Blog 3- The Cultural Difference - New

The Cultural Difference (Cultural Informants) - Ethnography

Choosing a micro culture can be easy, the hardest part is actually getting out there and finding the people in that Micro culture to  talk to you about it.I have chosen to do my ethnography project on Volleyball, and so will be gathering information from both interviews and the internet.

Anthropologists on the other hand will usually spend long hours with their cultural informants often become closer friends over that period of time.

There are many ways in which to find an informant. Many people will struggle to start off with, especially if they do not know the person personally. Some ways of finding an informant include:  
Talk to someone you know – By speaking and asking someone you know, it not only makes it easier for that person to trust you, but makes the atmosphere around both parties more comfortable. Although this can be very good, a negative to it, is that you and your friend might not be able to change your role of friends to roles of ethnographer and cultural informant.

 Find an Informant (cold Turkey) – The direct approach gives you the chance to experience what it is like to enter the field of a stranger. It is however the most difficult one to do. It can lead to many rejections, take the most time and cause you the most anxiety. When doing this it is often wise to have a backup micro culture you can look into just in case. 

Find the Informant through a go between –  Locate an informant through a person you know who is acquainted with a suitable informant. You should also try and ask you contact if they have any more people you could go to in case one of the informants can’t do it. There is an advantage to a go between as because the informants will trust the person who is the go between and that will allow them to trust you and the ice will be a lot easier to break. One negative that can happen is if the go between person is of higher ranking authority than the informant can result in the informant not feeling comfortable enough talking about that place of work honestly in case it gets them in trouble with the higher authority figure.

When looking for an informant, there are attributes that you should look for such as an informant that is currently involved in that culture and  not previously involved. It is important to get a person who is a sociable person with verbal skills to communicate with you properly and give you the information you are wanting. A plus is if the informant lives close by so you are able to go a number of times without the struggle of time and travel issues.

The book (The Cultural Experience) recommends that you should stick to one informant, 2 max, as they felt that the students would have all the time in the word to get around to asking any more informants questions etc. I have used two informant for my Ethnography, one being a coach and another being a player.

Once you have found a likely informant you must prepare yourself to explain what you would like from the informant.  Many of the informants will be expecting you to just ask those questions like a survey. you will have to explain what you shall be expecting from them. Explain what ethnography is and what kind of research is done by other anthropologists when they do their own research.

It is hard to remember what that person is always saying, especially if they talk about and explain lots of details. It is important to make lots of notes or take a tape recorder to help you so you can go back and listen to the conversation again.The informant might tell you things that are personal so you must always remain professional during it. You should always let the informant read your draft before you send it out there.

The first interview  should preferable take place away from the persons place of work as to avoid distractions and influences of others and distractions.

Stay away from the direct questions like their age, income and where they were born etc. Instead you will be asking questions that a new employee would ask at a new job, such as what things are called, where they are and how they work. 

Try and explain to the person what an ethnography interview is as well as a little history about it. Ask descriptive questions such as: Culture categories, folk terms, analytical terms and translation terms.There are two ways to discover folk terms - hang out with people who belong to that culture or interviewing them, which is usually the best way.
Folk terms in volleyball would be certain called being said whilst playing the sport, such as 'Spike' the ball means hit the ball for the ball. Can be called Analytical terms.

It is important that when interviewing someone to follow a set of rules, such as do's and don't s.

1. Do-  what members of the micro culture do and what things are called and look like.

2. Do -put questions into context.

3. avoid asking "what is a...." question - Don't

4. do not ask informants why they do something?- Don't

There are four types of descriptive questions that should be approached, such as: 

1.Grand tour questions- most general types of questions

2.Mini tour questions - descriptive questions that ask for more details

3.Story questions - Based on folk terms you have learned from responses

4.Native language check - check whether or not a particular term is really a folk term

Throughout the Interview you should gather a set of field notes which are written accounts of what transpired. If you recorded the interview, you should write up your notes. Add observations about how the interview went and how was the interviewee. 

It is important to collect taxonomies through the interviews as they add a sense of how members of a group order or structure their cultural knowledge. It can help remind an informant to remember what they know about their own culture, eliciting  more detailed and exhaustive data. It finally helps provide illustrations and occasionally the structure for the final ethnographic report.

I shall be following these guide lines when researching Volleyball for my ethnography project. I think I would have struggled to have done my ethnography properly and asked the write questions to the informant if I do not follow these guide lines provided.

