquing idea. After taking the lid off of this so called "subculture," however, a much more psychological aspect of this groups unity was found. This sort of thing should never be considered a subculture. It should only be considered a clique. The paradox involved was very interesting and fun to follow and analize. I believe that many tests and things can be done to even further the understanding of a clique formed from a hatred of cliques. The common phrase about swalling ones words comes to mind as I refelect on all of the bashings done towards clique becuase this group inevitable followed up on the other common phrase "you are what you eat." They became what they hated. I would enjoy studying the security levels of every single girl involved with this group and do many other things to learn more about it, but that would be a battle against time because this weak group will soon disintegrate into nothing just like any group will eventually do. |
Project diary
Credits and Acknolwedgement
Suzanne Hammond, my informant
Pamela Paxton from Social Psychology Quarterly
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Oglesby Girls |
Users' Comments on this Unit
- Eric addresses how hypocritical the girls are on the 4th floor of Oglesby. The girls claim they were never a part of a "clique" but through Eric's analysis and fieldnotes, he established the fact that the girls have become a clique themselves by sharing the same hatred toward people who left others out. Eric has made a very good point because no matter how much someone tries to avoid being a part of a "clique," he/she ultimately falls into a category of similarities with other people only that someone is not aware of it. With the girls Eric is studying, they were shunned from cliques in high school and met others who shared the same background. The girls could easily relate to one another. - by tselam@uiuc.edu
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