I'm very interested in learning more about the lives of average
people. I want to know all about their jobs, their relationships,
their beliefs, their politics, etc. And I want something much more
detailed than what you'll find (for example) browsing LiveJournals.

In particular, I wanted to know if there's somewhere online where I
could read different psychological case files. I'm interested not only
in how people live, but in how their personalities vary.

But I'm interested in more than a simple breakdown of different mental
illnesses. I want true stories about people, with considerable detail,
and not just some abstract diagnoses.

Thanks in advance!

ALSO-- I'm not necessary interested only in people with mental health
issues. The psychological case files was just one example of something
that I thought might be useful.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 27 May 2005 19:08 PDT

Hello griffith933-ga,

I think you might have to divide this question into at least two
parts. I can provide you with several links to help you get
information about what people think about their work and jobs. Some of
these links may peripherally include information about psychological
makeup, personality type or socio-economic profiles but I don?t think
they would meet your request for relationships, beliefs, politics and
even less likely to find related psychological profiles.

It would be helpful if you would could give more details about what
you?re looking for. Can you give me some examples of what you mean by
real life stories or psychological case studies? The more you can tell
about the context of your question, the more likely I will be able to
get you what you need. I notice that your question about how to live
in a swamp referred to your wanting to write a story. Is the current
question also to help you write stories?

I look forward to your clarification.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 19:17 PDT

I'm interested in a very broad range of information about average
people, so that I can write fiction with greater authenticity. I'll
try to break this question down.

#1/ I want to know how I can quickly find out about what's involved in
various jobs that people do. (And I've already looked into Studs
Terkel type books.) I want to know what the daily routines of people
who work in various professions are like, with specific details. This
includes what's involved in doing the jobs themselves, and what their
social environments are like.

#2/ I want to learn more about the personal lives of different kinds
of people. I'm interested in a wide range of information: family
relationships, friendships, etc. How do various people live? Where do
they live? With whom do they live? What are their attitudes on a wide
range of subjects? Etc.

What would be ideal would be if I could have access to a bunch of
diaries. But the sorts of journals you find online-- at LiveJournal,
for example-- are far too scanty and difficult to find. I want very
detailed descriptions of what people do in their daily lives, and what
they feel and think.

Another idea I had was that it would be great if I could read various
psychological profiles, or cases, provided that they go into a fair
amount of detail. It wouldn't matter if the names had been changed--
that would be fine. But reading about people who are seeking therapy
for their problems would give me tremendous insight into how people
live their lives. (Of course, I'm not just interested in people who
have mental problems.)

To sum up, I'm looking for a very wide range of information-- stuff
that will help me to understand average people, so that I can write
about them with greater authenticity. (And the reason I keep using the
word "average" is because most biographies are about famous people. I
want to learn about Joe Schmo, not about Joe Kennedy.)

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 19:28 PDT

To be specific about one particular point: I am interested in what
people think about their jobs and relationships, but I'm also looking
for specific details about what they do at work, and at home. For
example: what's involved in the typical day working down at the
sausage factory? What time does the worker clock in? What does he do?
What machinery does he operate? How does his boss treat him? How do
his co-workers treat him? Etc. This is, of course, only one example.

What would be perfect would be a highly detailed diary entry: "I got
up this mornin'. Sure wish ma wife could make coffee that didn't taste
like dish water. Got to work at 5:45 AM. I had to clean out XXXXX and
then I stood for nine hours operating XXXXX..." etc. A blow by blow
description of this guy's day.

Or whatever comes closet to it. I hope I'm conveying the sort of
information that I'm interested in.

But-- to recap-- I AM also interested in how various people view their
jobs, although I'm also interested in much more specific information.

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 19:52 PDT

I've increased the money a little, since this is a fairly complex question.

Also, this is a minor point-- but I'm also interested in learning more
about how people in different walks of life talk. I don't want a
million links to websites about slang, but real life conversations
interest me.

