Second Interview as I Sing This in Tune

I just had my second interview. It went really really well. I asked her questions and she talked for a long time. I had no trouble getting information out of her. The interview was over the phone so in a few places it's a bit choppy but for the most part it's fine. The interview was during her lunchbreak and she was really into talking about it. It was also cool, as with the first one to get to know these experiences of people that I know that I would otherwise not ask about. That's it for now.

Interviews...fieldnotes...

Hey guys!

So i haven't posted in awhile, but things are falling into place. I have had two interviews with two people that I know...No one answered to any of the e-mails that I sent out. Something that I thought was a little shocking, I thought at least one person would be eager to share their experience. So I resulted to seeking out people I knew that were prescribed. The interviews that I had went very well. However, they are only 2o minutes each...I think that this is a little short, but after that time period I have covered everything with my interviewees and pretty much have gotten everything that I wanted out of their responses. The two interviewees responses were very different than each other. One of the interviewees was quite open with the role the medicine played in her life...it seemed to play much of a bigger role in her life than my other friend whose usage of the medicine mainly stuck within the academic setting. I am going to have another interview on Friday and then will start the transcription process! The field notes are going well, however I can only write them based on those twenty minutes...so not as abundant as I would hope.

Don't strike me

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but no worries my project is still underway. I have four student interviews, three and a half have been transcribed. FOUR? I bet you're freaking out and thinking I'm an intense ethnographer. They're actually pretty short, 20-30 min long. After I went back and listened to them, I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities in each interview. I am planning on having follow up interviews, that is if time permits no only for I, but most importantly for my interviewees. I also want to interview one of my professors, since they're experienced and all. I don't know something about being a professor and having taught several courses? I'll talk to my Spanish professor today.

I have found a couple of articles from JSTOR and will soon find myself digging through the library for books diversify my sources.

I haven't typed any of my field notes, but that is one Goal number one for this week.

Our discussion in class yesterday, was really interesting. One statement that particularly stood out was when Claudia said something along the lines of "There are so many lines/boundaries within Anthropology that's it's easy to cross them." These lines include ethics, morals, and the different types of Anthro, but, psha, who needs them? HA, I kid. They seem pretty important. I hope the Anthro god/spirits don't strike me.

Kittens in my room, Interviews on my Schedule

I just set up my second interview for Thursday. It's gunna be awesome. I still need to submit the IRB again and forgot about that until just now. I got about nine books from the library today - one of which is not an anthro text but called "life in the womb - the origin of health and disease" which will be an interesting insight into what I'm trying to look at. I also requested some books from Interlibrary Loan. I really like setting up interviews and doing them. When I did the one with my friend, it was really nice because I got to hear alot of her experience that I didn't know about during her pregnancy. Also, I cut her off ALOT (SHOCKING, I know!). But I'ma talk to Claudia and reformulate some of the questions to have a smoother second interview. Also, this one should be insightful because she had a kid seven years ago before the one she had 18 months ago and I remember seeing her right after she had him and she was drugged out of her mind. I'm really excited for it. Hope everyone else is doing well!

Amanda

Interviews, observations and everything good

So I thought I was going to at least get one interview before spring , but with our spring break being on the same time as every high school around georgetown I have to settle for interviews to hapen in April. I know it seems a long time away from now but I have good news on the observation part. This weekend I will be traveling with the Upward Bound Program as they visit Mary Hardin Baylor. I was asked by a staff member to come along and help out, so I said I would. It would be perfect to observe how the students interact with each other and the tour guide in asking questions and to see how many are willing to go to college after high school after attending the program. Other good stuff is that I do have a day to formally introduce my project to the students which will be March 31. After that I can visit them at the Out Reach Center and have my intervews.

Interview with a kidnapping victim

I did my third interview yesterday. It was the interview I had been looking forward to the most because it was with someone who had experienced the violence in Juarez firsthand.  It was a very delicate situation because with this particular participant of all people I didnt want to bring up any memories that she may not want to remember.  However even without asking questions that would purposefully bring about that kind of information my participant brought it up. While she did not go into detail ( which is completely understandable considering the situation) I did get some really interesting information.

Status Update (Alexis is....)

Spring Break was to be a time of intensive observation. Until I got a nasty illness (pink eye). I must admit, I felt the victim of some sort of sorcery or at least some psychosocial stress.

In any case, I did manage to interview two more people from the clinic: a Medical Assistant and the physician. Both were really interesting and had markedly different experiences in the healthcare industry. Perhaps the most prominent difference was their definitions of health. The MA answered my questions about health by talking about sanitation: she cared for her health by staying clean and sanitizing her work spaces. The physician answered my questions about health with the anticipated talk of exercise and eating right. Both exemplified the dedication and time commitment required to work in healthcare, though the stress levels (especially emotional stress) were greatly different.

I managed about an hour of participant observation which was not wholly unproductive. I got to overhear some conversations in Spanish. As I get to know more people and after conducting the interviews, I am becoming more aware of the office relationships and understanding the topics of their conversations.

While my field and interview notes are complete, I must admit that the transcriptions await me. I dread them.

My interviews were only about 45 minutes each. Is that bad? Should I do another? I think I could arrange to meet with a medical administrator in about two weeks, which I might do regardless of whether I "need" it. She seems pretty eager to meet!

Interviews and such

My feminist group seems to have disbanded leaving me little hope to have a group discussion on the definition of feminism. I think that I might just ask my friends at lunch their definitions. There might be an advantage of that, because I will get more of a widespread definition and not only a feminist view a feminism, which I think will add more to my research. This will give a better idea of why people are so hesitant to identify with the movement and furthermore why there is such a negative view of it. I have completed two interviews, but am only halfway through transcribing the first two. Anyone know of ways to speed up this process? Also if anyone wants to give me their definition and elaborate on it in any way, whether or not you are a feminist feel free to reply or e-mail me [moore2@southwestern.edu].