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Topic or Focus and working title	Examining how people in Delhi react to and on a bench in public spaces.
Justification (Why this topic or focus? What is the purpose of your research for you and for a wider audience? Why is it useful?)	The bench is an object, relatively western to our culture, a colonial absorption. Place it in Delhi’s public spaces, and there are people from different cultures and social backgrounds ready to sit on it. When they do sit on it. (or obviously don’t) they are reacting to the people, the space around them. When they interact with this environment they give clues of their cultural makeup, their fears, and aspirations. They offer a pin hole into Delhi’s current society, and that is what I’m attempting to discover through my research. Since I am a communication designer/visual researcher, my research will clearly give me a different point of view. One that will allow me to understand visual cues, body postures and gestures, which is something I believe, is important in conducting this research.
What questions and methods you will use to answer them?	Sub questions and method used to answer them: 1. How do people behave on a bench? What Cultural, Societal, Social issues are in play? (observation of benches in different public spaces in the city) 2. How do people react to a bench as an object? What are its connotations? (testing, with questionnaires involving visual interpretation) 3. How is a bench visualized in different media? What are the conventions and stereotypes in the imagery? (Contextual review, i.e. literature, internet, media sources)
Which main areas of literature do you intend to review and which specific key sources have you already identified?	Key sources: Papers identified The social life of small urban spaces, William H. White The Familiar stranger: Anxiety, Comfort and Play in Public spaces Imagining the city: the cultural dimensions of urban computing Books identified America – Baudrillard Ethnographic Observations: An Overarching Lack of Trust Introduction to Semiotics Any other sources Internet search www.youtube.com www.benchism.org.uk
Data Analysis How do you intend to analyse findings?	Analysis of observation, finding repeating patterns in behavior. (Ethnographic Analysis) Semiotic Analysis of the bench as an object within Delhi space, and in visualizations in the media.
A time-line of the activities to be undertaken.	4 days review of public places in Delhi containing benches 7 days of observation of the spaces 2 days of conducting interviews 5 days of analyzing data 5-7 days documenting research