interviewing an informantocr

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!HE DEVELOF MENTAL RESEARCH SEQUEN CE uals make poor informants for the novíce ethnographer. Even the experi- enced intervlewer must take special precautions such as using frequent "native lang.1age questions." One stude1 :t, a junior majoring in psychology, decided to study the culture of clinical ps·chnlogists. He approached someone who agreed to serve asan informan t. B tt soon he discovered it was almost impossible for his informant to talk in his native language, the way he would talk to other psychologists. Instead, he ¡ onstantly interpreted, analyzed, and explained to the student what psycho ogists are supposed to do. lnformantr wlo are sophisticated in the social sciences can learn to re- spond toque ;tions in a nonanalytic fashion. In studying cocktail waitresses, 1 collaboratt d with Brenda Mann who worked as a waitress during the study and se1ved as a primary informant. She managed to set aside her social science bad gronnd and respond from the perspective of Brady's Bar. In general, the l egiHning ethnographer will do well to locate informants who do not analyze hei · own culture from an outsi.der's perspective .. These crit, ·ria do not exhaust the ones that will make a good informant. However, if hese critcria are met, the beginning ethnographer will elíminate sorne of the mrst vexing problems of learning to conduct ethnographic interviews. {aving identified these general characteristics, we are now ready to und :rta <e those tasks tha1 will result in locating a good informan t. Tasks 1:1. Make a llst of potential lnformants (or cultural scenes). (A beginning seeklng a scene to study should list 40-50 possibilities.) 1.2. or slx of the most llkely lnformants (or cultural scenes). 1.3. ?his list of potential informants on the flve minimal requlre- ments f ,, a good informant. Place the selections in rank order. 54 OBJECTIVES 1. To identity the basic elements in the ethnographic interview: 2. To formuiate and use severa! kinds of ethnographic explana- tions. 3. To conduct a practice interview. An ethnographic interview is a particular kind of speech event. 1 Every culture has many social occasions identified primarily by the kind of talking that takes place; 1 refer to these as speech events. In our society most of us quickly recognize when someone gives us a sales pitch for a used car or a set of encyclopedias. We recognize Johnny Car- son's monologue on the Tonight Show. We can easily tell the difference between a lecture, a job interview, or a friendly conversation. Many of the cues to distinguish among these speech events remain outside our awareness but we use them nonetheless. AH speech events have tural rules for beginning, ending, taking turns, asking ques- tions, pausing, ande ven how close to stand to other people. In order to clarify the ethnographic interview, I want to compare it with a more familiar speech event, the friendly con versation. THE FRIENDLY CONVERSATION Let' s consider a brief example of a friendly conversation between two businessmen. Then we can identify sorne ·of the features ofthis speech event. Fred and Bob have known each óther since college days; they live in the same city and see each other occasionally at the Rotary Club. It has been severál months since they have talked. This conversation takes place in a large department store where they have by chance encountered one another. non: ''Hi Fred! How are you?'''' (Bob extends his hand while Fred hurriedly shifts a package to his left hand so he can respond.) FRED: "Fine. It's good to see you." (A firm handshake is now underway, one that goes on for severa! seconds as they continue to talk.) · ooo: "How's the family? 1 haven't seen you since March. Did vou have a good summer?" FRED: ''They're all doing fine. Jean just left for college a few weeks ago." - (/) Z.-+ -1(1) m-o :xJ? :So m :e - z C) > z 55

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!HE DEVELOF MENTALRESEARCHSEQUEN CE ualsmakepoorinformantsforthenovceethnographer.Eventheexperi-encedintervlewermusttakespecialprecautionssuchasusingfrequent "nativelang.1agequestions." One stude1 :t,a junior majoring inpsychology, decided to study the culture of clinical pschnlogists. He approached someone who agreed to serve asan informan t. B tt soon he discovered it was almost impossible for his informant to talk inhisnativelanguage,theway hewould talkto other psychologists. Instead,heonstantlyinterpreted,analyzed,andexplainedtothestudent whatpsycho ogistsaresupposedtodo. lnformantrwlo aresophisticatedinthesocialsciencescanlearntore-spondtoque ;tionsinanonanalytic fashion.Instudying cocktailwaitresses, 1 collaboratt dwithBrendaMannwhoworkedasawaitressduringthe study andse1ved as a primary informant. She managed to set aside her social sciencebad gronndandrespondfromtheperspectiveof Brady'sBar.In general, the l egiHning ethnographer will do well to locate informants who do notanalyzehei ownculturefromanoutsi.der'sperspective .. Thesecrit, riadonotexhausttheonesthatwillmakeagoodinformant. However, ifhese critcria are met, the beginning ethnographer will elminate sorneofthemrstvexingproblemsoflearningtoconductethnographic interviews.