SURRENDER AND CATCH

THE MASTERY OF FALLING IN LOVE

Jennika Platon
CJ 405 BZ
October 29, 2015
The ethnographic model surrender and catch by Kurt Wolff lists five techniques that
are said to be imperative in conducting field research. Altogether, these techniques as described

by Wolff is comparable to falling in love. Falling in love is an excellent skill to master in order
to produce a successful fieldwork. I have chosen to thoroughly discuss three out of the five
techniques that Wolff has enumerated. These are total involvement, pertinence of everything and
risk of being hurt. Using the works of Barbara Ehrenreich and Mitchell Duneier, I will discuss
the presence of these techniques in their works. Furthermore, I will attempt to contrast each
technique as to when a person falls in love to give a better and understandable definition of the
terms. In conjunction with my own field notes and experiences during my times at the gas
station; the setting of my research, I will also impart how I came to recognize these techniques
and how I am striving to master the skill. To conclude this paper, I will explain the importance
of Kurt Wolffs ethnographic model in field research.
The surrender and catch model of Wolff is comparable to falling in love. To begin the
development of this skill, one must be immersed in the environment of their choice. A person
will less likely to succeed in doing ethnographic work if he or she does not engage in the setting.
Out the five techniques, I consider total involvement to be the primary technique one must
satisfy. Barbara Ehrenreichs undertaking as told in her book Nickel and Dimed, executed the
technique of total involvement in an exceptional manner. Although the intentions in her endeavor
were objective and personal rather than ethnographic, it unravelled many issues and facts unique
in her setting that would not have come up had she not decided to be a server and a housekeeper
herself. Interviews and mere observation will not satisfy an ethnographic work and Ehrenreichs
realization made her research a more effective one. She concluded that Someone ought to do the
old-fashioned kind of journalism- you know, go out there and try it for themselves. (Ehrenreich,
1). She consciously and courageously took great measures to fully understand how this type of
workforce survives. In the primitive stages of her research, she encountered a problem, which is

how to present herself. She wrote that the mention of her Ph.D would not help at all, and that it
might lead her employers to think of her as an alcoholic washout or worse, and so she limited her
educational attainment to three years of college (Ehrenreich, 5). Her decision to exclude real
information about her education in job applications and interviews became a significant step
towards attaining total involvement. By doing so, she made herself more relatable to the
employees of the places she worked, she was treated no different than the others and she was not
exempted from any work required. On the contrary, Mitchell Duneiers path to total involvement
was different from Ehrenreichs. Before the realization of what he should have been doing,
Duneier was studying the life of Hakim in the streets for 2 years but not as participant observer.
Then a thought occurred to him, he stated I would learn more about the sidewalk, if I became a
vendor myself, than I would by merely observing or doing interviews. (Duneier,334). He was
already partially involved in the streets of sixth avenue, and like Ehrenreich he realized it was
not enough to see something from a corner. Both Ehrenreich and Duneier real personalities
became unidentifiable to the places they have chosen, they both decided that the most effective
way to conduct their studies is be a part of it. Although the way people perceived them at their
settings were different from each other, they successfully achieved total involvement; Ehrenreich
as a divorced woman who did not finish college and Duneier who fully disclosed his background
and purpose. Moreover, in what sense does this task is comparable to when a person is falling in
love? For when a person falls in love, there is an assertion that he or she is totally involved to the
person they are falling for. Hence, when someone is totally involved, they see everything of that
person, the good and the bad. Yet, it does not disinterest them from that person. In field research,
total involvement allows us to see all there is in the setting, and every little detail may not seem

relevant in the beginning but everything we see, hear, smell or to some extent taste should
always be noted. This brings us to another technique, pertinence of everything.
Everything matters. During field work, all characteristics of the setting is considered
important. It may not be relevant at the time it was observed, and once observed it should not be
disregarded. Pertinence of everything is the key in finding out what ultimately will be the main
topic of ones ethnographic work. In sidewalk, Duneier described how pertinence of everything
was done in his setting, Using myself as a participant observer, I was there to notice by taking
part, trying to observe and retain information, that others in the setting often thought unimportant
or took for granted (Duneier, 336). In my opinion, Duneier was absolutely correct in taking
notes of the things that are unimportant to most people in the setting. It is from our collected data
that questions we might ask will emerge. With Ehrenreich, she noticed that her co-workers often
talk about their living situations often the first thing they fill you in on when they arrive for their
shifts (Ehrenreich, 25). It was not an intrinsic characteristic of the place of her employment and
it also seemed unimportant to what she was doing, but the occurrence of these conversations,
often very brief, shifted her attention to her co-workers lives. From the observation of the
conversations, Ehrenreich was able to compile a survey of the living conditions of her coworkers and found that all of them are having similar problems with rent and roommates.
Pertinence of everything is similar to falling in love in this context, when a person falls in love
everything with that person is appealing and makes him or her more interesting. In field work,
our setting is the one we are falling in love with and everything this setting possess, every
movement and every little word uttered should be of interest.
Lastly, the relevance of Kurt Wolffs risk of being hurt. Fieldwork poses a lot of risks to
the participant observer, it can be emotional, it can be financial or in some cases it can be

