Ana Vasquez
Fresno State University
Professor Kubal
Qualitative Methods
Introduction:
All my interviews were taken place in Fresno California. This is where my group performs most of their hours and where I was also able to conduct most of my hours of observations conduct my interviews and gather most of my data and documents about my group. My group mainly focused on helping the youth and their families in providing them with the correct references available to them. I observed this group of amazing people for about one full week. I conducted three different observations an hour each which gave me a total of three full hours of observations. I found some great interesting concepts taking place while observing this specific group. During my observation, I'm able to conclude that the Warriors all played out different roles while in action. They worked very great as a team and are a group of positive individuals.
During my interviews, my main findings were roles and statuses these concepts are very important to the group I am studying. Role-taking, front stage, and backstage are also of importance. The front stage and backstage relate to the preparation that was needed from each group member to prepare to meet with their clients. The last method I used was content analysis this is where I analyzed over 30 documents about my group. By doing all this research about my group I was able to better understand the culture they bring and what my group is all about.
Methods:
I mainly observed the warriors while they prepared to perform on stage and take upon different roles as they performed on stage. I observed them for three days where I played the role of the martian. I tried hard to observe the environment and Warriors from an outsider's perspective. My observation took place on different days so that way I could gather different interactions and pattern going while my group was in action. Observing on different days I was able to gather so many different interactions and roles being used within my group. I now better understand all of the different roles being used in the environment that my group contours.
My first observation was on March 30th, 2019 on a Saturday. I observed for a total of 1 hour on that day. I was able to observe my group in action with their clients while they were in an ugly cold building. A very exciting observation that Saturday because there was a lot going on many different interactions and roles being used. I arrived at the scene at 3:00 PM and left the building at exactly 4:00 PM. The next set of notes took place on Friday, April 5, 2019, on this day I observed my group in a very interesting meeting. On Saturday, April 6, 2019, I observed my group from 9:00 AM-10:00 AM for a total of an hour. All of these observations consist of me playing the role of the martian. After all of my observation was complete I had a total of three hours of observation on my group.
During my observation, I was paying very close attention to all the different performances from my group that was going on. I used thick description to help me conclude the different roles that were being played out by my particular group. I used some theories to clarify the interaction that I observed during my observations. At every one of my observations I paid very close attention to the environment and my group of people. I dug deep for patterns, thick description, and all the small detailed that were going on. The theories that stood out the most to me while observing my group were the front stage and backstage behaviors, teamwork, performances, and roles. Throughout my observation I gathered so much thick descriptions then I analyzed them by using Nvivo to help me organize my observations. Nvivo helped to create five different nodes which pointed out the specific concepts that my group was performing during my observations. Nvivo also allowed me to create a word-frequency query which helped me to better organize all my data. Nvivo also had so many great features that were available to me to help point out different things going on with my observation. Nvivo also always you to have access to total word counts in your observations.
As I conducted my observation the collection of my data was easily accessible to me because my group is very active. My group meets about three to four times a week. I really enjoyed conducting my observations because my group is in located in the Fresno area. I did not have to face any barriers while observing my group they were easily accessible to me. All my group members were all very welcoming as I was doing my observations. They all were very understanding about what I was doing because I made sure I let my group know ahead of time. As I was doing my observations I could see them glance over at me as I was doing my observations it was as if they were happy to have me there every time I was observing them. Playing the role of the martian was my biggest challenge throughout my observations. I believe that I did a really great job at observing my group as an outsider and helped me to learn and see so much of the small details going on.
Analysis:
Name Five Concepts |
Backstage and Frontstage: Front stage actions are visible to the audience and are part of the performance. People engage in backstage behaviors when no audience is present behind the scene. |
Performances: Is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment |
Roles: Is a set of rights, duties, expectations, norms and behaviors that a person has to face and fulfill. |
Teamwork: Cooperative effort from a group of people working together for a common purpose |
Thick Discretion: Seek to give a meaning behind the action. |
Back stage and front stage:
From Goffman's view, "front stage" behavior is what we do when we know that others are watching. It's how we behave and interact when we have an audience. Front stage behavior reflects internalized norms and expectations for our behavior that are shaped in part by the environment, the particular role we play within it, and our physical appearance. "Backstage" behaviors are freed from the expectations and norms that shape our behavior when we are in front stage. During the "backstage we are more relaxed and comfortable we tend to let our guard down, and we might be what we consider our true selves.
