This second report is essentially a continuation of your first report but requires a very different approach to the question what is writing? This time you will go to the actual (not virtual) site that the website you analyzed (re)presents. You will draw on readings from the text book, class lecture notes, your first report, and your own first-hand observations to explore the spatial and social dynamics of the organization or institution you explored for your first report in terms of sustainability.

The research you will need to do for this assignment will require multiple visits to the site. You will need to observe the site, the activities, and the people from a variety of perspectives at different times while paying attention to the site's explicit and implied environmental dynamics. You will need to draw on all of your senses to acquire data during your visits and you will need to take lots of notes about what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

Your assignment is to explore the underlying cultural, social, economic, and political values and networks you find in the site, and to compare, contrast, complicate, and build on the observations you made in your first report. You will also need to take note of your own experiences in exploring the site, not only as a participant in the space, but also as a researcher being consciously aware of your own purposes for being there. Ultimately, you will write a 3-5 page (at least) analytical report on your observations of the site, coming to conclusions about the meanings of the site in relation to its website, and in your own expectations and interpretations of the site's relationship with the local community.

Research and Analysis Heuristic

First, before you actually visit the site prepare yourself as an observer. Remember that the physical space you are researching is connected to the virtual site you explored for the first report. Plan to do this assignment for the assignment only. That is, your task is to be a researcher/observer, not a customer or participant (although you may want to participate in activities when appropriate as a way of gathering data). Plan to go to the site alone (unless it is unsafe, in which case don't go at all). Plan to spend a lot of time at the site and plan follow-up visits into your schedule. Write notes to help you consider the following questions:
1. Based on your analysis of the website (virtual space) and/or your past experiences with this or similar sites, what do you already know about the social organization of the space you will study? (see "The Cocktail Waitress").
2. Based on your knowledge so far, what do you expect to find in the physical site? What kinds of people? What kinds of materials (e.g., furnishings, counters, equipment, space dividers such as walls or moveable dividers, signs, posters, etc.)?
3. What purpose(s) do you believe the space has been designed for? And what uses do you think people who inhabit the space put it to? Do you think these coincide? Where? And when and how might they not? (you might try a tentative sketch of what you think you'll see there.)
4. Who (which group or groups) do you think the space is designed for? What do you know about the primary group for which the space was designed?
5. Will you need to make reservations, appointments, or get permission for your research? Find out ahead of time. Contact the manager, owner, supervisor, or whoever ahead of time and let them know who you are and what your project is - you will get a lot more data and access that way.

Then, when you conduct your first visit to the site, start by taking general observation notes on the location, the layout, the people, the activities. "Read" the space in terms of the cultural values it evokes and implies. For example, are there implied or explicit barriers in terms of layout, economics, authority? Signs that define and limit behaviour? Stated or implied dress codes? What specific observable data supports your impressions and opinions? Remember, you are there as an observer to collect data, so gather specific details of everything you encounter - everything you see, hear, touch, taste and smell (whenever appropriate). Take detailed, copious notes in the form of itemized lists, opinions, questions, impressions, quotations, descriptions. Draw sketches of the site and objects. Ask questions. If applicable, pick up brochures, flyers, business cards, samples, and so forth. Drawing from Spradley & Mann's article in the textbook, take note of patterns of social structure and social networks. Talk to people. Tell them why you are there and ask for their ideas and impressions about the site. Again, the key thing is to gather lots and lots of specific details and data.

Then, as you review your notes, prepare for a follow-up visit. Where do there seem to be gaps in your data? For example, was the time of day a factor in the kind of data you gathered in your first visit? Tempe Town Lake at 7am on a Wednesday, 6pm on a Friday, and noon on a Sunday will probably be very different places. Were you surprised at the difference between your expectations and what you found? Consider exploring incongruities further. Draw up a list of questions you would like to explore further and use these as a basis for your return visit. Prepare to interview more people and make more detailed and focused observations.

Then write the draft. The following are suggestions you might consider, not a set of directions for how to write your draft: Establish patterns. What categories of people and actions emerge from all of your notes? What central metaphor(s) might be used to describe the space and its relation to those who use it? As you did for the first project, generate a metaphor or analogy that captures the overall meaning of the space. Make a list of similarities and another of dissimilarities between the space(the tenor) and the thing (vehicle) you are comparing it to. What does this activity of analyzing the metaphor or analogy suggest to you about the meaning of the space? What surprised you in doing this activity? What other data do you need to collect from the space based on the line of thought prompted by this activity? Does this metaphor or analogy generate a focus for your paper? If so, what is that focus? How might this focus help you sift through your notes and decide which to use? (The metaphor may or may not show up in your paper; use it as a heuristic. If you find it useful for writing your paper, then by all means include it.) Look for values and myths. What values and/or myths appear implicitly or explicitly in the site? in what people say in the site? in the promotional material (brochures, etc.) for the site? Compare the virtual and the physical space. After you have had a chance to do at least two or more observational visits, compare/contrast what you observed and concluded on the virtual space (website) with what you are learning about the physical space. In what ways are they similar? In what ways are they not? Are the same groups of people served in and by the virtual space as in the physical and vice versa? In short, how does the meaning(s) of the physical site relate to that of the website? And how does the physical site meet and not meet your own expectations?

Hint: Don’t wait until the last minute to do you research for this one. The more observation data you accumulate, the more complex and interesting your analysis is likely to be. Take lots and lots of notes. Don’t discount anything as being irrelevant or unimportant. Details will be crucial.

Note: If you did not analyze a website for your first report that represented a local, material space as required, then you have extra work to do. You will need to find a website that does represent a local, material space and that is similar to the website you analyzed for the first report. For example, if you analyzed the website for Acadia National Park in Maine for your first report, you could look at the National Park Service website for a local national monument or park such as http://www.nps.gov/tont/index.htm and visit the Tonto National Monument. Don’t worry, you don’t have to reanalyze the website, only use it as a reference point. You could also visit the Casa Grand Ruins National Monument or Montezuma's Castle but remember to check ahead to make sure these places are accessible and not closed for renovations during the time you will be doing research for this report.)

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