Pugilist

As an academic who does interview-based research, and who spends a lot of time teaching people how to do qualitative research, I have to agree with many of the concerns raised in the last thread, and question the logic of trying to do this online in this rushed way. I did my own masters in the UK and I know masters courses are short there and make it difficult to engage in sustained, profound research.As this seems to be the case for you, that doesn't mean you can just do the same research project, but accelerated. It means you need to think about what you can accomplish with the time/restrictions you have, and what knowledge you can genuinely generate from that. Thinking you can ask fairly complex questions and answer them through message board focus groups is like the opposite of rigour. You need to find a research question that can be answered in the time and with the resources you have.. At my university, we strongly encourage our students to do literature based masters projects as it is unfair to both researcher and potential subjects to take on something so ambitious is so little time. Message board research feels lazy. The only time I have seen it done effectively has been when that's the subject of the actual research- I.e. how social media is used in x community. IT CANNOT BE A REPLACEMENT FOR DEEP QUALITATIVE RESEARCH just because you don't have time. Focus groups are great for gathering easier-to-access info--you want to talk about identity? Meaning? Gender? You need to sit down with people. If you have read all of this research literature, then you know that qualitative research is about building trust, relationships, etc. And that there is no research without it. I am a total self-hating academic so I get why so many folks in the tattoo world are so skeptical of researchers. We can be a really tonedeaf bunch. Many researchers take without giving back. But I just want to be clear that as someone who is very much embedded into this world, the above would not be ok with me, either. In fact, much of my career has been spent trying to push people to rethink what it means to work with people, similar to the stuff @Lochlan has been talking about. And to the OP: I get that as an MA student this may be some of your first attempts at doing original research, and so this strong reaction may be really painful. I encourage you to listen to it carefully; I have learned some of my own important lessons about how I present myself, why I do what I do, what I hope to gain from my work, and what I'm asking of other people, in these kinds of tense encounters. I encourage you to think about what the goal of this project is beyond it being interesting to you (you want others to share personal moments of their lives with you? That's not enough.) and think especially about what useful, respectful, rigorous research can actually be done with the time and resources you have. If a message board conversation is all that you are able to do right now, it's not enough to credibly try to answer the questions you are asking with the depth that they, and we, deserve. Research with people takes time. I empathized with how painful such a strong reaction like this must be for you, especially as your supervisors clearly signed off on this plan and no one appeared to realize the problems with it, but I have to say that this: Pretty much removed any good will I felt for you. The above is basically a threat. If you do, indeed, believe in "ethics", then such a nasty statement would never have appeared in your message. Whether or not our posts are publicly available, threatening us that you could use them if you wanted to, but you're just too nice not to, is a dirty, dirty thing to say. Think about what ethical means.

Oh to be young and think you know everything...

This story basically just made my day.

I've never seen my design before the day of the appointment and it's never bothered me! Different tattooers work at different paces - some really only do their drawings within 24 hours of the tattoo. It's all about how folks manage their workflow. So don't be alarmed if you can't see the design beforehand. Minor edits are very easy to make the day of. And don't worry! Tattoo nerds like to bond over painful tattoo experiences but we all survive them. It will be fine, and the excitement will get you through.

Seems like we can expect a pretty weak showing this month (slackers!), so I'll throw my most recent tattoo into the ring. Torch + snake from Ron Henry Wells, done just before Christmas at Congress Street Tattoo.

I have a lot of OPINIONS on the myriad of ways that tattoo culture can still be really shitty to women, but rather than going on a rant about that right now, I will say this: Because it can indeed be kind of isolating being an (increasingly) heavily tattooed woman, one of the best things I have gotten out of my participation on this board has been the space to interact with, and "get to know", other articulate, thoughtful and cool tattooed women. I adore a lot of folks around here, but being able to connect with other ladies is particularly valuable and enriching, since I think being tattooed is accompanied by some unique stuff for us. So I am really grateful for this space and for everything I've learned from other women in the tattoo world.

I found front of thigh to be the easiest spot I've had done yet.

@Graeme and I will be in Brooklyn around the 28th of Jan for more tattooin'. - - - Updated - - - Hahaha jinx.

I can vouch for Marie Sena's crush worthiness. Her tattoos are so damn cool and fun and she is totally awesome and hilarious herself. Getting tattooed by her was a really positive experience!

Goddamit I totally freaked out over this torch on Instagram. Amazing!

There is a shop not too far from us called "Cracheur d'Encre" which literally means "Ink Spitter". Does not inspire confidence in one's ability to administer precise and clean tattoos.

I think pretty much every shop I've ever been tattooed in meets your rules. Phew. :)

Thanks for the kind words, guys! I am so, so stoked on it. I think Ron does just about the best torches I have ever seen, and I spent a looooong time obsessing over wanting one. I am over the moon with what I ended up with! Glad you guys think it's cool too. :)

I got this amazing torch this weekend from Ron Wells at Congress Street Tattoo in Portsmouth. It was part of a really great weekend trip that we took to celebrate a bunch of stuff, and in addition to getting tattooed, we hung out a bunch with our dog, gorged ourselves on seafood, and enjoyed the awesomeness of New England. Boy my thigh is sore as hell but I love love love this tattoo.

This, exactly. I think I have almost always woken up the morning after getting a tattoo thinking "what have I done?!" The feeling passes quickly and I have never felt it deeply, but for me it's a pretty normal part of the adjustment to having this new imagery on my body forever. It has nothing to do with how I feel about the tattoo itself and I have never gotten a tattoo that I actually regretted. But every once in a while it just feels all very Keanu Reeves "whoa" that we do these things to ourselves.

It looks awesome! It was nice meeting you too. Sorry I wasn't super chatty--I had fuzzy tattoo brain. Will post mine soon.

This was my favourite line too! We watched this last night and we were laughing so hard we were crying. This project looks amazing, Stewart, so thank you for taking it on despite the enormous amount of work that it must entail. My line of work requires a lot of transcription as well, so I feel for you re: the pain and timesuck that it is as a process. Hoping you get the help you need, and can't wait to see more!

That was one of the most awkward hours of television that I have ever watched.

I'm 1pm! LST posters take up all the tattoo appointments! :)

Haha yes, I suspect we will be the appointment before you, @Rob I! Small world.

I hear you're gonna get banned if you don't post a more thorough photo after your next session.

I have definitely been feeling this way looking at Virginia Elwood's work too, and more and more Robert Ryan. I hope to get tattoos from both of them eventually.

Aaaaaaaah I have had this dream so many times! Also, when you preface every tattoo you're going to get with "squid", e.g. "I just booked an appointment to get squid-elbows!"

Also forget everything you've learned from those shows. Seriously. Everything. Focus on finding a tattoo artist whose work makes you think, "damn! I need that on me!"

Yes. :(