During my observation, I found frontstage and backstage behaviors. Below are some quotes that I coded as examples of backstage and front stage behaviors from my group.
"This girl gets up and introduces herself to my group members I could hear so much excitement in her voice she also makes a shout out to two welcome two new team members and everyone begins to clap as if they were excited."
When the girl stood up and introduced herself to my group members during the meeting this show an example as she was performing on stage she sounded as if she was excited to be hosting the meeting as part of her job title. She did a great job of introducing and making her new team members feel welcome.
"I saw a lot of different emotions going on some people were shouting as if they were excited. Those looked like they were the people who won. The people who won were told they had to play a second round. They continued playing until there was only one winner standing. They winner shouted really loud. She gave the winner a Starbucks gift card everyone clapped and cheered one another on."
I was able to get a peek of what it's like to prepare in the backstage for my group as well
as I got to hear each one of their personal experiences.
"Another two of my group members are organizing and putting away different size baby clothes in big gray ben."
"They are both laughing with one another and throwing the clothes back and forth to one another as they organize the clothes getting it put away inside the gray ben. I can hear them make comments about how cute some of the baby clothes is they both are laughing the whole time as if they are enjoying going through and organizing the baby clothe."
In the above quote shows how they laughed and were throwing the clothes back and forth to one
another this is a behavior that they use behind the scenes because it is not a behavior they use
when they are in front of an audience.
Throughout my observations, I had the pleasure to see how my group prepared in the backstage. It was fun to see what they were all like behind the scenes really open and giggly toward one another. Overall, I got a positive experience from them I got to see them work as a team and create Easter Baskets for their clients. Throwing close back and forth to one another was an act of them being in the backstage because it was as if they were not taking the task seriously. There was a lot of talking and laughing as they completed their task another example on how you would act if you were in the backstage. During my observation, I was also able to see how they got awarded for the performance they did in the front stage.
Performances:
Social performance has always been one of the most interesting aspects of sociology. Our
behaviors change profoundly in different settings. To me, this sounded as if they all talked about their experiences while performing on stage.
"They began to call peoples name out loud I could see people walk in and my group was having verbal discussion with them. Meanwhile, I sat in the back right by the entrance door."
In the above quote Observed as my group members called in my group member this was them showing their performance as they interviewed them.
"Around 3:30 PM my group members that were playing board games began to walk around the building as if they were looking for someone new in the building to talk to. I could see one of them walk up to an individual next to one of the rooms and started to help him fold some of the clothes out of a red basket on the floor."
In the above quote it shows my group members performing as they played board games and also shows how one of my group members was helping one another fold the clothes. That shows them performing team work and being active.
"I saw that the other group member was trying to have a conversation with another person that was sitting alone he looked as if he was sad. I could see that the group member was trying to get that person to interact with him, it looked as if he was sad and continued walking around. At exactly 3:50 pm I heard a loud bell ring. The loud bell seemed as if it meant something because my group members all stopped what they were doing and started cleaning up I seen one quickly putting the board games away and another one of my group members put the laundry basket back in the creepy looking room."
During my observation I found my group to be very positive and welcoming people. They all showed a loving approach to one another and me. They all shared such wonderful experiences of them performing on stage. Personally, I felt very pleased to have the opportunity to observe them in such a personal setting for each one of them. Being able to hear the way they talked to one another also shows how they all listen to one another which helps them work well to perform and work as a team. I was also able to hear the culture each one brings in with them. I had such a fun experience
Roles:
One important concept that stood out to me throughout my observation was roles. I was able to identify different roles that the Warriors (which is the fake name that I gave my group) acted upon. For example, by them showing up on time and being at the meetings is a way of showing how dedicated they are to there group. I was able to see how when they were given a task each person in my group would complete their full task, for example, my group had to organize the baby Elmo room they all took upon different roles to get the job done. Role of acting in a mature way by my group member was also something that really stood out to me. Below are some examples of my observations as I observed them acting a role while they were in action.