This is a secondary part of my question, though.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 27 May 2005 20:18 PDT

Dear griffith933-ga,

Thank you for the clarification. Now that I understand what you're
looking for, I know that there's no way to answer your question as
you've posed it. First of all, the amount of work required compared to
the price you're offering is simply not within the Google Answers
guidelines.

http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

In addition, you're asking for very detailed and specific information
under a very general umbrella. I think you would have much better luck
if you posed questions about specific jobs or specific situations. So,
to follow your scenario, you could post a question about the butcher
working at the sausage factory. I've seen many such question on Google
Answers. Here are some examples.

http://answers.google.com/answers/search?q=kh22-ga+&qtype=all
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=186507
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=201941
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=393764
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=388310
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=109260
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=516126
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=524735
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=419963
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=444371
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=398919

Good luck.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 20:43 PDT

I realize that you can't possibly give me every last resource under
the broad question I've posted. But what CAN you give me, for $20? (On
the other hand, if you COULD fully answer my question-- how much would
that probably cost?)

Also, although some of the links you posted are very interesting, a
lot of them deal with history. I'm not looking for history (although I
might on some other occasion). I'm looking for very CURRENT
information and people, their jobs, and their lives in general.

So to recap, what information CAN you give me?

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 20:57 PDT

For example, can you give me links to interviews with people from
various professions? That's one example of what I'm looking for.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 27 May 2005 21:05 PDT

Hello again griffith933-ga,

I see by your response to the commentors that you feel rather
impatient with having to dig for information. I'm afraid the question
you've asked requires more effort than the price you're willing to
pay.

Here are some searches that will give you quick results for some of
the information you're looking for. Will this meet your needs?

so you want to be a
What Can I Do With A Major In...?
job OR career profiles

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=so+you+want+to+be+a
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=what+can+i+do+with+a+major+in
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=job+OR+career+profiles

Good luck.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 21:25 PDT

The links you gave me lead to career sites that are marginally useful,
but don't give me the real life feel that I need.

What I really need are detailed diaries, or essays along the lines of
"A Day In The Life Of A (insert career or personality)." A day in the
life of a cop. A day in the life of a plumber. A day in the life of an
addict. A day in the life of someone who manages a battered women's
shelter. Etc.

And I need sites that cover a wide variety of people and professions.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 27 May 2005 21:40 PDT

Dear griffith933-ga,

It is clear to me that you have not looked at the results for the
searches I suggested. I know that there are links in those results
that lead to exactly what you've defined as your targeted information.

I'm afraid your question as you've posed it is unanswerable --
especially for $20. "$50 -- The minimum price appropriate for complex,
multi-part questions." Your question is getting more complex and more
multi-part with each of your clarifications. ;-)

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 21:50 PDT

CZH- First of all, I certainly did investigate the links you gave me.
Why would I lie? It's becoming apparent to ME that you don't
understand my needs.

I don't need a list of sites that give me a shallow overview of how to
get into a particular profession. That's not deep or detailed enough.
As I've said before, I need information written by people who already
work in these various professions. What their daily routines are like.
There's an enormous difference between "If you go into the
telemarketing industry, you'll need good communications skills, etc."
and "I'm a telemarketer. My boss treats me like garbage. I talk to
people every day and they whine at me like a bunch of five year-olds.
And I'm turning into them!"

How is my question becoming more complex? I'm narrowing it down for
your. I need essays such as "A Day In the Life Of a Cop" (or a ballet
dancer, or a director, or-- even a google researcher!). I need diary
type material.

Personal stories. Not just technical overviews.

And by the way, I checked out some of the other questions you've
answered. You provided a good response to a question about the use of
drugs for torture purposes in the Soviet Union, for $10. On another
question you provided over 26 links for $25.

My question really isn't that complicated.

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 27 May 2005 22:04 PDT

Okay, let me put it this way: for $50, CAN YOU FIND WHAT I WANT?

Can you find diaries, personal essays, psychological profiles/cases,
etc? (And I'm not talking about links to Blogspot or LiveJournal.)

You're telling me that I'm asking a $50 question-- but what kind of
information can you get for me?

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 00:39 PDT

Here's something else I need: autobiographies, written by average,
everyday people. Of all kinds. (Preferably free!)

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 09:06 PDT

I've bumped the money up to $50, but I want quick results.

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 11:55 PDT

Maybe it would help if I gave an example of what is and isn't useful to me.

