Transcript GSA Presentation 11052012 - Geological Society of America

By Teresa Lloro-Bidart, Ph.D. Candidate
UC Riverside
Graduate School of Education
The Role of Ethnographic Interviewing in
Climate Change Evaluation Research:
Investigating Intended and Unintended
Program Effects
Geological Society of America Annual Conference: Charlotte, NC
November 6th, 2012
What does the grant I work
on entail?
 An undergraduate climate change course
for non-majors (100s of students)
 A community climate fair (100s of guests)
 A science fair mentoring program for K12 students (appx. 25 students and 20
mentors)
The focus today…
Evaluating the science fair mentoring
program through ethnographic interviewing
 What is it?
 Why is it valuable?
 How can I implement this tool?
What is an “ethnographic”
interview and why use it?
 Getting the “informant’s perspective” v. eliciting predetermined responses; informants are not “subjects”
(Spradley, 1979; Mason, 2002)
 Avoiding leading questions; what distinguishes it from
“journalistic” interviewing?
 Informants can “reconstruct” key events for evaluator =
a more complete picture and collecting data that would
have been missed (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2011; Mason,
2002; Seidman, 2006)
 Informants have “insider” information you want!
Types of questions*
Grand tour questions = a “grand tour” through some
important aspect of informant’s experience
 “Could you describe a typical day when you meet with your
mentee?”
 “Could you describe the day of the science fair from beginning
to end?”
 “Could you describe how it is you decided to enroll in GEO
11?”
For more on “types of questions” see Spradley (1979)
Types of questions
 Mini tour questions = follow ups to grand tour
questions
 “You mentioned you meet your mentee at the
university library, could you describe how it is
you selected the location?”
 “You talked about ‘guiding your mentee’
through the research process for her project,
could you describe this process?
Types of questions
Example questions = a single event or act
you ask the informant to elaborate on
 “Could you give me an example of a ‘dry
side run?’”
 “Could you give me an example of a
“communication break down?”
Types of questions
Native language questions: questions where
informants use terms and phrases from their
cultural scene
 “How is it that you got involved in outreach?”
(“Outreach” was the mentors’ term, not mine)
 Could you describe an activity that is “hands
on?” (“Hands on” is a term used by my
informants)
How do I ask
“ethnographic questions?”
 Avoid “whys” and instead ask “how is it that…?”
 Avoid leading questions
 Follow up on what informants talk about in their
interviews by asking mini-tour questions or example
questions
 Repeat/summarize what informants say to make sure
you are “getting it right” and use their language/terms
 Be the novice: remember that your informants are
there to teach you about their world
More examples…

ETHNOGRAPHIC: How is it that you came to
be involved as a mentor? (Here listen for the
mentors’ reasons for getting involved: e.g.
wanting to give back or help out in community,
love for science that they wanted to share with
others, it looks good on grant applications,
etc.)

JOURNALISTIC: Why did decide to be a
mentor? Did you want to give back to the
community or was it because you like to
teach?
More examples…

ETHNOGRAPHIC: How does your science fair
project compare with the science you do at school?
(Listen here to whether students believe the science
project is different and if they are able to make
connections between formal “school” science and
their project. Do they see the project as more “fun,”
more “hands on,” etc).

JOURNALISTIC: Did you think your science fair
project was more fun than science you do in school?
Why?
A short activity…
 Take a few minutes to think about an
ethnographic question or two (work with
someone else if you like) that you could
use in your own site.
 Would anyone like to share?
 Questions?
References
 DeWalt, K. M., & DeWalt, B. R. (2011). Participant observation: A
guide for fieldworkers (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.
 Hammersley, M., & Atkinson, P. (2007). Ethnography: Principles in
practice. New York: Routledge.
 Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and
implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
 Mason, J. (2002). Qualitative researching. Los Angeles, CA: Sage
Publications Ltd.
 Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing as qualitative research: A guide
for researchers in education and the social sciences. New York,
NY: Teachers College Press.
 Spradley, J. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston.
Thank you!
 Questions?
 Contact: [email protected]