{avingidentifiedthesegeneralcharacteristics,wearenow ready to und:rta yudo when you first arrive. then "hat Jo youdonext? What are sorne,fth: things you would ha veto do nights,andthengoon 'heeveningrightupuntil youw tlkout thedoor andlea vethe bar? PAM:V ell,first1shouldsaythat there,notypicalnightatBrady's. ETHNoQ \AP!IER:Well,that's fine,jusi gothr:;1ughany night and tellmewhat youinkmightusuallyhappen. Pam:It dependsifIgoonal7or 9 o 'el oc.e1 usuallystartat9,atleast late! y ETHNOQlAPIIER:O.K.Whydon'tyou tellwhatyouwouldusuallydo, from !i1ebeginning ofthe evening at 9 o'clo('\whenyou comein,untilthe end\\lenyougoborne. 62 Gil'ingetluwgraphicexplanations.He conveys thenature of theprojectwith-outusingtechnicaltermslikecul-ture,ethnography,science,or cultural knowledge.Jtisputineverydaylan-guagethattheinforman!willunder-stand.Another important ethnographic elementhereisrepeating.Insevera! differentwaystheprojectexplanation isrepeated. Asking ethnographic queslions.Before asking,he states thathe is going to ask one,thuspreparingtheinforman!. Then,repeatingoccursinwhichthe ethnographer asksthequestioninsev-era!differentways. Expressingcultural ignoranceprefaces therepetitionof questions. Askingdescriptilequestions.Thisisa specialkindofdescriptivequestion calleda"grandtourquestion."ltis asked,notinasimplestatement,but withrepeatedphrases,expandingon thebasicquestion.Expandingallows theinforman!timeto think,to prepare her answer. Pam's response gives the ethnographer an opportunity to repeat the grand tour question, thus giving Pam moretime to think. Pam'sshortanswergivestheethnog-rapher another chance for repeating the descriptivequestion. PAM:1 usuallygetthereatabout8:45. 1'11goto thekitchen andhang upmy coat or sweater,then gobacktothe bar andsitforawhile.1 mightask foracokeandthen:passthetime jokingwiththebartenderorsorne regularwhoissittingnearby.If it's realbus y, 1'11punch in and go rightto work.Anyway. by 9 o'clock 1 punch inandgotomywaitressstation and setupmyIray.1'11takeeitherthe upper section or the lower depending onwhattheotherwaitresswants. Oependingonwhatbartendersare working1 mightsay,"Bob'sonto-night,can 1 ha ve theupper section?'' Butshehasfirstchoicesinceshe carneinat7.Theuppersectionis srnallerandyougetdifferenttypes of peoplethaninthelowersection. Yougetmoredates.Mysectionwas reallypopularlastnight.Itwas jmmed. 1 couldn't even take my tray withmebytheendof theevening, just carriedonedrinkatatime. ETH)'IOGRAPHER:Really!Thatmust makeitdifficult. PAM:(Nodsher head) ETHNOGRAPHER:Yousaidthatyou would go to your waitress station and set upyour tray.Couldyou describe formewhat you do whenyou setup yourtray? PAM:Sure. You ha ve a little round tray, likea pizza tray,two ashtrays on it. oneontopandoneonthebot-tom.My tips go inthe bottom and my loose change goes in the top ash tray. Andthebilisgounder theashtray, withthebigbilisonthebottomand the ones on top so youdon't make the mistake of handing out a five ora ten. & UMLl!t!JiJI.! [ 'IIINTERVIEWINGANINFORMANT Pamnowbeginstoanswerthegrand tourquestion,easilydescribingthe thingsshedoesatthebar eachnight. Someinformants willtalkfor fifteenor twentyminuteswithoutstopping;oth-ers pause tobesurethey aredoing the rightthing.Pausingprovidesthe ethnographerwithachanceforex-PI'('ssingintercst. E:rpressinginterest.Inlongresponses tograndtour questionsitisimportant towatchforevery opportunitytover-ballyexpressinterest. Restating.Theethnographer beginsto usePam's words;thistellsher itisim-portantforher tousethem. lncorporating.As soon as possible, the ethnographerwantstomovefrom questionsthatusehiswordstoones thatincorporatenativeterms.Restat-ingandincorporatingaretwoofthe most important elements and they often occurtogetherinthisway. Mini-tour question.The phrase "set up yourtray"wasincorporatedintoa mini-tour question. This is a descriptive questionthat askstheinformant to de-scribesornesmaller unitof an event or activity.Mini-tourquestionscanbe asked almost any time, even before the grandtour questionhasbeenfullyan-swered. 63 fHEDEVELiPMC:NTALHESEARCHSEQUENCE ETHNOGRAIJIER.Oh,that'sinteresting and;mportant for notlosing money.1 dneverthoughtof that. I'AM:Yeah,tgetsdarkandcanbereally hardtoSie. ETHNOGRAFIERO.KNow,let'sgo backlony e:rlierquestion.You've punchedi 1, g