Lojano

For this work I used the ethnographic method of research, through information gathering techniques such as participant observation, structured and unstructured interviews and the use of literature concerning internal migration and education in Ecuador. Initially, I had 5 subjects, 3 women and 2 men. I knew all of them from my days of high school, so they were open to help me since the beginning of the investigation. As I advanced the investigation, I met some other lojanos at the university and I looked for the help of other friends and relatives that are studying or studied at the USFQ. I met some other lojano students at parties, others while having lunch and one of them was even a classmate of me in one class this semester. In the end, I studied 14 lojanos, 8 men and 6 women.
The participant observation that I …show more content…
The questions I did revolve around determining what role they believe the lojanos in USFQ play, the role of their families in their lives, student-teacher relations and in general, the experience of studying (and living) in Loja and in Quito. I decided to make these interviews in a structured manner because I wanted to analyze what did the lojanos believed was their role in USFQ and what defined their identity as lojanos in USFQ, and contrast it with the attitudes and behavior I saw during the participant observation. I noticed that comparing the results of structured interviews and participant observation could help me and my investigation due to a problem I did not envisioned at first: lojanos may have lied to me before. To be clear, I do not mean to say they are liars, but rather they, trying to help me, would give answers that do not at all fit with their behavior and what they actually feel about Quito, USFQ, their families, etc. So I needed to contrast their discourse and their actions in order to generate a better understanding of their expectations, beliefs, and fears about this