matching
I do not know why I was rejected as a juror. However, when I was not reading or out in the hallway waiting I was watching the attorneys as they watched us. The lawyers moved us like they were trying to get an arrangement to fit together or like we were dolls in a dollhouse (and not the Josh Whedon kind). From my observations, beginning with those of us called to sit first in the jury box to those who ended up being selection and the bit we were told about the trial, I conclude that half of those chosen were selected as though they might identify with the alleged victim and the other half with the alleged perpetrator.
Whenever I have been fortunate enough to be able to hire field researchers for ethnographic observations and interviews, I have tried to recruit a variety of those with whom respondents might feel trust. In other words, I also try to do a little matching even knowing that 1) excellent work comes from great ethnographers even if they appear entirely distinct from or connection to those with whom they’re doing research; and 2) if “matching” were considered a requirement in anthropology then I would be unable to do much of the research I enjoy.
