§Background:
Midsummer
weekend
is
full
of
traditions
and
habits,
i.e.
interesting
phenomena,
to
study!
Midsummer
is
also
a
symbol
and
a
metaphor of our
calender.
You
will
most
likely
also
take
part
in
Midsummer
activities
and
you
might
even
have
your own
Midsummer
traditions
and
habits.
§Assignment:
Your
goal
is to observe and action research Finnish Midsummer celebrations. As you are
most likely preparing and/or taking part to some Midsummer
weekend/party,
you
have a vital role and
you
can
be
a key
actor
during
weekend/celebration
activities.
Your
task
is to
observe,
describe
and interpret your and your
relatives’/friends’ Midsummer activities. You can
also observe and analyse old photos of past Midsummers, or write down your own Midsummer
memories.
Regardless
of
what
type of data
your
using,
pay
attention
to
the
celebrations,
traditions
and
most importantly,
peoples’
behaviour.
§You
can
choose
to
keep
a
diary
or
take
open
notes
on
your and
your friends’/families’
most
traditional
elements
of
the
Midsummer
weekend.
What
kind of traditions
can
you
observe?
(non-systematic
observation)
§You
can
also
structure
your
observations
by making a list of
elements
to
look for
when you’re
actually taking notes. (systematic/structured
observation)
You
could
e.g.
observe
Midsummer
preparations,
transport
to
a
party
location,
the characteristics of
the
location itself, social life
(i.e.,
what
actors
are present
and
what
are
they
doing), food and drinks, eating,
habits…
the
list
is
endless!)
§You
can
write
down
your
key
notions
you’ve done
the
observation,
or
you
can
take
notes
and
write
everything
down
as
you
are
experiencing
Midsummer.
You
can
also
take pictures
to
illustrate
key
points
of
interest
you
have
observed.
§Delivareble:
Gather
the key results of your observation, make a two slide summary of your findings,
and upload your slides to Moodle by June 29th (23:59).
Slide
1:
Your
observation plan, including
the
observed
phenomenon
as
well
as
your
observation
guide (what
are
you
observing).
Slide
2:
Your
key results.
What
did
you find out?