Memorial Reflection

Although I managed to acquire enough information to formulate these conclusions, I encountered a couple of significant challenges in the pursuit of this data. Prior to starting my field work, I was quite naïve about gaining informants. I assumed since there were so many people working at the memorial, I would be able to talk with them and gain some useful information. However, within a week, I was informed of the official memorial policy, which stated that staff members, be they tour guides, janitors, or guards, could not talk to the “Press.” All interviews would have to be arranged through the personal relations coordinator of either the memorial or the tribute center. Even though I had no relations with any formal media outlets, I was …show more content…
I would circle around the memorial for hours, trying to find the right person to interview. I had a strict criterion: the individual had to be alone, not in a group, he or she had to be sitting down in the middle section or away from the memorial, and he or she also had to appear as if they were passing time, as if waiting for someone or something. Doing this required a form of bravery as well as a tolerance for awkwardness, for walking up to strangers, introducing oneself, and asking for their help on a school project is strange. Eventually, I became bolder and less picky. However, this did not result in more interviews but only more rejection. That being said, I felt conflicted about interviewing memorial guests. On the one hand, they are the actors who participate with the memorial first hand and can give me important perspectives related to my research. On the other hand, however, I did not want to disrupt people, for I did not want to ruin an intimate moment or activity they were sharing with their family or having with themselves. Next time a project like this is carried out, organizing a better way to interview guests or having a controlled group to interview may be easier for the researcher and prove less disruptive and