Brandon Stanton says he must “steer the conversation away from pre-constructed answers” while interviewing people, and wants the honest truth, not what the interviewees think the right answer is. How can I point out the honest truth and steer the conversation? I feel I’ll understand once the interviews occur but I’m not exactly 100%. What if I try to steer their answers and it turns out to be a disaster? How do I steer their answers to honest answers with an invisible hand?
During the interview, Stanton wants to understand the person and not to squeeze him/her into a political category. If the class is interviewing people with an issue in mind, we will have policy ideas that they will fit in to. I thought I should ask questions about their lives that don’t pertain to any policy issues I previously had in mind, and maybe I would understand the individual just a bit more. Thoughts anyone?
While I watched the ethnography video, I kept thinking how I have to speak to strangers and how can I make them feel comfortable when I will most definitely not be comfortable. I know the interviewee must be comfortable for reliable data to be told. But what do I do? Fluff up a pillow for them and let them know I’m nervous as well? I understand the video but understanding what to do and actually doing it are completely different. At the end of the video, Colleen Murray suggests to watch other interviewers to see the ethnography process. I probably need a run through of an interview process, for example, to understand what transitions words to use, but not transition words that will make the rapport weaker.
The video also suggested that interviewers can’t just observe what their interviewees are saying, but the interviewers must participate with the interviewees. But if I’m interviewing people about human trafficking or homelessness, I can’t participate as they are forced to work and I can’t sleep with the homeless overnight (I mean I could but not if I just met them). I don’t want to butcher their stories. How do I work my way around that and truly understand my interviewees if I can’t participate?
All of these are great points and worth bringing up for discussion. One brief answer is that you can’t do in-depth ethnography in the time we have for class. So, don’t worry that you can’t get in as deeply as you might like.