5. REVISITING THE SAC

The aim of this chapter is the description of an empirical study I carried out in
Mexico. It is divided into two parts. The first one describes the project's plan and the way
I developed it. It also introduces the participants, nine SAC users that took part in it. The
second part explains the reasons I had for such a study. It develops into a discussion
about methodology on self-directed learning research. This discussion links with the
theoretical aspect of the present research.

5.1 WHATI DID IN MEXICO: The Oaxaca/97 project

When I went to Mexico, after several months of working on the previous chapters
of this thesis, my main goal was not only getting data for analysis and interpretation. I
also wanted to see the way I behave as a counsellor, taking into account the changes I
had experienced during the time of reflection I had undergone in England. Above all, I
wanted to be in touch with SAC students, playing my usual role of counsellor and Ieam
from that.

The first factor that I had to take into account was that I was going to Mexico
with a double objective in mind: to work as a counsellor and to get data for my research.
Although the two objectives were perfectly compatible, the research constraints of the
situation called for some adjustments. The first problem I had to solve was related to
time, a factor that I never consider when I work in normal conditions (as opposed to
research conditions). I was going to be there for only three months (July, August and
September, 1997), two months in Summer and one month at the beginning of the
Autumn term. There was also the problem of finding enough participants for the study.
The problem I encountered was that in spite of the fact that the SAC remains open during
the Summer, there are considerably fewer users than in other times of the year. This

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