ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the research setting under observation, followed by a few remarks on how the data were recorded, documented, selected, and prepared for analysis. A pilot study to the author's research project was conducted in spring 2007 in a residential care facility in central Tokyo. Actions performed during the morning care include waking up the residents and getting them out of bed, washing and dressing them, supporting them with going to the toilet, and accompanying them to the dayroom. The data were recorded during a period of six weeks in October and November 2007. The analysis of the data concentrates on the two 'protagonists' of an interaction: one care worker and one resident as they work their way through the morning care routines. The overall predominance of female participants roughly reflects the basic gender structure in Edogawa Care, where women make up a majority both in the group of the care workers and in the group of the residents.
