At the risk of sounding redundant here...

After a little bit more thought and the assembling of what I hope to be an honest-to-god research group, I can confidently present an ever more slightly refined idea of what the hell it actually it is that I'll be doing. So:

I will be working with Chase and Edward (assuming he writes back sometime) on a study into perceptions of Amsterdam's culture of permissiveness and pragmatic tolerance. Chase and Edward have both shown an interest in studying the apparent conservative backlash growing within against Amsterdam's anything-goes social policies. I meanwhile will be looking at these policies from the outside, by talking to tourists in Amsterdam about their impressions of the social norms and cultural and cultural currents that they are aware of, if any, as well as exploring issues of how presence in a more permissive culture effects their behavior or opinions in regards to drugs and/or prostitution. We will be able to use one another's research to build upon the missing halves of our questions: they giving me insights on how A'dammers see their own city, and me on the way it's seen from without.

Some sources that we can consult before heading over are the universe of blogs (me travel blogs and they message boards elating to certain political parties or persuasions). In addition, I will also be looking at information from Dutch tourist organizations and embassies (official discourse), as well as information distributed by the Museum of Prostitution and Marijuana and/or different organizations from within the "vice" industry to see what kinds of information are presented by them.

I will follow this research up with interviews with tourists on the ground in Amsterdam. I will have to look into where the best places to encounter and interact with tourists are, though Daam Square, museums, the train station, and hash bars are all likely options (again, preferably before the interview subjects have smoked...) I believe that it will be relatively easy to access my population, as tourists are often eager to talk to people that speak their language when visiting other countries.

With this research, I hope to be able to contrast the ways that tourists understand or misunderstand cultural/behavioral expectations, analyze the ways in which cultural messages and norms are transmitted, as well as assess various sources of information that tourists may be using to understand the customs on the ground in Amsterdam and make suggestions for improving the dissemination of information to these groups.

Groovy?