Handouts and Assigments
1999 Fiji Term Abroad
written by Karen Brison and Steve Leavitt
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WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT - MARKET AND SHOPS IN VAILEKA
Karen Brison, Steve Leavitt
This first assignment is designed to help you get used to the idea of collecting information by asking questions. It will also have the added benefit of introducing you to the town so that in the future people will have a better sense of why you are here. Be willing to tell people who you are and why you are here, how long you'll be here, and so forth. Tell them you will be living in "a village" if they ask you about that. Buy some productsÑyou can do Karen's shopping, and you also can buy some things for yourselves to have in your room.
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A market vendor in Vaileka shows his products
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Market: Megan, Erinn, Andy
The market is a feature of every small town in Fiji. It is an integral part of everyone's shopping, as well as being a livelihood for vendors. Saturday is the best market day, so there are some products that will likely be available only then. We will try to get you back to the market at some point so you can tie up loose ends in your questioning and you can check out the products available. If we do get there, include in your notes a discussion of the difference between weekdays and Saturday.
Begin together, talking to a couple of the merchants, but then after a little while split up and each of you can do a different section of the market (this way we won't have two of you at different times coming to the same merchant and asking the same kinds of questions). Make sure to include the section of the market that is outside the building. Here is the information that you will want to collect:
- Find out about the range of products sold: collect prices, English names and Fijian names for products. Be thorough. Find out which products are bought more by Fijians and which by Indians. Are there products bought mainly by European visitors?
- Get some more detailed information on unfamiliar productsÑhow they are prepared, who uses them, what to look for in buying them, etc.
- Observe marketing behavior. See if you can tell if any bartering is going on, and also see if there are differences in the interactions based on whether the customer (or vendor) is Fijian or Indian. Do different people pay different prices? Buy something from a vendor, then strike up a conversation, and THEN ask the vendor about bartering ("do you sometimes give a second price?") whether they do it, or what they think about it.
- Find out about the vendors themselves. Where are they from? Do they grow their own produce? How do they get into town? How often do they come into town to sell? Are there full-time vendors? Do they enjoy selling? Why or why not? How much do they sell daily?
- Note descriptive details about the scene, the sights, smells, sounds, etc. Think in terms of being able to write an evocative summary of the market area in town, and then include this description in your notes.
- Include other questions or observations based on your own interests. Get in the habit of asking yourself what you would like to know about things and then coming up with a strategy for finding out the answers.
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One of Vaileka's three main streets
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Shop Vendors: Stephanie & Michelle, Emily & Apryle
We have for some time had a real interest in the various shops in Vaileka. There seem to be many small stores selling similar products, competing directly with each other. They seem to operate with very slim profits, with long work hours for family members. We also have the impression that there is an ethnic division of labor, with most, if not all, of the owners being Indo-Fijians, and many employees being Fijians. There are also Muslims and Hindus. There may be some sort of split in which stores are run by whom. It's not clear its significance.
Begin in pairs, talking to a couple of the merchants, but then after a little while split up and each of you can do different shops. Concentrate on the less busy shops where the proprietors may have time to talk with you. Try to talk with both proprietors and employees. Make sure to include the section of the market that is outside the building. Try to make it clear that you're asking these questions just as part of your own work, not as anything "official" or judgmental. It's a good idea to start off by shopping for something, and then strike up conversations. Buy some things that you're really interested in finding: mosquito coils, extension cords, flashlight (called "torch" here), sulus, batteries, etc. There is no reason to buy many things at any one shop; just get one or two things at each.
- Find out about the range of products sold: choose a type of product (such as sulus or other clothing) and collect prices. Do the prices range a lot from store to store? Be thorough. Find out which products are bought more by Fijians and which by Indians. Are there products bought mainly by European visitors? Do the stores aim for one clientele or the other? Or do they aim to serve both markets?
- See if you can find out how the vendor feels about the different ethnic groups as customers. You can get at this indirectly by asking such questions as, "Do you have any trouble with shoplifting?" "Are there people who try to bargain?" "Do some people try to buy on deposit or ask to pay later?"
- Get some more detailed information on unfamiliar productsÑchoose some item that is unfamiliar to you and ask the purpose and name.
- Observe shopping behavior. See if you can tell if any bartering is going on, and also see if there are differences in the interactions based on whether the customer (or vendor) is Fijian or Indian. Do different people pay different prices? Buy something from a vendor, then strike up a conversation, and THEN ask the vendor about bartering ("do you sometimes give a second price?") whether they do it, or what they think about it.
- Find out about the vendors themselves. Where are they from? Do they own the shop or are they an employee? What sort of hours do they work? See if you can ask about their pay. How long have they been in business if they're the proprietor? Do they enjoy selling? Why or why not? Can they estimate how much they sell they sell daily?
- Ask them about seasonal and weekly differences in people's buying things. Is there a day of the week that people buy more? Are there some months of good business and some months of bad? Ask them to explain why these differences exist, if they do.
- Note descriptive details about the scene, the sights, smells, sounds, etc. Think in terms of being able to write an evocative summary of the shops in town, and then include this description in your notes.
- Include other questions or observations based on your own interests. Get in the habit of asking yourself what you would like to know about things and then coming up with a strategy for finding out the answers.
For everyone: Be prepared for answers that are not complete, or are not what you are looking for. Some people may have some trouble with your accents, so speak clearly and use simple direct language. Try to be personable. Once the research is done you should compare notes (it might be a good idea to do a bit of this before you leave town in case you come up with some real discrepancies and then you can do a more thorough comparison of notes when you get back to the hotel). You can use each other's notes (add the new information to your own notes), but then when you write the notes up in a more organized fashion to turn into us, you should do this independently. We will want notes from each of you. Give these to us on Thursday.
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