BAR.BE.CREW - Culture of Barbecue in Savannah

THE

BAR-BE-CREW

research project barbecue culture Food Tandoor cooking Savannah restaurants

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Bar.Be.Crew is a research project Research data was organized through various methods which summaried of our findings. Each method approached the data in different ways which let us compare them, identify the players and relationships between stakeholders, trends and other key factors influencing the BBQ culture in Savannah.

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Trends Expert Interviews

The 5 methods used to organize and compare our secondary data were based on Vijay Kumar’s 101 Design Methods. Key informants were selected to discuss in an unstructured and informal manner about their knowledge of BBQ as a whole to have a broader context on the topic from experts’ points of view.

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Eras Map

This method compiled data from books, articles and other bibliographical sources with respect to how BBQ initiated and how it has changed over the years.

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Culture Activity Map

We used this method to map out the activities and cultures that were present in the BBQ culture and how they related to each other, in search for trends and possible opportunities.

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Trend Matrix

Past and present world trends were laid out so as to foresee which of them were constant, which ones are changing and which are the ones that might be pushing towards the future. Trends in technology, culture, and process were used to create a matrix divided in past, present and future.

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Analogous model

Analogous models were studied to analyze the concepts of competition, smoking

techniques in different cultures and media influence on the BBQ culture.

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Participation Observation

This method was used to gather data about the players in the BBQ industry. It allowed us to learn about the individuals while observing them in their natural environment. It enabled us to get an intuitive and intellectual grasp of them and capture qualitative data on processes, and interactions between them. We used various tools to capture who, when, where, what, why, and how people cook, eat, or commercialize BBQ. Observation helped us distinguish between what people do and what they say they do. We categorized our observations through the lenses of activities, environments, interactions, objects

and users.

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Shadowing

We used shadowing as an observation method to better understand the daily
routine of pitmaster Andrew Trice while he goes through his BBQ cooking process.
We noted and documented the environment he cooks in, activities he engages in
and the technology(tools) he interacted with. A photo log and video were recorded with the consent of the participant, which provided us with a comprehensive data set about the patterns of actions, interdependence and behaviors between Andrew and his context. We closely followed this experienced individual over a period of 40 minutes and took field notes of the process. Frequent questions were asked for clarification regarding the process of BBQ which prompted the participant to give a simultaneous description on his actions and choices.

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Interviews

We conducted semi-structured interviews of key players in the BBQ industry, which gave us in-depth understanding about specific areas of interest we detected during the observation. We interviewed 15 individuals varying from restaurant owners and BBQ aficionados to championship participants and faithful BBQ customers. Interviews helped us explore our topic in detail and deepen our knowledge about the culture of BBQ in savannah.

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Affinitizing

Affinityzing helped us divide our collected information into specific data points and
re-organize them into groups that shared common, deeper meanings. Our first task was to identify categories, concepts and/or themes that emerged from the gathered information from both observation and interviewing.

Prior to the synthesis process, we linked these concepts to substantive and formal theories. Analysis started by producing transcripts of the interviews we conducted
and further pulling data from those categories, compare them and analyze how they
were related. This process was key to initiate building insights.

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