RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How do people perceive fragrance in their daily lives, and what patterns of interaction have developed? This part may include individuals' fragrance habits, their understanding of scent/perfume, and their unique experiences with scent.
2. Based on the specific experiences of individuals in London's public spaces, this section hopes to explore how scent is understood as a medium for social action. How do individuals understand the presence of aroma or personal odour in public space? What are the mechanisms by which it works on different individuals? How does it affect their social behaviour in London's public spaces?
3. What are their olfactory impressions of London as a whole or locally, and how are these impressions and associated memories formed? To what extent can they be visualised?
PARTICIPANTS
The participants in this project were Chinese international students living in London, recruited by the researcher on social media or by social connections. All three participants are perfume lovers who use perfume in their daily routine while in London and are accustomed to using scent as an important way of experiencing their lives and as a tool to interpret the world. After obtaining consent, the researcher involved the participants in interviews, observation, and other sessions.
METHODOLOGY
I conducted semi-structured interviews, participatory observations, and collected ethnographic material, guided by a phenomenological approach. The olfaction is considered a 'blur' in sensory experience at both the perceptual and abstract levels but possesses the power to evoke personal memories and emotions. At the same time, smell allows and emphasises people's pre-rational perception and understanding of the world in their olfactory experience. Therefore, when we seek to explore how people perceive scent and, in doing so, experience the city they live in, it is more energising to use a phenomenological approach that focuses on the emotions, sentiments and feelings in people's experiences.
Semi-structured interviews. The study adopted a semi-structured one-to-one interview format, having had multiple conversations with every participant. Each lasts around 60-90 minutes. Both online and offline interviews were used, depending on the participants.
Participant observation. I met with the participants separately offline, walking, observing, and experiencing together in locations chosen as meaningful in their London lives. In addition, we tried and experienced some of the scents that they identified as memory anchors and the perfumes they used during their time in London.
In the methodology of this study, digital technology will be used as a means of recording and laterally reproducing sensory experiences to assist me in capturing, understanding and presenting content about how the participants experience and express their London lives.
REFERENCE
Almagor, Uri. 1990. "Odors and private language: Observations on the phenomenology of scent." Human Studies: 253-274.
Classen, Constance, David Howes, and Anthony Synnott. 2002. "Aroma: The cultural history of smell."
Gell, Alfred. 1977. "Magic, perfume, dream." Symbols and sentiments: cross-cultural studies in symbolism : 25-38.
Le Guérer, Annick. 2002. "Olfaction and cognition: A philosophical and psychoanalytic view." Olfaction, taste, and cognition : 3-15.
Mason, Jennifer, and Katherine Davies. 2009. "Coming to our senses? A critical approach to sensory methodology." Qualitative research 9, no. 5: 587-603.
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice. 2013. "Phenomenology of perception."
Parkin, David. 2007. "Wafting on the Wind: Smell and the Cycle of Spirit and Matter." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13: S39-S53.
Pink, Sarah. 2015. Doing sensory ethnography. Sage.
Shepherd, Gordon M. 2005. "Outline of a theory of olfactory processing and its relevance to humans." Chemical Senses 30, no. suppl_1: i3-i5.