Seminar-Series
‘Theories of practice and their multiplicity in focus, aim and use’
17. september, 14-16
Practices Theory at work:
Young people’s Cooking and Food habits researched in a practice
theoretical perspective
1. An introduction to my research project on young people's cooking practice
Break
2. A discussion of some theoretical issues of a broader relevance to the work
of practice theory
Boris Andersen, Ph.D. T: (+45) 2013 1315 , Mail: boris@plan.aau.dk,
Aalborg University Copenhagen, Foodscapes, Innovation and Network (FINE), Institute of Planning
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1. The problem statement of the thesis
• The overall aim of the thesis was “to investigate what motivates
adolescents to cook and prepare food and how their cooking practice is
situated in their everyday life”.
• This problem statement is followed by five research questions:
1. What do adolecents eat throughout their day?
2. How do they prepare their food?
3. How does their sense of what it takes to prepare food and get through
a meal affect their cooking practice?
4. How do other doings and meal activities affect their dinner practice?
5. How is it possible to motivate adolecents- who do not like to cook- to
cook?
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2. My theory
Using a practice-theoretical research perspective on the young people’s
cooking-practice implied two things:
• First, that their cooking practice would be researched as part of its actual
performance (not entity).
• Second, that their cooking practice would be researched as part of the flow of
other every day-life activities.
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3. Methodology and research design I
• The chosen methods are qualitative- based on video recorded
observation studies and interview material.
• The research was carried out amongst 16 residents of a
Danish dormitory, sharing amongst themselves two kitchens.
• The data includes transcriptions of the 2,5 hours of interview
with each of the participants, 15 hours of web-cam based
video from the kitchens, as well as recordings of meal
preparations.
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4. Methodology and research design II
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5. Methodology and research design III
Videonummernavn: avi_20120416_3 (1.1.1.2/TB.1.1.)
Optagested: Køkkenbord
Resumé: Jes laver lasagne, som ikke spises på videoen. Nikolas laver burger med fremmed
kvinde.
Deskriptivt
Deskriptivt
Ingred./ret
Tid
Pers
Hvad sker
Hvad sker
(i ræk.)
- ikke mad
- mad
00:00:00
00:33:00
Jes
Han ser lidt TV2Jes går i gang med at
Agurk
nyheder imens han tilberede et måltid, han vil Løg
laver mad; især,
lave en lasagne. Han er
Olie
hvis han fanges af
omhyggelig med skylning, Gryn (?)
noget lyd. Taler
og ved hvordan løg skal
Hakket kød
med nogen uden
skæres, kvaser dem.
Peberfrugt
for billedet (Nik?),
Kommer olie i en gryde i
men ikke om mad,
god tid, så olien bliver
men om noget om
varm, spæder op med
studie.
olie. Arbejder hurtigt,
tjekker peberfrugts
friskhed meget grundigt.
Rører i gryden efter ca. 3
min, skruer ned for
blusset. Skærer også
peberfrugt omhyggeligt
ud, kvaser altid med
kniven efter at han har
skåret.
00:43:38
Nikolas Nikolas stiller sig for Vasker fingre. Røre i
at se på Jes, der
gryden: skruer ned
fortsat laver mad.
Analytical approach inspired by Jordan (1995) & Knoblauch (2006)
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6. Methodology and research design IV
Eksempel på Interviewudskrift
#00:03:03-7# interviewer: ja ja .... men aller først sådan lidt om hvordan sådan typisk hvad du .. spiser af mad morgenmad frokost
aftensmad hvordan det .. spænder af (?)
#00:03:13-8# Asce: jo ... øh morgenmad .. der øh .. som regel så spiser jeg en toast
#00:03:20-7# interviewer: ja
#00:03:21-4# Asce: ellers så lige nu har jeg .. købt nogen fryserundstykker der var på tilbud
#00:03:26-2# interviewer: ja
#00:03:26-7# Asce: og så spiser jeg det med noget ost ... eller også så spiser jeg bare rugbrød med ost
#00:03:33-6# interviewer: ja .. får du spist morgenmad hver morgen
#00:03:34-0# Asce: ja stort set
#00:03:36-8# interviewer: ja jeg skal lige du går sådan ret fast på .. skole ikke? .. alle ugens dage og mødetid klokken otte eller
hvordan?
#00:03:45-2# Asce: ja sådan da ikk' .. altså
#00:03:47-4# interviewer: ja ... og morgenmad er det sådan noget hv- si- si- sidder du herinde eller?
#00:03:52-4# Asce: jeg sidder ude i køkkenet
#00:03:52-6# interviewer: ja
#00:03:53-0# Asce: men det er jo sådan noget hurtigt noget som regel ikk'
#00:03:56-5# interviewer: ja
#00:03:57-0# Asce: med en (?) brødsmad eller en toast eller sådan noget
#00:03:59-5# interviewer: ja .. og så noget fjernsyn eller hvad?
#00:04:02-8# Asce: ja .. som regel så ser jeg fjernsyn .. så .. tænder jeg for News samtidig med
#00:04:06-4# interviewer: ja
#00:04:06-8# Asce: så står jeg og laver madpakke samtidig med jeg spiser morgenmad
Analytical approach inspired by Giorgi (1979) & Kvale (2009)
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7. Conclusions I
The conclusions of the dissertation are twofold:
First identification of what is regarded as four different types of food
preparation practices, which each in its own way is characterized by a certain
coordination between a. understandings, b. procedures and c
engagements and how these are carried out.