Blog 2 - 'Getting the truth' - Police Invterviewing - New

What do you think of when you hear the word micro culture? You wouldn't be wrong if you said a smaller culture group that exists in a society. A specialized subgroup, marked with their own languages,ethos and rule expectations, that permeate differentiated industrial societies.We use the term subculture to refer to a whole way of life way of life found within a larger society. These are usually ethnic groups made up from people from around the world. Micro cultures are are similar to subcultures in that they exist inside larger, complex societies. They do differ though as they do not define a whole way of life. Every day we are constantly interacting with different micro cultures, whether it be at work or at college or at your local shops. For example: a sever, will wear a certain type of clothing to suit that restaurants requirements, they will often speak in a polite manor. Other groups could include such things as sports teams, church groups and nursing home residents.
 

'Getting the truth' is written by Cole Akeson's Ethnography about Police detectives and the art of interviewing a suspect. My own sister is in the Police force back in England and has had to interview many people in her time there. I have often wanted to know about the art of interviewing, with what can and cant be asked, and obviously the best way of getting information from a potential suspect.

Cole Akeson said that the reason he had wanted to find out about Police detectives and the art of interviewing a suspect was because many members of his family were either in the Police force or the Civil Services and he was interested in social power.He decided to conduct seven one hour sessions in order do his ethnography.

Interviewing a suspect is a lot more complex then you would think, there are many hours that go into preparing an interview. This is because a detective much collect as much information about the crime as possible to go to the suspect with. A statement received by the person/people involved/ witnesses  can prove to be the most important evidence. This is a necessary procedure.

A statement of confession is the best form of evidence any detective can want, but getting it is usually a lot harder as many criminals do not wish to own up to their crimes.To interview someone successfully, a detectives must spend time preparing for the interview depending on the nature of the crime.

In person Crimes which are crimes involving humans, the police will interview the victim first. This is because they will usually be the most honesty and it will be fresh in their minds, compared to a criminal who  will be trying to lie his way through the truth. Detectives must follow procedures when interviewing a suspect; this is for legal reasons. If they do not follow the legal requirements, then in a lot of cases, it can result in the case being thrown out of court.

During an open investigation (before anyone has been arrested), the right to question someone is voluntary. The detective can only ask questions until the person being interviewed wishes not to answer anymore. In this situation, the detective  whether they have enough evidence to arrest the person or let them go free. If the detective wants to continue the questioning without voluntary consent, then he or she must place the suspect under arrest.

Cole Akeson insists that detective must not force a statement out of a suspect forcefully, by threats, physical abuse or promises that will not be followed through. Video or audio tapes are frequently used to help maintain that all the right procedures were taken as well as extra proof of evidence
.

In the picture above, the detective shall usually explain why the person is there and inform them of the evidence they have pinning that person to the crime. This is just one of many steps that Police can use when trying to gather information. 

Detectives will usually try and relate to the suspect they are having trouble with by acting as though they are wanting to help them. They will then try and find out where information is missing in the story which is being told by the suspect and piece it all together. This can help determining the detectives mind if the suspect is guilty. For example; a suspect might be moaning about his wife who was apparently beaten up by the suspect in question. what the detective might do is relate and pretend to moan about his own wife. This way they appear to be creating a common ground. This allows the detective to relate and use that leverage to apply pressure and guide the suspect in the direction to where the detective wants him to go.

Detectives will often try and read a suspect by listening for behavioral indicators in both body and verbal language.
1. If a suspect holds a very rigid overall demeanor and position at all times, it usually means that he is familiar with police techniques and is seeking to evade reading.
2. Constant moving of eyes when talking usually shows signs that the suspect is lying
3. looking up usually shows signs that they are thinking up a good lie.

Detectives are usually looking out for the "Sigh" a suspect gives when he has given up trying to lie and becomes ready to confess. They shall usually sigh, the  shoulder and neck relax and drop and sometimes it can be followed by a personal story which explains why this person is in the situation they are in. The officer will give positive reinforcement to the suspect to get him to carry on telling his story.

The ethnography of a police detective while he is performing the art of Interrogating can be a long and stressful process. There are many countless hours and techniques that go into getting a confession out of a suspect, and many rules must be followed. As with many jobs, the more experience you have interviewing, the more you are able to read people and get the information out of them.This is something that will take many years of learning and practicing to perfect.

Although it can be a stressful process interviewing a suspect, you should never get wound up get angry in front of the suspect. Detectives will always perform techniques that will come across as non judgmental and allow a positive relationship with an interviewee. It i only a matter of time, that a suspect will become comfortable with their surroundings and open up more to the detective.



The video below is just a fun clip taken from the film "The other Guys" in which two detectives are deciding on how to interview a suspect and they have decided to go about it doing good cop, bad cop.It is a funny scene so shouldn't be taken too seriously.