Most of the statistics concerning Kyrgyzstan estimate that about 75% of the population is Muslim.
That doesn’t mean a whole lot.
It’s not that I think the figures are wrong. I’m sure if you asked everyone in Kyrgyzstan what religion he or she was, about 3 out of 4 people would say they are Muslims. It’s just that the term itself can me so many different things. Saying that a person is a Muslim (or a Christian, or a Buddhist, or any other ideology) is like saying he likes to read books. Technically, that tells you something about the person that you didn’t know before. But what kind of books does he like to read? How often does he read them? Does he really pay attention when he reads them? You don’t know. Same with religion. The fact that someone claims a specific religious affiliation doesn’t mean much at all.
Take the family in Chong Jer, for example. The father in the family is probably in his sixties. Why whole time there, he tried to convince me of a few things. One of the things he tried to convince me of was that I ought to become a Muslim so I could have seven wives. (I told him Islam only allows four wives, but he said I could have seven because the Prophet has seven). Another thing he tried to convince me of was that I should learn to drink alcohol, especially vodka. Now, many Muslims, including the devout householder and the mosque student in Talas, would say that that was a rather un-Muslim thing to do. The stricter versions of Islam forbid alcohol. Nevertheless, many Muslims in Kyrgyzstan (and throughout the world) drink alcohol. They don’t see that as an important part of their religion. Other Muslims see it as very much a part of their religion.
The thing about Islam is that it has no centralization or standardization. The center of authority is the local mosque. Each mosque, is run by a mullah (in Kyrgyz, the title is “moldo”) who teaches his congregation what it is to be a Muslim. He doesn’t answer to anyone for his teachings, and there is generally no oversight from any kind of organization. In fact, many of the people I have talked to so far did not even learn how to be Muslims from a moldo. They bought a few books (there are tons and tons of books on Islam here) and learned from them. Islam, organizationally, is a lot like American congregationalism. The local congregations makes the decisions. There is no pope or archbishop of anyone else who has the authority to standardize teachings.
I can see that lack of centralizations all around here. While people talk about their religion in global terms (“it’s the one true religion,” “all Muslims are brothers and sisters, no matter what their nationality”), they live it locally. Being a Muslim means doing the things that Muslims do on an everyday basis: reading the Q’uran, praying five times a day (preferably in the mosque if you are male), abstaining from certain foods. If they ever act based on an ideology, it is on an ideology that they assume other Muslims share, not an ideology that is actually uniformly taught.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Translators
Two of my research assistants are from Talas. They’re sisters: Begayim and Jyldyz. I’ll be putting up their bios, along with those of my other assistants, on a special section of the website within the next few weeks. They went with me to Talas to help me find my way around and to translate for me. My Kyrgyz is improving, but it still is pretty bad. It would be counterproductive for me to try to conduct an interview in that language.
It turned out that I only needed translators for a few of the interviews. Many of the older generation know Russian, especially if they work in education. Those interviews tended to flow a little more naturally. Even though both of my translators did a wonderful job, it is difficult to have a natural conversation when there is a large pause in between every idea.
It’s interesting. During my first interview in Talas (with the devout householder), I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He would speak, and I would wonder if he had some weird accent that made his Kyrgyz unintelligible to me. I listed to that interview again today, and actually understood large sections of it. Passive understanding is a lot easier than active engagement in a conversation.
I’ve found the most effective way to work with a translator is to pretend that he or she is a telephone. When you talk on the telephone with someone, you don’t talk to the telephone and then expect the telephone to talk to the person on the other end. The phone is just a means by which the conversation takes place. When I work with translators, I encourage the person I am interviewing to talk directly to me, and I talk directly to that person. The translator usually sits to the side. When she translates, she speaks as if she were me or that other person (“I think…” as opposed to “he thinks…”) I’ve found the more I am able to directly interact with the person I am interviewing, the better the interview goes. If that person continually turns to the translator and talks to her, the conversations suffers and I don’t get as much valuable information.
It turned out that I only needed translators for a few of the interviews. Many of the older generation know Russian, especially if they work in education. Those interviews tended to flow a little more naturally. Even though both of my translators did a wonderful job, it is difficult to have a natural conversation when there is a large pause in between every idea.
It’s interesting. During my first interview in Talas (with the devout householder), I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He would speak, and I would wonder if he had some weird accent that made his Kyrgyz unintelligible to me. I listed to that interview again today, and actually understood large sections of it. Passive understanding is a lot easier than active engagement in a conversation.
