There are many ways in which a study can be conducted. However, it is essential that researchers stay objective and do not compromise their integrity, especially when immersing themselves in the observed environment and the lives and lifestyles of the participants. This paper will discuss Kim Price-Glynn’s research on the interactions in a strip club and examine how she managed interactions with customers in ways that felt true to herself as a researcher and as a person.
To conduct her investigation on the interactions between the female employees of the strip club and male customers, Kim Price-Glynn opted to utilize the participant observation method. The researcher successfully applied for a job as a cocktail waitress in an establishment named The Lion’s Den and collected information on the exchanges between patrons and workers (Price-Glynn 1). As a waitress, the author constantly interacted with the male clients, who exhibited similar behaviors towards waitresses and dancers in the club. To preserve her integrity and stay true to herself, Price-Glynn made a choice not to engage customers in requests that would compromise them. For instance, she refused to flash a regular customer or show him her feet for money (Price-Glynn 67). This refusal was highly confusing for the customer, who failed to understand why a waitress in a strip club would not show him parts of her body, stating “they’re only your feet” (Price-Glynn 67). This choice did not influence the research as it did not compromise the author’s ability to collect the information on exchanges between male clients and female workers and did not affect the data itself.
In summary, Price-Glynn chose to involve herself in the work of a strip club to collect authentic information on how male customers and female employees interact with each other. As she experienced the same treatment as her co-workers in the establishment, the author chose not to agree to certain requests from customers to protect herself and her values. However, this decision did not affect the study results as it had no impact on the collected data and its validity.
Work Cited
Price-Glynn, Kim. Strip Club: Gender, Power, and Sex Work. New York University Press, 2010.