I have a book titled "Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs At the Turn
Of The Millennium." It's a great book, and it has exactly the kind of
material that I'm looking for (although I would like more precise
day-to-day stuff).

The problem with it is: #1/ it's five years old, and #2/ I can find it myself.

So I don't need a link to an Amazon list, or directions to
LiveJournal, or to www.work-magazine.com. I can locate those things
myself.

What I need are more, better, and current resources. But the book
"Gig" should provide an idea of what I'm looking for. I DON'T want
links to career guide websites-- that's not good enough.

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 13:45 PDT

Also, please don't give me links to www.aboutmyjob.com or
www.aboutmytalk.com. I need something more involved than that.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 28 May 2005 18:42 PDT

Dear griffith933-ga,

I'm afraid that your question is unanswerable and the responses you've
given to the commentors make me feel reluctant to even try.
Unfortunately, we seem to have here a "failure to communicate."

The problem is that researchers cannot answer questions that ask for
"all" "everything" "lots" and other undefined quantities as you have
asked. You also seem to have a lot of nebulous qualitative
requirments. Repeated clarification requests have not succeeded in
eliciting enough concrete information about your needs to give
researchers the confidence to attempt an answer.

Archae0pteryx-ga's suggestions for honing your questions were
excellent. I also gave you a bunch of links to show you how other
customers have posed similar questions. I hear the urgency in your
question but simply don't know what I can do to help further.

Here's an approach that might work. You could rephrase your question
with specific time, profession, mood, etc. limits. For example:

Question: 
Please provide me with 10 "day-in-my-life" accounts by medical (blue
collar, customer service,etc.) workers who are  happy (unhappy,
confused, satisfied, etc.) about their jobs. [Add whatever other
qualifiers are important to you.]

OR

Question: 
Please find me information about the life and working conditions for
someone employed in an Indian call center answering questions for US
based financial companies.

OR

Question: 
Please provide me with information about the chief concerns of
students graduating this month with a degree in astrophysics (computer
science, english, multimedia, etc.). Examples of personal stories
would be especially helpful.

I'd really like to help you make your question answerable. Good luck.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 18:50 PDT

Yes, we do indeed have a "failure to communicate"-- or to interpret
said communication.

First of all, I'll be the judge of whether or not a response is
"excellent." I won't repeat myself; my reasons are already listed
below.

You're not responding to my last set of clarifications. I gave you
very specific examples of the kind of thing I'm looking for. Are you
familiar with "Gig?" That's the kind of thing I want-- although, as
I've said ad nauseum already, I would also like more specific,
blow-by-blow descriptions of what various people experience in a
typical work day.

I need variety, not examples of any one profession. If that's what I
wanted then that's what I would request. I don't need ten examples of
what it's like to be a fireman, plumber, lawyer, whatever. I need
sites that involve the experiences of people from a whole range of
professions.

For example, if you visit www.aboutmyjob.com, you will find numerous
message board threads dealing with all kinds of people and their
complaints about their jobs. This touches on what I'm looking for, but
few threads go into the detail that I want. Besides, I want a broader
range of professions than you'll find here.

There are also numerous examples of diaries posted online, at places
like LiveJournal and Blogspot. These are nice too, but they're far too
difficult to navigate.

I also would benefit from finding autobiographical material, written
by average people. That's hard to find.

There's nothing nebulous about what I'm looking for. You just aren't
on my wavelength.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 28 May 2005 18:54 PDT

Let's hope someone tunes in to your wavelength. ;-) Good luck.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 18:56 PDT

Do you want the job or not? So far you haven't even tried to answer my
question. I've raised the payment to $50, like you suggested.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 28 May 2005 19:13 PDT

Dear griffith933-ga.

No. I've given up on trying to answer your question. As you so
exasperatedly exclaimed -- I'm not on your wavelength.

As I suggested before, you might find it beneficial to review how
Google Answers works to help improve your results.

http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

Let's hope another researcher will find your question interesting and
answerable at the price you've set. Also, don't forget that it's
Memorial Day weekend and most researchers are probably out having fun.

Good luck.

~ czh ~

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 28 May 2005 20:09 PDT

That's good, because I've given up on explaining it to you. Perhaps
another researcher-- maybe somebody like VOILA-- will be more
sensitive to what I'm looking for.