I’ve found the most effective way to work with a translator is to pretend that he or she is a telephone. When you talk on the telephone with someone, you don’t talk to the telephone and then expect the telephone to talk to the person on the other end. The phone is just a means by which the conversation takes place. When I work with translators, I encourage the person I am interviewing to talk directly to me, and I talk directly to that person. The translator usually sits to the side. When she translates, she speaks as if she were me or that other person (“I think…” as opposed to “he thinks…”) I’ve found the more I am able to directly interact with the person I am interviewing, the better the interview goes. If that person continually turns to the translator and talks to her, the conversations suffers and I don’t get as much valuable information.
How Guests are Treated
I am so fat. Well, mostly I just feel fat. You don’t really go into a home here without getting fed. And by fed, I don’t just mean tea and bread (a staple in every household). I mean a full plate of fried lamb and potatoes, or laghman (a Kyrgyz noodle dish), or manti (meat dumplings), or any number of other dishes.
I have been told on a number of occasions that, when the Kyrgyz still lived in yurts, that a traveler could come to any household, enter the yurt and sit down. He would then be fed. Only after he had eaten would people ask him who he was or where he was going. When you visit people, you get fed.
I don’t know what it was like here right after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I was in Ukraine shortly after that, and people’s lives were pretty hard there. I suspect it was the same here. But, based on what I see and what many people have told me, things are pretty good in Kyrgyzstan now, from a getting-your-daily-needs-met point of view. The family in Chong Jer told me that even if they didn’t have much money, they always had food. All of the people I spoke to in Talas said the same thing. Everyone has a small piece of land and they grow a lot of what they need on it. A lot of people don’t even buy very much at the bazaars because their households are largely self-sufficient. People have food and they distribute it very freely.
This is especially true during holidays. Ait (the end of Ramadam) just ended. I was told that in Talas (and in many other parts of the country), you could basically walk into any house that day and be fed. They didn’t have to know you and you didn’t have to know them.
I have been told on a number of occasions that, when the Kyrgyz still lived in yurts, that a traveler could come to any household, enter the yurt and sit down. He would then be fed. Only after he had eaten would people ask him who he was or where he was going. When you visit people, you get fed.
I don’t know what it was like here right after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. I was in Ukraine shortly after that, and people’s lives were pretty hard there. I suspect it was the same here. But, based on what I see and what many people have told me, things are pretty good in Kyrgyzstan now, from a getting-your-daily-needs-met point of view. The family in Chong Jer told me that even if they didn’t have much money, they always had food. All of the people I spoke to in Talas said the same thing. Everyone has a small piece of land and they grow a lot of what they need on it. A lot of people don’t even buy very much at the bazaars because their households are largely self-sufficient. People have food and they distribute it very freely.
This is especially true during holidays. Ait (the end of Ramadam) just ended. I was told that in Talas (and in many other parts of the country), you could basically walk into any house that day and be fed. They didn’t have to know you and you didn’t have to know them.
Trip to Talas
The second phase of my research has now officially started. I went to Talas, which is a province in the northwest corner of the country. I recorded about six to seven hours of interviews. Actually, it is very difficult for me to type this entry because I have been transcribing into Russian for several hours now. My fingers have become accustomed to using the Cyrillic keyboard layout.
I’m not too picky about who I interview. At least not right now. I only have a basic idea of how people view their lives, based on the free lists from AUCA (which I am almost done analyzing--expect a post on that in the coming week) and many informal conversations with people. The interviews I did in Talas were more formal. I used the interview questions (see previous posts) as a jumping off point, and then went wherever the interview took me.
Finding people to interview is interesting. We (I went with two translators--post on that to follow) didn’t have any set appointments by the time we got to Talas. We basically asked the person with whom we were staying if she knew any interesting people. I was even willing to talk to non-interesting people. It didn’t really matter to me. She thought of a few people she know, made a few phone calls, and suggested a few places we could look. My translators were both from Talas and knew a few more people. In the end, I was able to talk to the following people:
- An average Kyrgyz householder, with an averaged sized family, and above-average religious sensibilities. We just walked over to his house on the off chance he was home. He wasn’t--he was at mosque. We waited for him, he showed up about fifteen minutes later, and spent the next hour and a half talking to me. He talked to me about why he was religious, what he did as part of his religion, and how he felt his religion affected him.
