My first day in a village near Berhampur was uneventful. The family was very happy to have us and Mousumi settled in quickly. She conducted her first interview with the lady o f the house and two more today.
Some observations
1)As most interviews are going to be conducted with you sitting down in the floor with the respondent, check if they are fiddling with their toes - legs crossed, hands crossed and fiddling with toe nails- It indicates restlessness and low rapport, closed posture - it is time to stretch them out - shift you positions to reduce tension and increase rapport
2) with women, eye movements may not be clearly following pattern thanks to their dupatta/ veils around their face - check where her position is when she talks of her childhood - and push into memory zone for details of dress/day time /night time and calibrate positions for past and future .
3) Pls ask for their sources of entertainment- TV -names of serials, time they watch regularly - t everyody - it is also a good closure question - and you can also ask them to sing a few lines to close the interview
Pls add any insights that you may have had in the field that you found useful
Viji
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I conducted two interviews on my first day (yesterdat:20th). Since it
ReplyDeleteis my Dad's native. There was no acquaintance troubles.
Yes, most of the interviews are by sitting on the floor.
One more observation, it is very difficult to get the respondent alone. People around are excited and keep coming in. I kept giving breaks when others were there (not very
obviously) and when they moved away, continued. This also avoided monotony. When they are there, i did casual talks to all of them,
paused my interview.
Preethi