And yes, thank you for posting the link to your pricing policies. I've
only read them a dozen times already.

---

Request for Question Clarification by journalist-ga on 30 May 2005 08:58 PDT

Greetings,

Is this the type of information you are seeking?

"Ever wonder exactly how people got where they are at a company? Ever
wonder what someone's job is really like? How do they really negotiate
the twists and turns of the working world? Here's your chance to peek
inside the life of real people out there...so browse away!"

This site has four browsing options: Alphabetical Listing, Men, Women,
and Job Position/Field
http://www.acm.org/crossroads/dayinlife/

Best regards,
journalist-ga

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 30 May 2005 09:57 PDT

Not really. Although the web site says "a day in the life of," that's
not really what it provides. Instead it provides some very shallow
information about how each person got to where he/she is, and then
just a tiny bit about what he's doing now.

Besides that, the range of professions covered is very limited--
mostly to high tech and business type fields. That's fine, but I'm
mostly interested in The Workin' Man.

---

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 31 May 2005 04:09 PDT

Hello again griffith933-ga,

I?ve been thinking about ways to help you find blogs, diaries and
personal journal sites that might give you the kind of up-to-date
story-telling you?re looking for. Here are some sites that might do
the job. I?m not posting this as an answer because I?m still not sure
that I?m ?on your wavelength.? Check out the links and let me know if
this will be a sufficient answer. I look forward to your
clarification.

~ czh ~

http://www.supercrawler.com/Recreation/Humor/Job-Related/
Top: Recreation: Humor: Job-Related
***** It looks like many of these links can give you stories relating
to specific jobs, i.e., barbers, pizza delivery guys, postal workers,
call center reps and many others.

--------

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/
***** This is a good place to get started with exploring what?s
available online in the world of blogs. I?d suggest that you click
through each of the top categories to see where they lead. The
following look the most promising for your purposes: Directories,
Personal, Resources, Search Engines and Web Rings.

--------

http://www.documentedlife.com/otherpeople.htm
Welcome to the largest list of online autobiography and
autodocumentary (counterexamples welcomed!) This page is a guide to,
and commentary on, autodocumentaries, visual autobiographies,
illustrated autobiographies, and other acts of visual self
representation and visual life story telling being committed daily
around the web.

***** This is worth exploring and may lead you to personal stories
that meet your needs.

--------

http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Internet/On_the_Web/Weblogs/Directories/
***** You can review directories of blogs that look interesting. What
you?ll find in the way of organization, resources and search
capabilities will vary but these look promising for finding the kind
of personal blogs you?re looking for.

--------

http://www.lights.com/weblogs/directories.html

--------

http://www.blogexplosion.com/directory/
http://www.blogexplosion.com/directory/index.php?CID=4
My Job/ Company Blogs

--------

://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=blog++%22my+job%22+OR+%22my+work%22+OR+%22my+career%22&btnG=Search
blog  "my job" OR "my work" OR "my career"

---

Clarification of Question by griffith933-ga on 31 May 2005 11:10 PDT

CZH: The links you've posted are quite useful. Thank you. You're much,
much closer to "my wavelength," and I apologize for being impatient
earlier.

Can you dig up a little more for me? I wish I had something where I
could literally should look up an occuption and then find a million
diaries staring back at me. You probably won't be able to find that--
but if you could just give me a little extra in addition to what
you've already done, I'll be happy to accept that as an answer.

Thanks again. (It's going to take me a long time just to go through all of this!)

Hello again griffith933-ga,

Here are a few more resources to help you explore the lives of
ordinary people in a variety of jobs and careers. Unfortunately, the
resource you?re looking for doesn?t exist ? at least not in the format
you?d like. There are hundreds of occupational and career guidance
websites that will help you explore the basics of what specific jobs
are about. Many of these sites are very useful for helping you find
portals, directories, journals and other resources for places where
the participants in a specific profession hang out on the web. You can
then develop targeted searches to explore the field ? like you did
with your plumbing and homicide detective questions.