- A professor at the local university. He splits his time between teaching and taking care of a respectably-sized piece of land. He gave me an apply from his orchards when we finished the interview. This one wasn’t too much about religion--he doesn’t consider himself really religious. He is rather patriotic, though. He talked about the country a little, but mostly about how he and people like him live.
- A high-school teacher. This was actually the most useful interview of them all. She had a talent for explaining how she viewed the world. Her interview is actually the one that I have spend the last few hours transcribing. We talked a lot about daily needs--what people do to get by, how people live in general, what the government can do to help, what people should be responsible for in their own lives. Very informative.
- A student at the local mosque. This one actually took some work to set up. There are restrictions when it comes to people entering mosques. You need to be properly attired, especially if you are a woman, which my translator was. The students there were also a little wary of the American with the tape recorder. They wanted (in fact, all of the people I interviewed wanted) to know what I was going to use the interview for, who I was going to give it to. We finally lured him back to the house I was staying at, and he gave a good interview about how he became interested in Islam two years ago.
- A man who was extremely interested in his genealogy. That’s actually not to out-of-character for the Kyrgyz. Everyone is supposed to know their male ancestors back for seven generations (their “seven fathers”). Even if they don’t know all seven, every knows that they are supposed to know all seven. Other Central Asian ethnic groups don’t really do that. His interview gave me several insights into how people here view family.
- An old woman who converted from Islam to become a Jehovah’s Witness. She converted about ten years ago. She goes proselytizing everyday and goes to the Kingdom Hall three times a week. I was interested in talking to her to understand what would make her convert from a religion that is so dominant.
- A Dungan woman who married a Kyrgyz. Dungans are a Chinese group. They have delicious cuisine--I actually think I like it more than Kyrgyz food, and I like Kyrgyz food a lot. This was actually the woman we stayed with. Her children are grown, and now she manages a café. She is quite religious, and a pleasure to talk to.
The purpose of these interviews was to get a general picture of how people view things like their country, ethnicity, and religion on an everyday basis. They actually accomplished that purpose to a much greater extent than I anticipated (see entry on just-because answers). They also generated a lot more questions. In all, I would say the trip was a great success.
Language Immerson and Acquisition
I just got back from two trips. This entry is about the first trip. I stayed in Chong Jer, which is about a half hour west of Bishkek. I stayed with a family that agreed to help me learn Kyrgyz. In effect, they agreed to take on another child, because that is where my speaking and comprehension ability were. But after my short stay, I am no longer a Kyrgyz infant. I am now a Kyrgyz toddler.
I definitely feel more confident in speaking Kyrgyz, especially in making mistakes while speaking. I basically humiliated myself enough that I no longer care if I make mistakes. For example, on the day I left, I was sitting on a little makeshift bench they had near the road. When you walk down the road--especially in the rural areas--and see someone older than you, it is expected that you will shake hands with that person and say hello. You actually use a rather ritualized greeting. The younger person initiates the exchange and says “Salam Alaykum,” which is actually Arabic for “Peace be upon you.” The older person responds with “Alaykum Usalam” which means “And upon you, peace.” In my case, when older people were aware of language abilities, they would simply respond with “Azymatsyng,” which basically means “Good boy.” That’s the kind of thing you say to a small child.
Anyway, I was sitting on the bench, and a boy walked by and greeted me. I responded appropriately, then he sat down next to me and started talking. I told him I didn’t understand. He said, “You don’t?” And I responded, “No. I don’t like Kyrgyz.” I meant to say, “No, I don’t know Kyrgyz that well.” In Kyrgyz, there is only a one-word difference between those two sentences. I just happened to use the wrong word. He looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say (which isn’t surprising--I honestly don’t know how one responds to the comment that someone doesn’t like one’s language) at which point I realized what I had done, laughed inappropriately loud, and told him what I meant to say. He then decided I wasn’t worth talking to anymore, and left. Things like that make a person not afraid to get a little grammar wrong. I am now ready to make a fool of myself in a wide variety of new situations.
The trip also helped me in my comprehension. The first day I didn’t really understand anything. The second day I understood some things after they were repeated several times. By the last day, I understood about 1/3 of the things the first time they were said, about 1/3 of the things after they were repeated a few times, and 1/3 after they were repeated a whole bunch of times. I’d say that’s a lot of progress in a very short amount of time. I think the main thing that made for the improvement was being able to hear Kyrgyz on a regular basis. Even when I didn’t understand, attuning my ears and brain to the particular sounds and vocal patterns that people were using made the whole language a little less strange. I experienced the same kind of thing when I was learning Russian nine years ago.
