Module+1+Topic+3+-+Goldilocks+and+the+Three+Bears

Goldilocks and the Three Bears – A Social Research Task (Module 1 – Topic 3) When I first read this task description I was quite confused about how I needed to approach it. Exactly what was required of me? The more I thought about it, the more ideas popped into my head. Now all I have to do is relate them to Social Inquiry!

When I pick up a story book, any book, I think immediately about how I could include it in my classroom program in an authentic and useful way. I straight away think about developing children’s comprehension and understanding of the concepts presented in the story. It seems to me that Goldilocks main ideas could include, conflict between species (bears and humans), family interactions and roles in the animal kingdom (how the bears live and interact as a family unit), invasion of privacy and trespass (Goldilocks invading the Bears’ inner sanctum), socially acceptable behaviour (how would we judge Goldilocks’ behaviour?) and even teenage runaways/homelessness and supporting the less fortunate (could the bears have helped Goldilocks). If I was preparing some questions on which to hinge my research, I would base them on my perceived themes. **__ Possible research questions and methods of study __** // How do animal species react when humans invade their habitat? //  · This question could best be answered with qualitative research in the form of a case study or in fact several case studies where observations were made as humans invaded the habitats of a variety of species. The researcher may limit the research to bears or broaden it to do a comparative study using several species. // Do bears live and interact together in similar ways to human families? //  · This question would also be best answered through observation as a case study. This may start off as ethnography (a report on social life that focuses on detailed and accurate description rather than explanation) but may extend into ethnomethodology as the researcher makes sense of patterns in the bears everyday lives and interactions with each other.

// Are manners and etiquette valued in today’s society? // // Was Goldlocks’ behaviour socially acceptable? //  · Had Goldilocks been taught what constitutes good manners? Did she forget or was she just desperate for rest and food? Once again observation of people interacting in a variety of social settings would give the researcher a good deal of insight into this question. Surveys and interviews may also help to gather the necessary data, although one has to keep in mind, it is easy to say you do use manners when in fact, you are not seen to do so. Observation may give more valid results in this case. · Is it ever socially acceptable to enter someone’s habitat without permission? A discussion may be an interesting way of gathering people’s opinions on this topic. This may need to initially be an inductive form of research – by observing people’s opinions and ideas the researcher could form a hypothesis which they could then test through survey and interview. // Could animal families assist with the nurturing of runaway teenagers? //  · Many myths exist about animals raising human children – are they true – investigate any available data. · Conduct experiments where a childlike doll is placed with a suitable female bear and observe what happens. Does the mother nurture it? Could you do the same with a live human? (Is it ethical as it could put the subject in danger?)

So many questions that could be used in this hypothetical research (of course I’m not really advocating we place a baby with a bear!) Research format and methodology has to be dictated by the expected or desired outcomes. What do you want to find out? How best to go about it. If you were conducting this research from a **__feminist perspective__**, then the questions may change. // What if Goldilocks had been a boy, would the bears have reacted differently, would he have behaved differently? // // Is the Mother Bear dominated by the Father Bear? Would she have nurtured the child if he was not there? // // Do females run away from home more than males? Do they stay away longer and survive more easily? // If you were completing an **__ethnographic study__**, where the emphasis is on detailed and accurate description rather than explanation you may focus more closely on exactly what happened step by step. You may choose to repeat the interaction so you could video it and make it easier to examine each event. From an **__animal rights perspective__**, the research focus would change totally. Instead of looking at Goldilocks’ feelings and actions, everything would swing to the bears’ point of view. // How did the bears feel when they found goldilocks had trespassed on their property and interfered with their personal possessions? // // Do humans consider the rights of animals when entering their habitat? //

**__ How could you design a study that could provide some general conclusion? Is it possible or is it too confined? __** The study designed would depend totally on your research purpose. Several of my ‘tongue in cheek’ questions could theoretically be researched by field observation and in some cases interview or survey. I feel however, that it would be a very narrow research and the data could lead to overgeneralization and oversimplification of patterns observed, as Babbie warns in Chapter 10.