The four typologies are identified:
1. The passionatet cooking practice
2. The necessary cooking practice
3. The negative ambivalent cooking practice
4. The positive ambivalent cooking practice
Analytical approach inspired by Short (2006) & Halkier (2008 & 2009)
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8. Conclusions II
Secoundly, my interest in young peoples cooking practice as part of the flow of their
everydaylives and other activities included in their everydaylives, also made it relevant
to introduce some additional findings, which I have summarized in the following:
1. The longing for routines; cooking as a source that structuring everyday life
(Andersen, 2015. pp. 154-155),
2. When society’s norms for eating-rythm clash the individuals; i.e. in a situation of
“lack of breakfast hunger” (ibid. pp. 80-82),
3. Hot canteen food as a potential factor in the decline of domestic cooking (ibid. pp.
82-84)
4. Healthy eating; a tendencies of the males voluntary-disclaimer for own health (ibid.
pp. 159-162)
5. Food at the Television; “Looking, not Making” (ibid. pp. 150-151)
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9. Video case I
“Trimming the pork”
The case study illustrates i.e.:
• that the lack of understanding of the procedure and knowhow can have an impact on how long the workflow takes –
and can result in a larger food waste,
• that the lack of understanding of the procedure and the lack
of know-how can mean that the young people refrain from
buying certain victuals,
• that the lack of equipment management , can mean that they
reject going for the optimized results.
View
“Trimming the pork”
(8 min)
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10. Video case II:
“The dangerous comes from the inside”
The case study illustrates, i.e.:
Choice of meats:
• Choose two types of meat: chicken pieces and minced beef, not because
she don’t like others sorts of meat, but because she doesn’t know how to
cooked it.
• Will be scared if she is not sure that the meat is well done, that's why she
would rather choose to roast it: Central to the steaks is that they should
not be red, therefore, she liked to cut it into small pieces.
Roast on the frying pan:
• Routines without understanding (checking whether the oil is hot or not,
just because she has seen other doing it)
• Her frying practice takes a relatively long time and requires a lot of
attention, caused of lacking understanding and routines
View
“The dangerous comes from the inside”
(6 min)
“”
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11. Video case III:
“To be or not to be…routinized”
"
The case study illustrates i.e. :
• the difference between cooking in a flow and not to work in
a flow
• differences in the use of equipment
Noticed the remarks on cooking practice in comparison with
driving practice.
View
“To be or not to be…routinezed”
(6 min)
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Break
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12. Proposals for interventions and further research
Based on my findings I attempt to recommend how to support and strengthen
the adolescents willingness to cook. These are manly focused on creating
better – and more inspiring – facilities for collective cooking and facilitating
meal- and cooking communities at dormitories.
My ideas for further research is summarized as a interest of:
1.
2.
3.
A deeper understanding of the connection between current meal
practices, meal routines of the childhood and home economics class
content.
Research to follow up on initiatives aiming at supporting adolescents
desire to prepare food, and by this strengthen my thesis about the ability
of meal communities to motivate cooking practices.
The application of the identified types of practice to different areas.
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13. Methodological reflections
The theoretical and methodological reflections of my dissertation are mainly
concerned with the problems regarding:
1. How is a practice delimited
2. How to bring in the materiality into play through analytical work
3. Challenges in the focus and prioritizing emerged as a consequence of the
chosen explorative research design
4. That the practice theoretical perspective, which I have used cannot stand
alone, but has to be supported by other theories
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14. Discussion I
Materiality/body/sociality
How does practice theory handle the
possible interaction (the social) between
people when they perform?
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15. Discussion II
Routines/norms/(free)will
Is there a space for "the free will" in
practice theory?
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16. Discussion III
Theory/empirical data/everyday-life perspective
Does practice theory challenge an everyday
life research perspective?
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17. A revisited practice-theoretical model
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References:
Andersen, B (2015a) “Commensality between the young”. I: Kerner, S, Chou, C & Warming, B (red.) Commensality: From every food to feast: 43-49. London:
Bloomsbury Publishing
Andersen, B. (2015b). What motivates adolecents to cook, and how is their cooking practice situated in their
everyday life. Aalborg University (Ph.D. theisis, written in Danish with an summary in English)
Giorgi, A (1975). An Application of Phenomenological Method in Psychology in: A. Giorgi, C. Fischer & Murray (ed.) Duquesne Studies in Phenomenological
Psychology (2): 82-103. Pittsburg
Halkier, Bente & Jensen, Iben. 2008b. Det Det sociale som performativitet – et praksisteoretisk perspektiv på analyse og metode. Dansk Sociologi, nr 3/19.
Halkier, Bente. 2009. Suitable Cooking? Performances and positionings in Cooking Practices among Danish Women. In Food, Culture and Society; Vol. 12, pp.
357-377.
Jordan, B. & Henderson, A. 1995. Interaction Analysis: Foundations and Practice. I: The journal of the learning science, vol. 4
Knoblauch, H. (red.) 2006. Videoanalysis: Methodology and Methods – Qualitative Audiovisuel Data Analysys in Sociology. Peter Lang – Europäischer Verlag der
Wissenschaften.
Kvale, S. 2008. InterWiew – en introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview. Hans Reitzels Forlag.
Reckwitz, A. 2002. Toward a Theory of Social Practices. A Development in Culturalist Theorizing. In: European Journal of Social Theory 5: pp. 243–63.
Schatzki, T. 1996. Social Practices. A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the Social. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Short, F. 2006. Kitchen Secrets. The Meaning of Cooking. In: Everyday Life. Oxford: Berg.
Shove, E & Pantzar, M & Watson, M (2012). The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and how it Changes. SAGE. London.
Warde, A. 2005. Consumption and Theories of Practice. In: Journal of Consumer Culture 5(2): pp.131-153.
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