I’ve included a few photographs of the family in the pictures section.
I definitely feel more confident in speaking Kyrgyz, especially in making mistakes while speaking. I basically humiliated myself enough that I no longer care if I make mistakes. For example, on the day I left, I was sitting on a little makeshift bench they had near the road. When you walk down the road--especially in the rural areas--and see someone older than you, it is expected that you will shake hands with that person and say hello. You actually use a rather ritualized greeting. The younger person initiates the exchange and says “Salam Alaykum,” which is actually Arabic for “Peace be upon you.” The older person responds with “Alaykum Usalam” which means “And upon you, peace.” In my case, when older people were aware of language abilities, they would simply respond with “Azymatsyng,” which basically means “Good boy.” That’s the kind of thing you say to a small child.
Anyway, I was sitting on the bench, and a boy walked by and greeted me. I responded appropriately, then he sat down next to me and started talking. I told him I didn’t understand. He said, “You don’t?” And I responded, “No. I don’t like Kyrgyz.” I meant to say, “No, I don’t know Kyrgyz that well.” In Kyrgyz, there is only a one-word difference between those two sentences. I just happened to use the wrong word. He looked at me as if he didn’t know what to say (which isn’t surprising--I honestly don’t know how one responds to the comment that someone doesn’t like one’s language) at which point I realized what I had done, laughed inappropriately loud, and told him what I meant to say. He then decided I wasn’t worth talking to anymore, and left. Things like that make a person not afraid to get a little grammar wrong. I am now ready to make a fool of myself in a wide variety of new situations.
The trip also helped me in my comprehension. The first day I didn’t really understand anything. The second day I understood some things after they were repeated several times. By the last day, I understood about 1/3 of the things the first time they were said, about 1/3 of the things after they were repeated a few times, and 1/3 after they were repeated a whole bunch of times. I’d say that’s a lot of progress in a very short amount of time. I think the main thing that made for the improvement was being able to hear Kyrgyz on a regular basis. Even when I didn’t understand, attuning my ears and brain to the particular sounds and vocal patterns that people were using made the whole language a little less strange. I experienced the same kind of thing when I was learning Russian nine years ago.
I’ve included a few photographs of the family in the pictures section.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Will be out of town...
I am leaving for Issyk Kol (east of Bishkek) this Friday. I have arranged to stay with a Kyrgyz-only speaking family for a week to (hopefully) improve my rudimentary Kyrgyz skills. I come back next Friday, and then am hoping to go for five days to Talas province (west of Bishkek) to conduct some interviews. Therefore, there will be no blog postings for the next two Wednesdays. However, I hope to post some things, including pictures, on that Saturday between trips.
Interviews: State Institutions
These interview questions are about how people interact with their state. They're kind of sketchy, because I don't understand this part of how people think very well. That's one of the reasons I'm doing interviews on this subject.
State Institutions and Social Involvement
I want to understand how you think about Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, I want to understand your ideas about how people here affect the way the country is run. I am also very interested in any experience you or someone you know has had in participating in this country.
1. What is your country supposed to do for you?
-What do organizations associated with the state of Kyrgyzstan do for you?
-Is that the case just with you, or is that the way it is with everyone?
-What should organizations associated with the state of Kyrgyzstan do for you?
-Why do you think they do not currently do that?
2. What are you supposed to do for your country?
-In what ways do you affect your country?
-In what ways can people affect a country like Kyrgyzstan?
3. What do you think about the differences between people in the north of the country and the south of the country?
-Where do you think these differences come from?
-How do you think these differences affect Kyrgyzstan as a country?
-Are there any other differences in the country that you think are also important?
4. Do you think there are any leaders in Kyrgyzstan—at the level of the city or village, region, province, or government—who really want to make Kyrgyzstan a better place?
-Where do you think most of those leaders are located?
-How much of an effect do you think they have?
5. Where could someone go if he or she was interested in changing this country, even in a small way?
-There are a lot of organizations, many of them from different countries, who are here to try to improve governance, relieve poverty, and in other ways improve Kyrgyzstan. Do you think these organizations have any effect?
-Do you think the religious organizations—the mosques and the churches—can have any effect on the country?
-Does voting matter?
6. Do you think the ethnic diversity—the fact that there are many people in this country who are not ethnically Kyrgyz—makes it more difficult for the country to be run effectively?
