Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
interview that individual receives a phone call from another gang member
warning about an unidentified informer in the community. That moment, how-
ever, might be the best time to ask about informants and the pressures of com-
munity life. An ethnographer must learn to be attentive to a person's shifts in
tone because these changes are important cues to attitudes and feelings. An
elderly woman's shift from soft, eloquent speech to frightened, quivering whis-
pers when she mentions the death of her spouse is a cue that the questioner
should proceed delicately. She may want to discuss the topic as part of a cathar-
tic experience or may feel pressured into divulging inner secrets. These situations
are never easy. A sensitive and experienced ethnographer, however, will be able to
differentiate between the two situations and to act appropriately. The researcher will
make mistakes along the way. (See Fetterman, 1983, and Chapter 7 for a discus-
sion of the ethical hazards ethnographers face in the field.)
The chance to exploit a vulnerable individual to secure invaluable data may
be tempting. In fact, it may be a rare opportunity to explore an individual's
innermost secrets. Beyond the obvious ethical considerations, however, the
cost of exploiting an individual is too high, and the ethnographer must either
wait for another opportunity to come along or create one. One benefit of
spending long periods of time at a site is that other, more propitious opportu-
nities usually come along. Oversensitivity, however, can paralyze an ethnogra-
pher, placing unnecessary obstacles in the way of data collection and analysis.
A multitude of significant, nonthreatening questions can elicit the informa-
tion the fieldworker seeks and create many golden moments in which to ask
questions naturally as part of the general flow of conversation. Planning and
executing properly placed questions, while maintaining a flexible format, is
the essence of good ethnography, ensuring the quality of the data and main-
taining the participant's right to privacy.
Retrospective interviews can be structured, semistructured, or informal.
The ethnographer uses retrospective interviews to reconstruct the past, asking
informants to recall personal historical information. This type of interview
does not elicit the most accurate data. People forget or filter past events. In
some cases, retrospective interviews are the only way to gather information
about the past. In situations in which the ethnographer already has an accurate
understanding of the historical facts, retrospective interviews provide useful
information about individuals. The manner in which individuals shape the past
highlights their values and reveals the configuration of their worldviews.
Ethnographers use interviews to help classify and organize an individual's
perception of reality. All interviews share some generic kinds of questions. The
most common types are survey or grand tour, detailed or specific, and open-
or closed-ended questions. Survey questions help identify significant topics
to explore. Specific questions explore these topics in more detail. They
