| Sense-Making Home Page | Instruments, Questionnaires,Exemplar Interviews |
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by
Brenda Dervin and anonymous students
dervin.1@osu.edu
PURPOSE
In a course focused on the Sense-Making interview -- its meta-theoretic
premises, its methodological frameworks, and its methods -- students had
the option of completing three in-depth interviews. The interviews asked
respondents to focus on experiences with sexism, racism, or able-bodyism.
In each case, respondents were asked to recall incidents where they
1...observed the ism being practiced unintentionally
2...observed the ism being practiced intentionally
3...they themselves colluded with the ism in some way.
These incidents were strung on a life-line (see
below) and then one or more of these incidents (up to a maximum of three)
was probed in depth using Sense-Making derived interviews.
PUBLISHED IN:
Unpublished at this stage.
COPYRIGHT AND CITATION INFORMATION:
© Brenda Dervin, 1997. Material on this page may be cited as:
Dervin, Brenda (1997). Observing, being victimized by, and colluding with
isms (sexism, racism, able-bodyism): Sense-Making interviews from a university
advanced level class in interviewing. [On-line] Available: http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/inst/idervin97isms.html/
MATERIALS PROVIDED ON THIS WEB PAGE:
1. The instrument provided to the students
2. A partially completed sample interview illustrating format
3. Sample interviews as completed by selected students. All identifying
information is removed. Interviewers and respondents give permission for
use of these interviews here.
SAMPLE USED:
Students selected their own respondents from within their own natural communities.
One interview had to be a self-interview for those students who had never
done Sense-Making interviewing before. Students were also cautioned that
reaching out to interview those who are in the category of "other"
(i.e. the victim of a societal defined ism) meant that their interviewing
skills must be exceptionally well-honed and/or the individual must be someone
with whom you already have a trust relationship. Students were encouraged
to think about relatives, parents, grandparents as potential interviewees.
THE INSTRUMENT
At least one interview had to be a micro-moment time-line interview [see
Dervin 1983 Sense-Making overview]. The other two could be other versions
of Sense-Making or could be micro-moment time-line interviews. Most students
used the interview formats provided. The issue of how to construct and implement
Sense-Making interviews was the focus of 50% of every class with the remaining
attention paid to comparing this approach to interviewing to others.
The instrument provided to the students follows:
Thinking back over your your life, draw a life-line of the events of each
kind that stand out most in your mind
| Event | ||||||||||
| Year | ||||||||||
| Codes |
If Racism:
Think back over your life to incidents of racism to times when
1...you observed racism being practiced unintentionally
2...you observed racism being practiced intentionally
3...you yourself colluded with racism in some way
If Sexism:
Think back over your life to incidents of sexism to times when
1...you observed sexism being practiced unintentionally
2...you observed sexism being practiced intentionally
3...you yourself colluded with sexism in some way
If Able-bodyism:
Think back over your life to incidents when you saw disabled people being treated badly in some way... to times when
1...you observed this being practiced unintentionally
2...you observed this being practiced intentionally
3...you yourself colluded with this in some way
Selecting which events to pursue further:
For a micro-moment interview: select the one event that stands out most in your mind. Circle this event and label it 4.
For abbreviated micro-moment interview: select the one event of each kind that stands out most in your mind. Circle these events and label them4a = observed: unintentional
4b = observed: intentional
4c = colluded
If doing a micro-moment time-line interview:
4. What happened in this situation. What happened first, second, and so on. Think of this as if you are telling me the story as if it were a movie -- what did you say and think, what did others say, what just happened. Label these events 4 a through 4x.
Then for each time-line step: At this moment...
5. Did you have any questions, confusions, muddles? What were they?
6. Did you have any emotions, feelings? What were they?
7. Did you have any conclusions, ideas, thoughts? What were they?
8. Did you see any thing in particular as a barrier/constraint? What?
9. Did you see any thing in particular as helping? What?
10.If you could have waved a magic wand, what would have helped?Then for each separate element named in items 5-10: Triangulate, adapting the questions as needed:
11a. What led to this?
11b. How did it connect to your life? your past experiences?
11c. Did it connect to history in any way? How?
11d. Did it connect to power in society in any way? How?
11e. Did it help? How?
11f. Did it hinder? How?
If doing an abbreviated micro-moment time-line interview:
4. What happened in this situation. What happened first, second, and so on. Think of this as if you are telling me the story as if it were a movie -- what did you say and think, what did others say, what just happened.
Looking back across this situation and everything that happened.....
5. Did you have any questions, confusions, muddles? What were they?
6. Did you have any emotions, feelings? What were they?
7. Did you have any conclusions, ideas, thoughts? What were they?
8. Did you see any thing in particular as a barrier/constraint? What?
9. Did you see any thing in particular as helping? What?
10.If you could have waved a magic wand, what would have helped?Then for each separate element named in items 5-10: Triangulate, adapting the questions as needed:
11a. What led to this?