-What do you make of the ethnic conflicts that happened in Osh (in 1990)? Was that just a matter of Uzbeks being different from Kyrgyz?
-What do you think is the proper way to handle that ethnic diversity?
-What about religious diversity?
7. Do you think the average person in Kyrgyzstan really cares about how the country is run?
-A few years ago, many Kyrgyz citizens seemed to care enough to force President Akayev to resign. What do you think motivated them?
-Do you think that was an isolated occurrence?
-How important is the country’s government to you personally?
-And when compared with the provincial and city government?
-In the long run, do you think it really matters how Kyrgyzstan is run?
8. What do you think Kyrgyzstan will be like in the future?
-What things do you think will change?
-What do you think will stay the same?
-How long do you think it will take for changes to happen?
State Institutions and Social Involvement
I want to understand how you think about Kyrgyzstan. Specifically, I want to understand your ideas about how people here affect the way the country is run. I am also very interested in any experience you or someone you know has had in participating in this country.
1. What is your country supposed to do for you?
-What do organizations associated with the state of Kyrgyzstan do for you?
-Is that the case just with you, or is that the way it is with everyone?
-What should organizations associated with the state of Kyrgyzstan do for you?
-Why do you think they do not currently do that?
2. What are you supposed to do for your country?
-In what ways do you affect your country?
-In what ways can people affect a country like Kyrgyzstan?
3. What do you think about the differences between people in the north of the country and the south of the country?
-Where do you think these differences come from?
-How do you think these differences affect Kyrgyzstan as a country?
-Are there any other differences in the country that you think are also important?
4. Do you think there are any leaders in Kyrgyzstan—at the level of the city or village, region, province, or government—who really want to make Kyrgyzstan a better place?
-Where do you think most of those leaders are located?
-How much of an effect do you think they have?
5. Where could someone go if he or she was interested in changing this country, even in a small way?
-There are a lot of organizations, many of them from different countries, who are here to try to improve governance, relieve poverty, and in other ways improve Kyrgyzstan. Do you think these organizations have any effect?
-Do you think the religious organizations—the mosques and the churches—can have any effect on the country?
-Does voting matter?
6. Do you think the ethnic diversity—the fact that there are many people in this country who are not ethnically Kyrgyz—makes it more difficult for the country to be run effectively?
-What do you make of the ethnic conflicts that happened in Osh (in 1990)? Was that just a matter of Uzbeks being different from Kyrgyz?
-What do you think is the proper way to handle that ethnic diversity?
-What about religious diversity?
7. Do you think the average person in Kyrgyzstan really cares about how the country is run?
-A few years ago, many Kyrgyz citizens seemed to care enough to force President Akayev to resign. What do you think motivated them?
-Do you think that was an isolated occurrence?
-How important is the country’s government to you personally?
-And when compared with the provincial and city government?
-In the long run, do you think it really matters how Kyrgyzstan is run?
8. What do you think Kyrgyzstan will be like in the future?
-What things do you think will change?
-What do you think will stay the same?
-How long do you think it will take for changes to happen?
Interviews: Group Affiliation
Another interview protocol. This is a long one. I obviously won't ask all of the questions here in a single interview. I usually won't even ask about all of the following groups in a single interview. It just gives me options, depending on where the conversation leads. Also, you'll notice a section on ethnicity and one on nationality. In the former Soviet Union, these two things are generally considered to be synonymous. The Russian word нацоинальнось (natzional'nost') refers to where you come from--who your people are. In short, your ethnicity. Your belonging to a state is considered your гражданственность (grazhdanstvennost'), which comes from the word for "government." I think Americans tend to think of their nationality in terms of their state. That's not the way they use that term here.
Groups and Relationships
I want to understand how you think about some types of social relationships. People have many types of associations, but many people think that certain large-scale assocations—things like their religion, their ethnicity, their class, their nationality, their gender—are an especially important part of who they are. I would like to ask you some questions about those types of relationships.
1. Tell me about your ethnicity.
-What ethnicity are you?
-What does that mean to you?
-How important is your ethnicity to you?
-Do you get any benefits because of your ethnicity?
-Are their and detriments to being your ethnicity?
-In general, how are people of your ethnicity treated here?
-Would you be willing to give up something you wanted for the sake of your ethnicity?
-Does your ethnicity affect the way you life your everyday life?
-Is there anything specific that you do in your life because you are the ethnicity that you are, that you would not do if you were a different ethnicity?
-How many people do you know who are your ethnicity?
-Do all of your family members consider themselves the same ethnicity as you?
