Who would i hire to research a personal life? Literally.

April 7, 2014 7:54 PM

So I'm trying to figure out who I would hire - theoretically - to do an index or census of a personal life. I want someone who would be able to look at a life (with consent) to study it. The person would follow a subject around to determine core friends/family/contacts on a daily basis and then do research based on relationships. Then they'd objectively drill down into some key data points. - How many of the people in my life up to one relationship away (aka my brother's good friends) are married or single and for how long - How many of my past relationships are single/married and for how long Beyond that maybe some polling on specific questions about the subject from those people. So who am I looking for here? Is it a Private Investigator? A sociologist? A statistician? A life coach? Is there someone in an "I Heart Huckabees" way that you hire to do this sort of thing? Is this already a job or service someone provides and I don't know the name?
posted by rileyray3000 to Grab Bag (5 answers total)

Check your MeFiMail.
posted by xenophile at 8:47 PM on April 7, 2014

You are looking for a mom. Seriously. Find a single mother who is very social and kind. She needs the work with flexible hours and you need someone with a mother's instinct. She should be a friend of a friend- someone with good connections and better references. College degree isn't necessary but she must be very intelligent. Look for someone who enjoys puzzles and reads really big books.
posted by myselfasme at 4:00 AM on April 8, 2014

If you can identify the problem you're trying to solve that might help you find someone whose job it is to solve that problem - either individually or in aggregate. What would the answers to these questions look like? What would you use them for?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 4:18 AM on April 8, 2014

If you're looking for an academic to do this work, you're looking for an ethnographer. You can probably find an anthropology or sociology undergrad who would do that for money instead of delivering pizza.
posted by juniperesque at 5:47 AM on April 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

A genealogical researcher.
If in the US, one with access to LexisNexis.
posted by wats at 9:43 AM on April 8, 2014