Reflections on Race Fieldnotes Part 3: Dialogue
Race, Ethnicity and the American Dream
Fall 2016
The purpose of this set of fieldnotes is to give you experience with interviewing— another key skill in anthropology—in order to understand the role that race/ethnicity might play in people’s personal lives. This entry has two parts: (1)
interview and data recording and (2) reflection. (1) Interview. When anthropologists first start talking to people at their field sites, they often ask them for a “life history,” or an account of how they grew up and how their experiences have shaped who they are today. Invite someone you are close to, to do a short interview with you. Grandparents can be excellent interview subjects! You might also interview your roommate, your best friend, your parents or siblings, or a coworker you are friends with. Please do not interview a stranger or do a “man on the street” type interview. Due to the nature of the topics you will be covering, you want someone you feel comfortable with.
Be sure to practice your questions ahead of time, so that you are sure you understand what you are asking and can clarify this for your interviewee if they get confused. Be sure to ask only one question at a time, but feel free to use follow-up questions if the person did not give you much information. For example, if they give you a very short answer to question #1, you might follow up with, “Who were your friends growing up? Did they live nearby?” etc.
Give the person ample time to answer. The idea is to get them to talk as much as possible and even get them to tell you stories about their life.
You will need to ask them at least 3 questions:
1) Can you tell me about the place you grew up and what your childhood was like?
2) More specifically, what role has race or ethnicity played in your life?
3) Another question of your choice. Write this question into your data table to turn in. Avoid yes/no questions, as these will not encourage the person to talk. Definitely avoid academic jargon they may not understand, such as
“racial ideology” or “marked identities.”
Take notes on their answers. Carefully write down the gist of what they say, but do not strive for verbatim quotes unless something really stands out to you. (Having someone stand in front of you looking down at their notes can be awkward).
Immediately after the interview, record the following information into a table to turn in. The table will need to look something like this: Interviewee Ms. Petunia Clark, my maternal grandmother Q 1 She told me she grew up in west Texas and her family traveled there by covered wagon in
1910…etc…
Q 2 She talked about problems between the whites and
the Mexicans in her town, especially around the
time of…etc…
Q 3: this is where your
original question will go
She told me that…etc…
(2) Reflection. Once you have completed your table, respond to the following
questions with a thought paragraph of 200-250 words: What did you learn about
this person that you did not know before? Has their life story been significantly
shaped by issues of race or ethnicity (or, for example, racism, discrimination, or
even linguistic prejudice)? If it has, how have these experiences shaped their
outlook on life? If it hasn’t, how has that shaped their outlook? Why do you think
that this person has been affected (or unaffected) by matter related to race and
ethnicity? Finally, how does their life story compare to your own, in terms of the
ways race/ethnicity have shaped your identity and outlook?
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