-Have any of them ever married someone of a different ethnicity?
-How many of your close friends belong to it?
-Of the people with whom you interact each day—at the bazaar, on the street, at work or school—how many of them do you think are the same ethnicity as you?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your ethnicity?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Do you know people who are a different ethnicity than you do?
-How well do you know them?
-How often do you interact with them?
-How do you feel about these people?
-How do you think they feel about you?
-Do you ever feel they treat you a certain way because of your ethnicity?
2. Tell me about your religious opinions.
-What religion do you belong to?
-Have you belonged to your religion your whole life?
-What does it mean to you, personally, to belong to your religion?
-How important is your religion to you?
-Do you get any benefits from belonging to your religion?
-Are their any detriments or costs associated with belonging to your religion?
-In general, how are people of your religion treated here?
-Would you be willing to give up something you wanted for the sake of your religion?
-Does your religion affect any of the things you do in your everyday life?
-Is there anything specific that you do in your life because you belong to your religion, that you would not do if you did not belong to your religion?
-How many people do you know who belong to your religion?
-How many of your family members belong to the same religion as you?
-Have any of them ever converted to a different religion, or married someone who was of a different religion?
-How many of your close friends belong to it?
-Of the people with whom you interact each day—at the bazaar, on the street, at work or school—how many of them do you think belong to your religion?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your religion?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Do you know people who belong to a different religion than you do?
-How well do you know them?
-How often do you interact with them?
-How do you feel about these people?
-How do you think they feel about you?
-Do you ever feel they treat you a certain way because of your religion?
3. Tell me a little about nationality.
-Do you feel that nationality and ethnicity are two different things?
-In what ways is nationality important?
-Do you get any benefits from belonging to your country?
-Are there any benefits you think your should receive because you are a citizen of this country?
-Are there any detriments to belonging to your country?
-Is your nationality an important part of your identity?
-Is that at all related to other parts of your identity, like your ethnicity or your religion?
-Do you think people should be willing to sacrifice for their country?
-Do you know people who are different nationalities?
-Do you know people who live in this country who are citizens of different countries?
-Are they different from citizens of this country?
-Do you know citizens of this country who live in different countries?
-How are they treated there?
-Are they better or worse off where they are?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your nationality or country?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
4. Let’s talk about economics.
-If you had to guess how wealthy you are in comparison to the rest of the people in this country, what would you guess?
-What about the rest of the people in this province?
-In this city?
-In your neighborhood?
-When you look at people who are about as wealthy as you are, do you think you are similar to those people in any other ways?
-What does it mean to be wealthy?
-Is it just money, or are there other things involved?
-When you look at people around you who are wealthy, how do you think they became wealthy?
-When you look at people around you who are not wealthy, why do you think they are not wealthy?
-What should people do about differences in wealth?
-Should people with more money be willing to give some of that money to people who don’t have it?
-Should the government be involved in helping the poor?
-What is the minimum standard of living a person should be able to expect to have?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations that try to deal with poverty or economic inequalities?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Was it always like this?
-Was there ever a time when you, personally, were more or less wealthy?
-Was there ever a time when people here, in general, were more or less wealthy?
5. What about gender?
-If your experience, how are men and women different?
-Do they act differently?
-Do they have different rights or privileges?
-Do they have different responsibilities?
-Do you think those differences are fair?
-What would you change?
-Why do you think those differences exist?
-Is gender an important part of your identity?
-Do you think about it much?
-Do you think other people think about it much?
-Are you involved in, or do you associate with, any organizations that address issues related to gender?
-Do you know of any?
6. Age differences?
-Do you think about things differently than your parents?
-Your grandparents?
-Do people of different ages get involved in their communities in different ways?
-If someone was to try to change something about how this country runs, what age would that person probably be?
7. Are there any other kinds of groups, relationships, or associations besides the ones we’ve mentioned that you think are important?
-Of the associations we’ve mentioned, which one do you think is most important to you, personally?
-Which one is least important to you?
-How important do you think each of these associations are to people in general?
Groups and Relationships
I want to understand how you think about some types of social relationships. People have many types of associations, but many people think that certain large-scale assocations—things like their religion, their ethnicity, their class, their nationality, their gender—are an especially important part of who they are. I would like to ask you some questions about those types of relationships.
1. Tell me about your ethnicity.
-What ethnicity are you?
-What does that mean to you?
-How important is your ethnicity to you?
-Do you get any benefits because of your ethnicity?