physical and life threatening. In Ehrenreichs research I believe the way she was hurt in the
process was physically and financially. She could have been a server, experience the job per se
but could have come home to a nice 4-star hotel or could have rented a more comfortable place
to live in. Nevertheless, she decided that it is much better to take the colossal step of becoming
totally involved and live exactly the way people would in the setting. This lead her to be
physically and financially exhausted, trying to work two jobs, travelling and allotting money for
the necessities. However, if she did not allow herself to vulnerable to the setting she chose, it
would not give meaning to what she was doing. She would not understand the exact feeling of
going to work and coming home with their jobs, the way her co-workers worry about their living
situations and how they deal with their strenuous financial statuses. On the other hand, Duneiers
setting posed the risk of being hurt along the lines of physical and life threatening, and also
emotional. In the book, he admitted that it was Hakim who had reservations about his proposal of
being a vendor. Would I be safe on the streets? Could Marvin look after me? Would the toughest
and most violent man on Sixth Avenue accept what I was doing worthy of respect? (Duneier,
334). These were the questions that meant there was a great risk of him being hurt in pursuing
the research the way he wanted to. He was ready, but what was striking in that part of his
research were the immediate reaction of vendors in Sixth Avenue upon knowing he was going to
be a vendor.Duneiers risk of being hurt in this setting immediately surfaced the characteristics of
most people in it, they were concern for his safety as well. The second risk for him was
emotional. It was him being hurt by not being accepted on the block, given his skin color and
educational attainment. Marvin even stated What will the fellas think if I have a white guy
working for me all summer? (Duneier,334). Although hurtful, this did not deter Duneier from
doing the work. Their simple gestures and concerns has already told Duneier a lot about the

setting he was about to participate in. When a person falls in love, there is always the element of
being hurt in one way or the other. Although there is that risk we still go forth in loving the
person, we still love what we see of them and accept them for who they are. Field research
comes with risks, before, during and after. What is important is that we take it as information as
to why these risks are present in our settings, and use them as data.
All three techniques were vital in conducting my own field research. Although I was not
aware of these techniques the first time I worked at the gas station, little did I know I was already
developing the skills every time I was there. My total involvement started when I decided to
work at the gas station rather than hanging out and observing. I figured that I would have more
interaction and comfortableness and vice versa with the employees if I become one of them.
Since, I am part of the team I get to see what goes on behind the counter, the technicalities, the
conversations between employees, between employees and the owner, and between employees
and customers. This enabled me to have a wider view of the setting, making more use of the
technique pertinence of everything. I have data that includes the most popular cigarette people
buy at this particular gas station, which cigarette is popular among men and which is popular
among women. This data also includes conversations between the managers and the owner while
she is at the store or when she makes a phone call to the store. Another advantage of being a
participant observer in this setting is that I have total interaction with frequent customers with
very interesting stories and backgrounds. This often sparks a conversation and in a sense, I am
already in the process of interviewing them, though it may not count as a formal one. The very
first technique that came in way was not total involvement, it was the risk of being hurt. I was
almost not hired because the owner has never hires a woman, yet alone in her own description of
me, a little girl. The owner was scared for my safety, constantly telling me during the meeting I

had with her prior to working, that bad guys are out there and a gas station is often a target. I was
fully aware that a robbery can occur or something bad can happen not just to me but to other
employees as well, and so I decided to disclose why I wanted this job so bad. I was not fully
truthful, for I do not know how they would take it if I tell them what I was actually going to
study the people in the store, including her. I told her this was for one my classes, a business
class and that we are required to work in a retail store. She sighed and gave me conditions to
when I can work and she will not let me work by myself. Although conditions were made, it is
not guaranteed that there is no more risk of being hurt.
In conclusion, I argue that Kurt Wolffs model is helpful and useful. It lets us experience
and master ethnographic work in a more understandable manner, something that we all are
familiar which is falling in love. The fundamental purpose of Kurt Wolffs ethnographic model is
for us to avoid the common mistakes in field work. These techniques steers us away from being
having biases, invading the setting as a scientist and trying to duplicate results. Kurt Wolffs
model gives us control of our setting yet there is freedom of anything can happen which makes
a field research a more effective one.

Bibliography
Duneier, Mitchell, and Ovie, Carter. Appendix A Statement on Method. Sidewalk. New York:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999. 333-57. Print.
Introduction: Getting Ready and Chapter 1: Serving in Florida. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America, by Ehrenreich, Barbara. pp. 1-49. Henry Holt and Company, 2002.(49
pages).
The Stranger. In George Simmel On Individuality and Social Forms, by Simmel, George;