During class on Friday we covered a lot of very important concepts. One concept that stuck out to Nate and I was performing research that cannot just be studied at home in the library. I realized this a while back when I was thinking of my research topic. I know very little about dentistry and even less about diagnosing oral concerns or problems. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do a dental research project where I actually look in peoples mouth. I know that most of my research will come from sociodemographic data and very common and basic questions about oral care. I will mainly be performing questionnaires or talking with people about their day to day oral perception. With this data I should be able to draw some clear conclusions about the oral condition of that area.
What stuck out to me in the reading, was fitting in the right way with your research. I want to make sure that people answer honestly. In class we talked about approaching people the right way and bringing up the conversation in an appropriate manner. We did this a lot on our missions, but it will be different with this field study. I will not be involving myself in the research, but will probably be asking the questions for it. In order to fit in, it will probably be important to the people that I can communicate with them. I don't know if an interpreter would limit the accuracy of data that I could collect. If I could talk with the people in their own language, or at least attempt to, they might trust me more and be more willing to share information. As I narrow down my research topic, I will have to decide what will be the best way to approach the people from the area. I may not even be able to do this until I travel over there and am put in the situation. I think building the trust through friendships would create the best results. This would involve time and more than a simple questionnaire though, it would involve trust.
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