"Everyone in my group looked and acted in a mature way. As I watch them all walk inside the red building, I follow behind them. I can hear some of them making silly jokes to one another for example one of the the girls told another group member "too early". Their was also a lot of laughter coming from my group my group seemed as if they were all happy to see one another."
My group was always really happy to see one another the above quote expressed how they were all really happy to see one another this to me seemed as if my group always played the role of being happy because they were always really happy.
"Most of the men were really quite as if they were tired and the looks in some of their faces looked as if they were sleepy. But showed very much dedication because I could see they were there performing their role for their group."
Always being present and being active was another thing that I observed from my group they all did a really good job at showing dedication and being active with the duties they were assigned.
"Some of my group members are sitting down on blue chairs talking to one another while others are standing around talking out loud. I could see one of my group members organizing some papers at the big brown desks that are in the room next to the blue entrance door."
The above quote expresses how each one of my group members would try hard to
stay active. Here one of them is playing the role by walking around trying to help out while the other one is playing the role of making sure that everything is organized.
Teamwork:
Effort from a group of people working together for a common purpose. During my observation, there was a lot of teamwork going on it was one of my team's strongest assets. I could see my group working as a team and helping one another get the job done.
"My group quickly scattered two of them went and sat on the table next to a group of people that looked as if there were playing a game they began to have a verbal interaction and began to play together."
This quote above shows that my group is always ready to work as team. By being active with the people around them.
"As my group continued to call names out loud I can see them smiling and laughing between one another as if they were having a good time. My group was showing teamwork inside the small room they were sitting in as they were calling in people."
In the above quote my group performed team work inside the small room they sat in as
they took turns on calling out people name.
"I could see two female members in one of the corners creating what looks like Easter baskets they had everything laid out nicely organized on a white table. I could see one of the girls grab the yellow basket and hand it to the other girl with black short hair, she puts the plastic colorful eggs and puts them inside the yellow basket and also puts candy, white diapers, green baby whips, and clear baby bottles, different color baby clothes all inside the yellow basket."
Here they all worked together to create beautiful Easter baskets and different task given to them. While others worked together to organize some of the baby stuff in the room. They all showed so much happiness as they laughed and smiled throughout my observation. I was able to experience my group working as a team. Them working as a team to make Easter baskets for the needy is a way of them giving back to the community to those who are in need. I had such a positive experience and really enjoyed watching them work together to get the job done. I was able to accomplish this by playing the martian role by just sitting back and watching them prepare in the backstage.
Thick description:
Through my observations, I put a lot of focus on the thick description to help me put a meaning to the concepts that I was able to point out while my group was in action. I dug really deep on describing my environment and the small stuff around me.
"The environment was very plain, ugly and the building was freezing cold inside. Everything was either white or gray. Not much color was in sight. Everything was super secure no way of escaping this particular environment. There were two stairways on each side of the building and on the bottom floor there were four cement tables right in the middle of the building to my right I saw a small black television. The bottom floors had about 15-20 rooms. The small rooms were all along the inside of the building where my group was in. The rooms were really small with a thick glass window on the right side of the door."
The thick description was were I really dug deep while I observed the environments that I
was in I noticed so much of the small stuff around me. I was able to observe all the things that are easily overviewed for example above I share the environment I was in during my first observation, I share how it was super secure the clients were forced to live in an uncomfortable setting it was shocking how they had beds made out of cement.
"The environment is fresh and I can see all my group members standing outside a red building there are about fifteen group members who are standing around waiting right in front of the white entrance door. I can see one of my group members walk up to the door with a key in his right hand with a big smile on his face as if he was very happy saying "good morning" to everyone as he's opening the door."
