Volunteerism, Anyone?

I have finally calculated on how many subjects I need for my thesis. I need 24 of them. I have tested 17 people, but as of this day, 4th January 2008, I have only gotten 12 subjects. I need 12 more!

Out of the 17 people I tested, 2 were my parents, 8 relatives (uncles and aunts), 2 of my friends' mothers (thanks Mas, Nora :)), my auntie's friend and hubby, my mom's employees, and a clerk at a school.

I don't think anyone had an inkling of an idea of how I searched for my subjects.

If I am paying my subjects, I am sure I would finish collecting data by now. The thing is, according to my supervisor, my thesis is just a small research, and there's no funding for it. No funding means the person will not get anything for that matter, in being a subject.

Initially, as I was testing my relatives, I didn't need the money. But then as time went by, it was apparent that even my relatives could not cover the total of the subjects I needed. I depended on their word of mouth regarding my thesis and also from my friends' parents. It was then that I started to get desperate.

Why? Well, people don't exactly go around by themselves to KL being research's subjects for free now, do they? They DON'T. Unless they have nothing better to do, or they're related to the researcher or they are plain voluntary. And where can we find those kind of people? The voluntary ones, I mean?

Not at school. You'd think teachers would actually be supportive to students, even if they're not their actual students. Wouldn't they understand better of what we're going through? I went to 8 schools around my college area: Titiwangsa, Kampung Baru and Danau Kota. Out of the visits, I only managed to get one subject. ONLY ONE.

One school totally rejected me, the principle denied me of any explanation as I had not gone through the ministry for approval to go rounds asking for volunteers. Come on lah. Its voluntary work, it's not like forced labor to be my subject. One headmaster condemned me for not using the UKM's letterhead when others don't even notice. That aside, he said he would participate, but when the day came, he didn't show up because he thought I was suppose to come to him, when he had so clearly read my letter the tests will be done in my clinic. Sigh.

This morning, I went to the Titiwangsa Lake Park with much determination to get 12 people. I asked my brother to accompany me. I waited around the area where there were people doing dances and nearby to the food stalls. I targeted couples, because I thought I could identify the 50 - 60 -year-olds better by looking at the husband's hair. If he has grey hair, the couple should aged around my age range.

For the first couple I approached, the wife was really friendly, but the husband quickly left her upon seeing his friend. As I talked to the wife, I made progress and gotten her phone number, and waited for the husband so that we could set an appointment. We waited and waited until finally the aunty said she'll give me a call instead. When I left them, the husband quickly ended his conversation with his friend and left with his wife. Huh! So obvious he's avoiding me! At least I got his wife's number.

There was one couple that I approached, where I did notice that the husband has completely black hair. Nevertheless, I decided to risk it, because there are 50-year-olds who look young. So I asked the wife, Salam, Puan dah umur 50 tahun ke? (Excuse me Maam, are you 50 yet?). The lady was surprised and shook her head while her husband quickly retorted, dia muda lagi la... (She's still young). I apologized repeatedly, embarrassed and went away. So sorry aunty! :(

I approached several more but was unsuccessful. One couple even has a child studying in UKM KL, and yet they do not want to be subjects! There were some where the wives were interested, but then the husbands were not, so they didn't want to be the subjects. One aunty was quite nice, she couldn't be my subject as she's not a frequent visitor, but she did reject me nicely and even said I'm cute. xD

There was one uncle who looked very pleasant and approachable; he looked like Colonel Sanders of KFC! He was smiling to himself watching the people dance, so I approached him quickly. Jackpot! He was very willing to be my subject! But his wife wasn't, but then again she's a lefty so I didn't need her. Ha! And the uncle was nice enough to even give his friend's number. Apparently this Colonel Sanders look-alike is a friend of my ex-college principle, so he was more than happy to be involved. Soooooo nice of him to volunteer sincerely.

All in all, I only managed to get 3 numbers :( I guess it is true.

Volunteerism is so dead.