11b. How did it connect to your life? your past experiences?
11c. Did it connect to history in any way? How?
11d. Did it connect to power in society in any way? How?
11e. Did it help? How?
11f. Did it hinder? How?
12. Respondent profile:
AGE:
GENDER:
# YEARS EDUCATION:
ETHNIC HERITAGE:
RACE:
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOU WORK AT:
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOUR FATHER WORKED AT:
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOUR MOTHER WORKED AT:
| Event | adopted parents language |
Florida high school | Cornell sorority school | DC apartment guest |
Black colleague deflected |
Black friend engulfed |
Black participant exhausted |
Daily media content |
Daily media content |
Indian faculty member |
| Year | 1946 | 1954 | 1958 | 1961 | 1973 | 1988 | 1988 | 1990 | 1990 | 1996 |
| Codes | U | I | I | C | C | U | I | U | I | U |
1. LISTING OF OBSERVED - UNINTENTIONAL EVENTS BY YEAR:
46 - adopted parents referred to n-------- all the time
88 - brought a black friend to community I belonged to and they were so anxious for black members that they enveloped her like octupi
90s - daily, media coverage of blacks
96 - hearing a faculty member from India (who describes herself as a "person of color") saying that she and other blacks on the OSU diversity committee had agreed the problem was that "jews make too much money and control the media and create the racist climate in US"
2. LISTING OF OBSERVED - INTENTIONAL EVENTS BY YEAR:
54 - in high school in Florida when school desegregation passed, everyone was hysterical and I didn't understand why
58 - in sorority at Cornell when we were instructed to pass over all frosh pictures with non-white faces and Jewish names
88 - went to workshop at which the one black participant exhausted herself trying to be a representative of all blacks and everyone colluded
90s - daily, media coverage of blacks
3. LISTING OF COLLUDED EVENTS BY YEAR:
61 - I panicked when my roommate was bringing a black man
to the "whites only" apartment we lived in in D.C.
73 - I talked a black colleague into delaying a racism concern so that we
could get what I thought at the time was a just measure passed through faculty.
4. SELECTION OF EVENT TO PURSUE FURTHER:
| Event | adopted parents language |
Florida high school |
Cornell sorority pledging |
DC apartment guest |
Black colleague deflected |
Black friend engulfed |
Black participant exhausted |
Daily media content |
Daily media content |
Indian faculty member |
| Year | 1946 | 1954 | 1958 | 1961 | 1973 | 1988 | 1988 | 1990 | 1990 | 1996 |
| Codes | U | I | I * ++ | C | C +++ | U | I | U | I | U + |
If micro-moment time-line interview: *
If abbreviated time-line interview
4a = observed: unintentional: +
4b = observed: intentional ++
4c = colluded: +++
FOR MICRO-MOMENT TIME-LINE EVENT, PROCEED LIKE
SO:
4. WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS SITUATION:
SITUATION 58 -- TIME-LINE STEPS
4.1 My mother wanted me to be in a sorority and I managed to get in one - Chi Omega - although in retrospect I was not thinking clearly about it all.
4.2 I was proud I pleased my mother.
4.3 After ten months we started to examine the new freshmen as possible pledges and when we sat down in a big circle on the floor the president read a letter from national which instructed us to pass by all girls who were "Jewish" or not white.
4.4 I sat frozen in horror...It was like my mother was going to follow me everywhere.
4.5 I let it pass but two months later I deliberately broke a sorority code ("Thou shalt not date the boyfriend of a sister") creating a circumstance where I could resign.
4.6 A year later I wrote an anonymous letter to the Cornell paper disclosing the event when the panhell council was pontificating on the lack of racism and anti-Semitism at Cornell.
4.7 It was many years later before I got the courage to speak out in public.
FOR EACH STEP
4.1 My mother wanted me to be in a sorority and I managed to get in one
- Chi Omega - although in retrospect I was not thinking clearly about it
all.
Then for each time-line step: At this moment...
5. Did you have any questions, confusions, muddles? What were they?
6. Did you have any emotions, feelings? What were they?
7. Did you have any conclusions, ideas, thoughts? What were they?
8. Did you see any thing in particular as a barrier/constraint? What?
9. Did you see any thing in particular as helping? What?
10.If you could have waved a magic wand, what would have helped?
Questions, confusions, muddles:
5a. Why am I doing this?
5b. Why does being with these people exhaust me?
5c. Will Marjorie finally be proud?
5d. Do I belong anywhere?
Emotions/feelings
6a. Anxiety.
6b. Confusion.
Conclusions, ideas, thoughts:
none
Barrier/constraints
8a. My lack of self-understanding
8b. Majorie's constant vigilance
8c. The fact that I was a nerd of my time
Helps
none
Magic wand
10a. Back then: make me not a nerd.
10b. Now: make society kinder, more tolerant.
Then for each time-line step: At this moment...
