Random Notes

A Purpose-Driven Life: “Art at its best offers us the durability that became life’s first purpose, the variety that became its second, the appeal to the intelligence and the cooperative emotions that took so much longer to evolve, and the creativity that keeps adding new possibilities, including religion and science” (p. 271).

Glee: Art lessons from Glee

Hemingway: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

A couple of videos: Cocaine Cowboys II and Inspiration for Not So Big House

Storytelling: Tesla video

From ethnoMed: Interviewing Informants.

It can be difficult to perform an ethnographic interview that avoids fatiguing the informant, who will quickly realize that she is being turned into the teacher. Sometimes you have to balance free conversation with information gathering. Here are a few techniques to help with the ethnographic interview:

• Greeting. An important element is getting a good start with a friendly greeting, both verbal (“Hello, how are you?”) and nonverbal (e.g. handshake).
• Expressing interest. Again, use both verbal cues and nonverbal cues (eye contact) to let the informant know that you are interested in what she is saying, and want her to continue.
• Expressing ignorance. Give verbal cues to let the informant know that he is not boring you with information you already know, and to open areas of conversation (“I have never heard of that herb before.”).
• Avoid repetition. People get bored when they have to go over a story twice in the same conversation. Though we sometimes ask patients to repeat information (“Could you describe the headaches to me again?”), it is good to avoid repetition when interviewing an informant. Use a tape recorder for all of your interviews to help avoid this.
• Taking turns. Avoid letting the conversation become one-sided.
• Incorporating native terms into questions. By using terms the informant has taught you, you tell the informant that you are interested in the conversation and are learning from it. (“What other treatments might a /krou k’mai/ use for this illness?”)
• Restating and incorporating. Often this is used together with incorporating native terms. By using the informants own words in conversation, you tell the informant that you want him to continue to use his own words.

From “The Ethnographic Interview”: The 7 Right Ways to Ask The Right Questions.

•  
  • Ask For Use Instead of Meaning
  • Use Open Ended v. Dichotomous Questions
  • Restate Responses with Exact Words
  • Summarize Answers & Allow For Corrections
  • Avoid Multiple Questions
  • Avoid Leading Questions
  • Avoid Why Questions

Descriptive Questions 

• • Broad & General
  • Allow Respondents to Describe Their Experiences
  • Provide an Idea of the Respondent’s World View
  • Enable Interviewer to Discover What is Important

Structural Questions 

• • Used to Explore Responses to Descriptive Questions
  • Interviewers Listen for Repeated Words or Issues
  • Repeated Issues Represent Categories of Knowledge

See link for sample questions (.ppt).

Sample interview with analysis (of research methodology)

Workbook for Descriptive Observations of Social Settings, Acts, Activities & Events