Unfortunately, it?s much more difficult and hit-and-miss finding
personal stories about work in specific fields. You are much more
likely to find blogs, journals and diaries from people who are in
professional jobs who like to communicate in writing. Many professions
simply don?t attract people who are prone to self-examination or
self-reflection. You?re much more likely to find teachers, artists,
journalists and computer professionals who blog than you are to locate
plumbers or other blue collar workers.

I?m a career counselor so I?m very familiar with the territory you?re
trying to explore. I knew from personal experience that there wasn?t
anything that would precisely meet your original request. I was hoping
that with clarifications I would be able to get a more precise idea of
how you?re going to use the results of this research so I could try to
find some novel ways to dig out obscure resources. I?m afraid that
even after many hours of searching I could not discover any new
avenues for getting you what you want.

Here are a few more links to help with your general research. I
suggest that you post individual questions for specific jobs or
professions to continue your explorations.

Good luck on your projects.

~ czh ~

http://www.studentdoctor.net/diary/about.asp
Current Diary Websites 
·	MedSchoolDiary.com
·	ResidentDiary.com
·	DDSDiary.com
·	VetSchoolDiary.com
·	PharmacyDiary.com
·	NursingDiary.com
·	PremedDiary.com
·	PsychologyDiary.com
·	OptometryDiary.com
·	AttendingDiary.com

----------------------------------------------


http://www.iworkwithfools.com/index.php?blogid=1&archive=2005-05
Welcome to iWorkWithFools where you can read or anonymously share work
related stories about the foolish coworkers and bosses we all deal
with daily.

----------------------------------------------


http://interactions.org/quantumdiaries/about/index.html
Quantum Diaries is a Web site that follows physicists from around the
world as they experience the World Year of Physics 2005. Through their
bios, videos, photos, and blogs, the diarists offer a personal look at
the daily lives of particle physicists.

This project is not just about physics; it's about being a physicist.
That means that the diarists write about their families, hobbies, and
interests, as well as their latest research findings and the
challenges that face them in their labs.

----------------------------------------------


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15511-2005Feb10.html
Free Expression Can Be Costly When Bloggers Bad-Mouth Jobs

----------------------------------------------


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4115073.stm
Looming pitfalls of work blogs 

----------------------------------------------


http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/14/news/economy/blogging/
Have a blog, lose your job?
Workers with Web logs are everywhere, and they're starting to make
corporate America very nervous.

----------------------------------------------


http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/ooh20002001/1.htm
Occupational Outlook Handbook Index: A-B

***** Use this site to look up occupations you?re interested in. Look
for the ?Sources of Additional Information? section. Sometimes these
links will be productive for you. Use the OOH profiles to refine your
vocabulary for specific job titles in the field you?re researching.

----------------------------------------------


http://rodcorp.typepad.com/rodcorp/2004/12/how_we_work.html
How we work

We're interested in the habits, rituals and small (and occasionally
big) methods people and teams use to get their work done. And in the
specific anecdotes and the way people describe their own relationship
to their own work. Here's a list of some stories and habits. Not sure
it is actually useful for anything. Do any patterns emerge across
stories, other than the obvious stories of super-focus,
super-dedication?


===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
===============

job OR work OR career diaries OR "personal journals"
occupation OR job OR career OR work stories
"talking about" work OR career OR job OR life
blog "jobs in"
blog "my life"
blog  "my job" OR "my work" OR "my career"
blog blue collar jobs
blog directories jobs OR working OR careers
blog job OR work OR career diaries OR "personal journals"
blogs "my life as"
occupational OR work stories

Thanks, CZH. You did a bang-up job. It's not much, but I'm throwing in
an extra $10. Thank you for putting in so much effort. (And it was a
tough question, wasn't it?)

You might enjoy these two books by Studs Terkel:

American Dreams: Lost and Found
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565845455

Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel
About What They Do
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565843428

I'm familiar with Studs Terkel. The problem is that most of his books
aren't current. I mostly need information about how people are living
now. In particular, I can't use information about the way people
worked five or ten years ago. (He is a good writer, though.)