-Are their and detriments to being your ethnicity?
-In general, how are people of your ethnicity treated here?
-Would you be willing to give up something you wanted for the sake of your ethnicity?
-Does your ethnicity affect the way you life your everyday life?
-Is there anything specific that you do in your life because you are the ethnicity that you are, that you would not do if you were a different ethnicity?
-How many people do you know who are your ethnicity?
-Do all of your family members consider themselves the same ethnicity as you?
-Have any of them ever married someone of a different ethnicity?
-How many of your close friends belong to it?
-Of the people with whom you interact each day—at the bazaar, on the street, at work or school—how many of them do you think are the same ethnicity as you?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your ethnicity?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Do you know people who are a different ethnicity than you do?
-How well do you know them?
-How often do you interact with them?
-How do you feel about these people?
-How do you think they feel about you?
-Do you ever feel they treat you a certain way because of your ethnicity?
2. Tell me about your religious opinions.
-What religion do you belong to?
-Have you belonged to your religion your whole life?
-What does it mean to you, personally, to belong to your religion?
-How important is your religion to you?
-Do you get any benefits from belonging to your religion?
-Are their any detriments or costs associated with belonging to your religion?
-In general, how are people of your religion treated here?
-Would you be willing to give up something you wanted for the sake of your religion?
-Does your religion affect any of the things you do in your everyday life?
-Is there anything specific that you do in your life because you belong to your religion, that you would not do if you did not belong to your religion?
-How many people do you know who belong to your religion?
-How many of your family members belong to the same religion as you?
-Have any of them ever converted to a different religion, or married someone who was of a different religion?
-How many of your close friends belong to it?
-Of the people with whom you interact each day—at the bazaar, on the street, at work or school—how many of them do you think belong to your religion?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your religion?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Do you know people who belong to a different religion than you do?
-How well do you know them?
-How often do you interact with them?
-How do you feel about these people?
-How do you think they feel about you?
-Do you ever feel they treat you a certain way because of your religion?
3. Tell me a little about nationality.
-Do you feel that nationality and ethnicity are two different things?
-In what ways is nationality important?
-Do you get any benefits from belonging to your country?
-Are there any benefits you think your should receive because you are a citizen of this country?
-Are there any detriments to belonging to your country?
-Is your nationality an important part of your identity?
-Is that at all related to other parts of your identity, like your ethnicity or your religion?
-Do you think people should be willing to sacrifice for their country?
-Do you know people who are different nationalities?
-Do you know people who live in this country who are citizens of different countries?
-Are they different from citizens of this country?
-Do you know citizens of this country who live in different countries?
-How are they treated there?
-Are they better or worse off where they are?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations associated with your nationality or country?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
4. Let’s talk about economics.
-If you had to guess how wealthy you are in comparison to the rest of the people in this country, what would you guess?
-What about the rest of the people in this province?
-In this city?
-In your neighborhood?
-When you look at people who are about as wealthy as you are, do you think you are similar to those people in any other ways?
-What does it mean to be wealthy?
-Is it just money, or are there other things involved?
-When you look at people around you who are wealthy, how do you think they became wealthy?
-When you look at people around you who are not wealthy, why do you think they are not wealthy?
-What should people do about differences in wealth?
-Should people with more money be willing to give some of that money to people who don’t have it?
-Should the government be involved in helping the poor?
-What is the minimum standard of living a person should be able to expect to have?
-Are you involved in, or do you interact with, any organizations that try to deal with poverty or economic inequalities?
-Do you know of any such organizations?
-Was it always like this?
-Was there ever a time when you, personally, were more or less wealthy?
-Was there ever a time when people here, in general, were more or less wealthy?
5. What about gender?
-If your experience, how are men and women different?
-Do they act differently?
-Do they have different rights or privileges?
-Do they have different responsibilities?
-Do you think those differences are fair?
-What would you change?
-Why do you think those differences exist?
-Is gender an important part of your identity?
-Do you think about it much?
-Do you think other people think about it much?
-Are you involved in, or do you associate with, any organizations that address issues related to gender?
-Do you know of any?
6. Age differences?
-Do you think about things differently than your parents?
-Your grandparents?
-Do people of different ages get involved in their communities in different ways?
-If someone was to try to change something about how this country runs, what age would that person probably be?
7. Are there any other kinds of groups, relationships, or associations besides the ones we’ve mentioned that you think are important?
-Of the associations we’ve mentioned, which one do you think is most important to you, personally?