5. Did you have any questions, confusions, muddles? What were they?
6. Did you have any emotions, feelings? What were they?
7. Did you have any conclusions, ideas, thoughts? What were they?
8. Did you see any thing in particular as a barrier/constraint? What?
9. Did you see any thing in particular as helping? What?
10.If you could have waved a magic wand, what would have helped?
REPEAT ABOVE FOR EVERY TIME LINE STEP
FOR EACH ELEMENT
5a. Why am I doing this?
Then for each separate element named in items 5-10: Triangulate, adapting the questions as needed:
11a. What led to this?
11b. How did it connect to your life? your past experiences?
11c. Did it connect to history in any way? How?
11d. Did it connect to power in society in any way? How?
11e. Did it help? How?
11f. Did it hinder? How?
11a. What led to this: It was like I was on a robot road...I just put one step in front of the other, doing what was expected of me.
11b. How did it connect to life: My mother always harped on my being unpopular, not going things, and son. She wanted me to be in a good sorority. She thought this one was "good" because she had this image in her mind. In fact, it was a sorority of near-nerds. I wanted to please her, make her proud. I was desperate, I suppose. But then she wasn't consistent about this because when I succeeded she'd get mad at me for succeeding.
11c. Connection to power: Yes, because my parents bought into the established status things of society - money, prestige, material possessions, and the idea that women should marry rich and find rich husbands at college. A sorority was instrumental in that, in their minds.
11d. Help: Proceeding like a robot helped in the sense of at least getting me through the days. There were girls who didn't make it -- who retreated home, who committed suicide. I didn't do that. I just lived in a dull ache.
11e. Hinder: In retrospect, horribly. Being a robot gets you nowhere except repeating the past familiar hurts. Familiar may be comfortable but it still hurts.
REPEAT ABOVE FOR EVERY ELEMENT GLEANED FROM ITEMS 5-10 ON EVERY TIME-LINE STEP.
5. Did you have any questions, confusions, muddles? What were they?
6. Did you have any emotions, feelings? What were they?
7. Did you have any conclusions, ideas, thoughts? What were they?
8. Did you see any thing in particular as a barrier/constraint? What?
9. Did you see any thing in particular as helping? What?
10.If you could have waved a magic wand, what would have helped?
Questions, confusions, muddles:
5a. Why am I doing this?
5b. Why does being with these people exhaust me?
5c. Will Marjorie finally be proud?
Emotions/feelings
6a. Anxiety.
Conclusions, ideas, thoughts:
none
Barrier/constraints
8a. My lack of self-understanding
8b. Marjorie's constant vigilance
Helps
none
Magic wand
10a. Back then: make me not a nerd.
10b. Now: make society kinder, more tolerant.
FOR EACH ELEMENT NAMED
5a. Why am I doing this?
Then for each separate element named in items 5-10: Triangulate, adapting the questions as needed:
11a. What led to this?
11b. How did it connect to your life? your past experiences?
11c. Did it connect to history in any way? How?
11d. Did it connect to power in society in any way? How?
11e. Did it help? How?
11f. Did it hinder? How?
11a. What led to this: It was like I was on a robot road...I just put one step in front of the other, doing what was expected of me.
11b. How did it connect to life: My mother always harped on my being unpopular, not going things, and son. She wanted me to be in a good sorority. She thought this one was "good" because she had this image in her mind. In fact, it was a sorority of near-nerds. I wanted to please her, make her proud. I was desperate, I suppose. But then she wasn't consistent about this because when I succeeded she'd get mad at me for succeeding.
11c. Connection to power: Yes, because my parents bought into the establish status things of society - money, prestige, material possessions, and the idea that women should marry rich and find rich husbands at college. A sorority was instrumental in that, in their minds.
11d. Help: Proceeding like a robot helped in the sense of at least getting me through the days. There were girls who didn't make it -- who retreated home, who committed suicide. I didn't do that. I just lived in a dull ache.
11e. Hinder: In retrospect, horribly. Being a robot gets you nowhere except repeating the past familiar hurts. Familiar may be comfortable but it still hurts.
REPEAT ABOVE FOR EVERY ELEMENT GLEANED FROM ITEMS 5-10
REPEAT ITEMS 4-11 FOR EACH OF THE THREE SELECTED SITUATIONS.
AGE: 58
GENDER: F
# YEARS EDUCATION: 23
ETHNIC HERITAGE: Italian-Irish
RACE: Caucasian
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOU WORK AT: Professional
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOUR FATHER WORKED AT:
Manager and director of sales
KIND OF JOB AND KIND OF PLACE YOUR MOTHER WORKED AT:
Primary school special education teacher
SAMPLE INTERVIEWS AS COMPLETED BY SELECTED STUDENTS
| Focus | Interviewer | Respondent/Informant |
| Sexism #1 | Male undergraduate student | 22-year-old gay male |
(more to be posted soon)
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Site last updated 2/26/98