This book is exactly what you describe: an updated version of Studs
Terkel. The focus is on jobs, but many of the participants discuss
friends, family, relationships, etc. I own it, and it's a fun read.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609807072/

If you want a book series, try three books by Harvard psychiatrist Robert Coles:
"The Moral Life of Children", "The Political Life of Children" and the
"The Spiritual Life of Children". In fact Coles is the author of
numerous books about the well being of families. He doesn't document
just the U.S., but the wealthy and the poor, particularly in strife
torn locales around the world. His books have many case studies of
entire families and how class status and political/military conflict
impacts daily life.

I'd prefer to not have to wade through an entire book, though. I wish
I had something where I could just type in "What's it like to be a
plumber?" or whatever, and have a specific "case" come up. And like I
said, I need something extremely current. A five year-old book is
useless to me (for the most part).

What would be ideal would be something where an ordinary person
described his/her daily life, work habits, relationships, fears,
hopes, preconceptions, etc. And I want something that will give me
information about LOTS of ordinary (and some not so ordinary) people.

Besides reading books, you might simply wish to conduct interviews
with people.  Your question is quite complicated because I don't
believe there is any one way a person experiences life. Even two
plumbers who work in the same neighborhood, or two police officers
working the same beat, may have completely different experiences. 
This fact is made clear by the divergence of opinions even in a forum
like this one; no two researchers view the world in the same way, and
thusly answers might differ.   It is more likely that people who work
in similar fields will experience similar work related issues, but
they will probably react differently to problems because each person
is unique.

Having said that, are there probably some similarities within certain
vocations? This is highly likely. I am sure that police officers who
are meek and timid do not get too far in their jobs, and people who
are overly aggressive and short tempered would not make suitable grade
school teachers (qualities that may be useful on Wall Street). I've
also heard of higher rates of job-related mental illnesses in certain
fields, possibly related to stress (e.g. air traffic controllers will
likely suffer more on-the-job stress than librarians).

You might approach this problem by trying to get both case-level data
(i.e. obtain information by conducting interviews or reading case
studies) as well as statistics (General Social Survey, specialized
public opinion polls, journals in psychology and/or sociology).  No
matter what approach you take, you'll likely have to invest some time
and energy into this.

A good place to start, if you are just looking for some social
statistics, is the General Social Survey, located at the following web
address:

http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/GSS/

and

http://www.thearda.com/ (American Religion Data Archive- containg
information on religion and also other social data; much is derived
directly from the GSS).

ARDA also has links to numerous other social surveys and public
opinion statistics websites; just click on the "Related Sites" tab to
the left.

Best of luck.

Thank you for that post.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to interview people. That's why I'm
looking for information here. The two sites that you posted are
somewhat interesting, but there are two problems with them: first, the
information is somewhat dated (at least five years old, for the most
part), and secondly, there isn't much narrative. What you gave me
looks to be mostly a collection of surveys. But statistics don't give
me what I need (even though they can be interesting).

I agree that not all cops, factory workers, doctors, small business
owners, drug addicts, corrections officers, lawyers, etc. are all
alike. But people who work in the same profession often have similar
tasks to perform, and encounter many of the same issues. And it's okay
if the information I get contains profiles of people from similar
walks of life who have vastly different experiences.

What I need is to learn more about the experiences of real people--
not to necessarily pin down what the ONLY legitimate experience for
any particular profession is. For example, if I read a case file about
a cop who hates his job, that can be of equal value to me as a case
file about a cop who loves his job.

The authenticity of it is contagious. That's the important part.

Hi, Griffith,

I believe I understand what you're looking for here.  I think you're
pretty unlikely to find it as described.  You're casting far too wide
a net.

Might I offer a suggestion?  Unless you're hoping to find actual idea
starters in people's authentic self-reports of their ordinary inner
and outer lives, you might do better to narrow your search by defining
your characters and their occupations and then going out and talking
to real people who do what they do.

This is why you see novelists giving extensive credits in their
acknowledgments to forensic pathologists, marine botanists, scholars
of medieval architecture, and experts in all kinds of other fields in
which they had no knowledge and whose help they needed to provide or
corroborate details of their narrative.  They also credit people who
tell them the ins and outs of, say, police work or high-rise
construction or animal dentistry, whatever they need to supply
true-to-life details to make their characters believable.  I don't
think there's any shortcut to that unless you're heeding the old
advice and drawing on what you know first-hand from your own life.

