Now that I've explained testing I can comment on how these tests that I organize are essentially ethnographies operating in the vacuum of 1 or 2 hours.
These testers visit leasing and sales offices and function as a blank slate. When I assign tests, I try to make nothing stand out about the person. However, the sales or leasing agents are constantly judging the tester. They are evaluating to determine if the tester is a serious buyer, someone that might want all the extras, or someone that is looking for a good deal. They're also constantly evaluating the tester's culture and class capital.
Then after the test, the paperwork that the testers have written up is evaluated by me and I look for a difference in treatment. This paperwork includes a narrative that the test writes of everything that has happened from the moment they stepped inside the office to when they left the office. I essentially am reading two ethnographies where equal treatment is to be expected. If there is differing treatment then there is a problem. Reading these narratives give me an insight into life as a class other than me. I get to experience a Egyptian Muslim's life, or the life of a middle aged African American woman, or the life person with a disability.
Even if it's just for an hour of their lifetime.
These testers visit leasing and sales offices and function as a blank slate. When I assign tests, I try to make nothing stand out about the person. However, the sales or leasing agents are constantly judging the tester. They are evaluating to determine if the tester is a serious buyer, someone that might want all the extras, or someone that is looking for a good deal. They're also constantly evaluating the tester's culture and class capital.
Then after the test, the paperwork that the testers have written up is evaluated by me and I look for a difference in treatment. This paperwork includes a narrative that the test writes of everything that has happened from the moment they stepped inside the office to when they left the office. I essentially am reading two ethnographies where equal treatment is to be expected. If there is differing treatment then there is a problem. Reading these narratives give me an insight into life as a class other than me. I get to experience a Egyptian Muslim's life, or the life of a middle aged African American woman, or the life person with a disability.
Even if it's just for an hour of their lifetime.
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