Ethnography Proposal

The Culture of Public Transportation

For the subject of this ethnography we intend to study the culture surrounding public transportation services. A&M in particular has an intricate culture embedded in the bus network. Unlike similar services, the one provided by A&M is free to everyone in the Bryan-College Station area, making this culture even more dynamic.

While the most obvious use of the A&M bus system is for students to transit between home and classes, the bus system is used for a large number of other activities. These other activities are the main interest of this ethnography, but the focus of the ethnography is intended to be left open ended. This is important, as it will help us to avoid biasing our methodologies To this end, we hope to make objective observations on the culture of different bus routes. Following periods of study, we will attempt to draw conclusions from the data as opposed to forming goals prior to these experiences.

In order to better study this culture, we intend to sit in on a variety of different bus routes at different times of day. Considerations worthy of mention would include bus routes that travel to significant locations (besides campus) such as North gate, the mall, or the grocery store. In addition, the culture present on some of these routes may vary significantly at different times of day. To address this, we also intend to ride the routes during various times on the weekend, and later at night.

Our group intends to collect quantitative data out of observations that are of particular interest to our ethnography. As we will describe in the qualitative data section of this proposal, our intentions are to monitor student activities that are not necessarily related to school. With that in mind, we are interesting in knowing the amount of people who ride the bus to school, and people who ride the bus to other destinations. We are interested in knowing how many commuters use their phone instead of engaging in face to face social activities. Other observations will include determining the number of grocery shoppers and the number people eating on the bus. Despite all these early ideas, it is important to mention that our research will be tailored by our commuting experience.

The qualitative data for this ethnography will involve observing the environment and describing the overall mood. This will include taking notes on how friendly the passengers are, how they are dressed, and possibly ethnic backgrounds relating different bus routes. We want to take notes on how the times (morning, noon, and afternoon) of the bus routes affect people. For example, do people only eat in the mornings? Are people more likely to engage in conversations at night? All these ideas will compose our qualitative data.