Kitchen stories

David Heyburn
Social Science Research
January 21, 2012

Kitchen Stories assignment

The film Kitchen Stories begins with a presentation, set in post World War II Sweden, at the “Sweden Home Research Institute” where a presumed scientist reveals findings that the average Swedish housewife walks, inside the kitchen, the equivalent distance of Sweden to the Congo and back, within one year. Bewildered by this finding they set out on an experiment to see if the distance is because of the design of the kitchen, and to see if the same holds true for Norwegian bachelors. Does this constitute a hypothesis? I do not think so; I will address what I believe the hypothesis of the research project is later in this paper. The research project in the film fits with a definition of scientific research, because it “seeks to answer a question, systematically uses a predefined set of procedures to answer the question, collects evidence, produces findings that were not determined in advance, and produces findings that are applicable beyond the immediate boundaries of the study (Mack 2005)” The researchers were setting out to evaluate the interaction of persons within their kitchens. To determine the hypothesis of the experiment, I think it is important to consider the timeframe in which the research is taking place. Set in post wwii Scandinavia, modernist thought was sweeping the globe in which minimalism and efficiency were paramount objectives of the time. Mostly associated with architecture and art, modernism also influenced the ideas with which we try to organize our lives, our living spaces, and our work places. In this light, I believe the Sweden Home Research Institute saw the home kitchen as an in-efficient workspace. If an average Swedish housewife can walk from Sweden to the Congo and back all within one room, logic would tell us that the design of the room must be poorly designed, forcing un-necessary “trips.” Another hypothesis could be “what motivates our