Experiment
I am doing an experiment for my Methods of Sociological Inquiry class today and I am both excited and nervous. The plan is I will dress up as a homeless person and another girl from my class will dress up as a business woman. We will take turns asking people if we can borrow their cell phone for a non-emergency call. We want to see if there is a difference between how many phones we are able to borrow.
I want this to be as realistic as possible so I am going all the way with my homeless outfit. I have torn (seriously torn) jeans, a raggy old tank top, and unlaced combat boots. I'm also going to carry an army surplus duffel bag, stuffed with blankets to make it look full. Then, I will put cooking oil in my hair to make it look stringy and greasy, smear some on my face and then rub in some dirt to make it look gritty. I will probably also apply dirt to my knees, hands and arms.
I am a little nervous to do this. I want people to believe that I am homeless, at least to some degree, but I also don't want to get yelled at. I do recognize that not everyone is nice, and many people aren't nice to homeless people, so I am going in prepared to have people yell at me, but it's still a little nerve wracking. Hopefully this goes well and we are able to compile the data we need.
I want this to be as realistic as possible so I am going all the way with my homeless outfit. I have torn (seriously torn) jeans, a raggy old tank top, and unlaced combat boots. I'm also going to carry an army surplus duffel bag, stuffed with blankets to make it look full. Then, I will put cooking oil in my hair to make it look stringy and greasy, smear some on my face and then rub in some dirt to make it look gritty. I will probably also apply dirt to my knees, hands and arms.
I am a little nervous to do this. I want people to believe that I am homeless, at least to some degree, but I also don't want to get yelled at. I do recognize that not everyone is nice, and many people aren't nice to homeless people, so I am going in prepared to have people yell at me, but it's still a little nerve wracking. Hopefully this goes well and we are able to compile the data we need.