-Which one is least important to you?
-How important do you think each of these associations are to people in general?
Interviews: Everyday Concerns
With the free-lists done (I'll post about the results next time--I'm still working on them), I'm about to start interviewing people. I usually prefer to go with the semi-structured interview. I have a list of questions I want answers to. These questions are usually open-ended and invite additional comment from the person being interviewed. If the person says something interesting, something that might be important to my understanding a specific subject, then I scrap the list and go with the new information. So the list looks like a script, but it isn't really. Having the list helps me to have a productive interview even when the interviewee isn't being too talkative, and it helps me get back on subject quickly if the tangential line of questioning ends up being unfruitful.
This is the basic list of questions I have for people about their everyday needs, wants, and interests.
Common Needs, Wants, and Goals
I want to understand what kind of things are important to you in your everyday life, and I want to understand how you go about getting, or at least pursuing, those things.
1. What are your needs?
-What kinds of things do you, personally, feel you need to maintain a minimum standard of living?
-Do you feel like the needs of other people around you are the same?
-Do you feel like all of your needs are met?
-In regard to your needs, do you feel that you are better or worse off than you used to be?
-How did things used to be?
-Do you feel that other people around you are in the same position?
-If there was something you absolutely needed, and you personally had no way of getting it, is there anyone you could turn to in order to get it?
-Does anyone ever turn to you to get something they need?
2. What are your wants?
-Are there any things (within reason) that you would really just like to have that you do not currently have?
-Why do you think you do not have these things currently?
-Do you think it is possible that you will ever have these things?
-When you look at the people around you, do you think they have more or less unfulfilled wants than you do?
-What wants do you think other people have that you don’t?
-How could you go about getting the things that you want?
3. What do you worry about on a regular basis?
-If you had to list the top five things that you worry about, what would they be?
-Why do you worry about these things the most?
-How often do you worry about them?
-What would have to happen for you to stop worrying about them?
-Do you think other people worry about the same things, or are these things unique to you?
-What do you think most people worry about?
-What might other people worry about that you don’t?
4. What are your goals?
-If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
-What would have to happen for you to be able to make this change?
-What do you think your life will be like in five years?
-What about ten years from now?
-What about 20 years from now?
-Do you think other people around you have the same kinds of goals?
-What goals might they have that you don’t?
5. What are your interests?
-What are the most important things in your life?
-What would you fight the hardest to protect?
-Do you ever feel like these important things are threatened?
This is the basic list of questions I have for people about their everyday needs, wants, and interests.
Common Needs, Wants, and Goals
I want to understand what kind of things are important to you in your everyday life, and I want to understand how you go about getting, or at least pursuing, those things.
1. What are your needs?
-What kinds of things do you, personally, feel you need to maintain a minimum standard of living?
-Do you feel like the needs of other people around you are the same?
-Do you feel like all of your needs are met?
-In regard to your needs, do you feel that you are better or worse off than you used to be?
-How did things used to be?
-Do you feel that other people around you are in the same position?
-If there was something you absolutely needed, and you personally had no way of getting it, is there anyone you could turn to in order to get it?
-Does anyone ever turn to you to get something they need?
2. What are your wants?
-Are there any things (within reason) that you would really just like to have that you do not currently have?
-Why do you think you do not have these things currently?
-Do you think it is possible that you will ever have these things?
-When you look at the people around you, do you think they have more or less unfulfilled wants than you do?
-What wants do you think other people have that you don’t?
-How could you go about getting the things that you want?
3. What do you worry about on a regular basis?
-If you had to list the top five things that you worry about, what would they be?
-Why do you worry about these things the most?
-How often do you worry about them?
-What would have to happen for you to stop worrying about them?
-Do you think other people worry about the same things, or are these things unique to you?
-What do you think most people worry about?
-What might other people worry about that you don’t?
4. What are your goals?
-If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
-What would have to happen for you to be able to make this change?
-What do you think your life will be like in five years?
-What about ten years from now?
-What about 20 years from now?
-Do you think other people around you have the same kinds of goals?
-What goals might they have that you don’t?
5. What are your interests?
-What are the most important things in your life?
-What would you fight the hardest to protect?
-Do you ever feel like these important things are threatened?
Yay!
I just noticed that some people have been posting comments to my blog. I love that! I promise I'll address the questions and ideas in the comments by the next time I post. I'm just a little too busy this week to do it.
Keep commenting!
Keep commenting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
