For this week’s reading, the Stebbins article really made an impact. It gently reminded us that while it is beneficial to have a background and knowledge of the subjects and environment we are observing we should not act as a “know-it-all.” (Stebbins, 1987, 104) This is incredibly relevant to my own research. For example, relating this to how children interact in a group setting, to me this means I should step out of my own professional teaching role and fully engage in the conversations, removing any preconceived notions of what will or might happen.
Regarding the Luker Chapter 8 reading, I found her suggestion of utilizing index cards and arranging them on the floor to design a sensible flow of interview questions to be quite useful. (Luker, 2008, 172) Also, it was interesting to learn about the benefits of making use of warm up and cool down questions. However, I’m not sure how much time to allocate for the warm up and cool down part of the interview. Would a few minutes at the beginning and end be enough? What if the participants continued to talk and their session is going into the next interview timeslot? Perhaps if what they are saying is something that will add value to the research and was not mentioned earlier then I suppose it would be best to allow them to finish their thought. Personally, it’s really fascinating to learn that participants could divulge more information during the cool down because they feel comfortable and free from being in the interview structure. All in all, I’m finding that the readings each week are quite relevant to my own research question and my chosen methodology – I learn something new every week!
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