My Preconceptions About Juggling

  It would be obvious to anyone who knows me that I like juggling and already know a fair bit about it.  Even people who don't know me could probably guess that I know at least a little bit about juggling because just about everyone on campus has seen me juggling on my way to class before.  I already know everyone who juggles in my area, and many of them are close friends.  I am probably inclined to think more positively of them and our shared pastimes because of these things.  I am also going to be very close to those I am studying, although I may get a chance to visit a nearby group of jugglers in Columbus that I heard from recently.  Even if I go to that group where I am almost a total stranger I will still be visiting them as a juggler myself.  This status I have grants me an inside position with any jugglers I involve myself with.  This can be a blessing and a curse.  If I am careful to maintain my subjectivity while dealing with what I see and have seen it will let me get a very close internal view of the juggling culture.  At the same time I must be extra careful not to let my pre-conceived notions color my fieldwork.