from the observed actors in the field. In the latter case, this position rests
on a conscious and partly strategized “presentation of self.”
A first excerpt from my field journal presents a few social scenes that in
oneway or another made up my daily life during the observation period.
October 2010, 06:25. It is still dark out; I am at the bus stop on my way to the field. It
has been nearly 15 days since I began my observation. However, in the last 3 or 4 days
I have attempted to take the floor and to actively participate (orally) in police interven-
tions. At times I have had to make a real effort at self-control. I dreaded an outburst.
Therefore, this morning while waiting for the bus, I proceed with a little ritual: I pace
back and forth, recalling the observation guidelines, the fieldwork preparation with my
thesis supervisor, the readings done on the positions of researchers, and my choice not
to participate actively in the interventions of the police officers whom I am
accompanying.Thefamily sceneis not explicitly designated, but this situation opens
upon my departure for the field. I have just left my house. This scene brings
together the members of my household, my family, and my friends. The
outlines of the family scene are traced by the places where I encounter these
different people. Family life suffers to a large extent from the requirements
of observation; the family scene is “colonized.” Prior to my period of
observation, my partner accepted to negotiate with his employer to adjust
his work schedule so that he could drop off our daughter at preschool, and
thereby allow me to follow exactly the work schedule of the police officers.
The allocation of household chores and of family activities undergoes a
reorganization according to the requirements of the field schedule. Social
life is contingent on the hourly conditions required by the observation, and
I have little time or energy to partake in it.
Theprofessional academic scene, represented by my thesis supervisor in
the above excerpt, is made up of university colleagues, and corresponds
more or less to the usual workplace scene. The context becomes broader
with the spacetime continuums of the professional activities in which I
partake as a doctoral student (colloquia, seminars, etc.) and includes the
people encountered on these occasions. This excerpt illustrates that when
methodological concerns arise, I think of my thesis supervisor, of my col-
leagues, who are in some way the guarantors of the scientific validity of my
research, and who will ultimately sanction it.
Thefield sceneis very much present in this excerpt, even if I am not yet
there physically. During this nondefined time of the period of observation,
the principal scene is undoubtedly that of the field of research. I reorganize
my interactions with the other scenes according to my goals in the field
scene; I am almost entirely polarized toward the latter. The first impact on
An Observation Situation: When the Researcher’s Scenes Interact 49