Say you want to use Ed the sausage-factory worker in your story.  You
might have to do some research about sausage factories and then place
a character you create in one using what you know about people (you
must know a lot about people if you're a writer).  You might also have
to actually go visit a sausage factory and meet some of the
workers--buy them a beer after work and let them talk.  I'm pretty
sure you don't care if you find a truly representative sausage factory
worker (as if any one person could truly represent another) as long as
you get an authentic-sounding one.

Chances are Ed doesn't keep a diary, though, and even if he does,
there's not much likelihood that he posts it online.  Ed simply
doesn't discover and define his life's reality through words.  That's
you and me, Griffith, but not Ed.  So what you want is probably not
going to come from someone else's research and observations; you're
going to have to make your own from life.  Go meet Ed and his buddies
and then write what you've learned.  What comes through your filter is
much better for your purposes than any sociologist's or psychologist's
or even Ed's own.

Archae0pteryx

That's not helpful. I don't have a Dean Koontz budget, and if I could
afford to hire an expert every time I write 500 words then I wouldn't
be here hiring a researcher.

Nor do I have time to hang out with Ed the Sausage Worker. That's
ridiculous. You have no idea how much time and money you're suggesting
I shell out. I need INFORMATION, not to develop a personal friendship
with 500 people.

I don't need to read diary entries to "get ideas." That's not the way
it works. I need details, not ideas.

There are many, many articles, journals, etc. available out there. But
I can't find them all myself.

Hi Griffith,
You are rejecting books that are five or ten years old.  Do you really
think the way people think about their jobs and lives has changed that
much?  I do not.

Good fiction about the working class from before and after WW II still
rings true in the presentation of the characters and their thoughts
and the content of their dialogs.  Of course, the language has changed
somewhat, and since novels have a theme, the characters are going to
be relating to that theme, which will probably not be the one in your
work.  (Steinbeck, ...)

What has changed in people's everyday lives in the last ten years?  
Electronic devices: cell phones and computers.  (Joe Blow may use his
computer for different things than I do and swear at more often, but I
can stoop to that with no problem about finding words.)
Politics: Joe Blow probably is still disgruntled about what's going on
in Town Hall, Sacramento and Washington.
Foreign politics:  he still only knows what the tube tells him about
US Forces somewhere.
9/11:  ...

But from your suggestion of a blow-by-blow diary, he just gets up
every morning  and puts his pants on one leg at a time ...

By the way, you closed your question about swamps.  I hope it was not
because you thought my comment was leading it in the wrong direction. 
Commenters try to help, even if it can seem like criticism.  Feedback
is appreciated.  :-)

Good luck, myoarin

Please don't question my needs. If you aren't going to help me find
what I want, then DON'T POST HERE. I do NOT NEED books that are 5 to
10 years old, and I don't need writing advice. I need CURRENT INTERNET
RESOURCES.

Sure, Griffith.  Sorry about the ridiculous comments.  Your question
title was "How to research the lives of ordinary people," but you
don't really want to know how to research the lives of ordinary
people.  You actually want to find research that's already done.

When I use GA for research of this kind, I ask a specific question: 
e.g., how was house demolition done before motor vehicles existed? 
What kind of headgear did medieval women wear?  Where in Boston did
Bohemians live in the 1920's?  This is what I meant by narrowing your
search.  I don't always get a hit, but I do receive a lot of helpful
information this way, and some responses (many of them from
commenters) contain leads I can follow.  I am at liberty to ignore the
ones that don't serve my needs and don't have to waste my valuable
time scolding them.

By the way, just in case you weren't sure, you can tell GA researchers
from informal commenters by the fact that researchers' names appear as
links, underlined and in blue.  Commenters are just passersby, usually
trying to help, who don't stand to earn anything from responding.

Archae0pteryx
(not a researcher)

If you can't answer my question then STOP POSTING HERE. I'm not here to argue.

Do you want the job or not? So far you haven't even tried to answer my
question. I've raised the payment to $50, like you suggested.

Dear griffith933-ga,

I'm glad that I was able to find some useful information for your.
Yes, it was a very tough search despite the common sense expectation
that there should be lots of information available. Thank you for the
five stars and tip on both questions you've rated. I look forward to
your future questions.

~ czh ~