While gathering thick description I was able to pay attention to the color of the building that my group was standing in front of normally this is detail that I fail to take into consideration. I focused on one of my group members as he walked up to the door with a key in his right hand capturing this detail was awesome because these are the small details that I look past. As an outsider I was able to focus on the small details.
"I saw this room full of many different colors such as blue, pink, yellow, red and many more. There are kid toys all along one side of the room. The walls are white full of posters that show the names of different colors and shapes and I could see lots of positive quotes and sayings on the walls."
In the above quote it shows how I was able to pay close attention to all the different colors and had the chance to read all the different quotes on the wall those are things that we tend to overlook. That was a really fun experience.
Query:
Above is what's called a word query. The word query allows you to see the most frequently used works as you can see in the above image the word group right in the center in large print means that it was mostly used throughout my observation. The word group was used 54 times throughout my notes of observations, I was able to analyze that through my word query. With this query, I was also able to see a few others words that were frequently used throughout my observations, for example, the words one, see, and inside were words that were also used quite often through my observation. I found this to be a very helpful and neat feature.
Methods:
During my first interview, I wrote down my questions on a sheet of paper to help me stay on track during my interview. My first interview was only about ten minutes long. My participant had my full attention during the interview. During this interview, I tried hard to dig for detail and my participant gave me really interesting answers it was such a fun experience interviewing this particular person. One thing that I really struggled in during this interview was how I worded the questions so that way my participant would understand sometimes, I had to switch up how I asked the questions so that way it was more clear to my participant. After I asked the question a different way it helped to get a better answer from my participant.
As I continued my interviews, I kept in mind all of the different theories that we talked about in class. The questions that I asked were based on some of the concepts that I used during my hours of observations. I focused on status and roles, role taking, front stage backstage, and the looking glass self-concepts. To stay on track during my interviews I used an interview guide full of questions just in case I needed to bring the conversation back on track. I believe they were great candidates because they have been a part of this group for a decent time and also because they are all very active and dedicated. I used my cell phone to record all of the interviews and used Otter to transcribe my recording. Otter did such a great job at transcribing my interviews. All three of my interviews were in English. I considered these all good interviews. After, I transcribed my interviews I had to go through and edit the transcription so it made sense and was in full complete sentences. After, I edit my transcription I used NVivo to conduct my nodes and subnode, as well as a word frequency Query. I had such a great experience and learned so much from my interviewers.
Overall the process of my interviews was very successful and interesting. I now have a better understanding of the different roles and some of the statuses that my participant take perform. I now understand their reason why they are a part of this amazing group of people. The participants in this group are very active so this made it very easy for me to find my participants to interview. I learned that they love the roles that they perform and the environment that they are in. I learned that each member of this group volunteered their own time once they all have completed the required steps to becoming a part of this group. Most importantly they perform these duties without being paid and from the kindness of their heart. They all have love what they do and love being a part of this amazing group.
Analysis
Name | Description |
Statuses and Roles | A role is the set of norms, values, behaviors, and personality characteristics attached to a status. |
Role Taking | Most of everyday activity to be the acting out of socially defined categories |
Frontstage and backstage | The front stage self is how we want others to views us this normally occurs while others are watching us. Backstage self is what we consider to me our "real" self. |
Looking glass self | Individuals develop their concept of self by observing how they are perceived by others |
The self | The self is socially constructed, it is shaped through the interaction with the people around us. |
Statuses and Roles:
The first node, that I created with EnVivo is called statuses and roles. Throughout my interviews, my participants shared with me some of their statuses and different roles they perform while being involved with their group. We all occupy several statuses and play many different roles that may be associated with them. In sociology a role is considered a set of norms, values, and behaviors. While during my interview, I noticed that many of the roles they performed were very similar within my three participants. For example, in my first interview, I asked my participant "How do you play your role when interacting with your clients?
She mentioned,
I think it's just keeping a conversation live and knowing what their needs are. And if they're being met, especially for some that are, you know, going to be released, and they need that extra assistance into guiding them outside of the world. So I think that's one of the things that I'm kind of looking forward to doing, and just providing the help that they need.
In the above quote, she expresses that one of her roles while being a part of this group is to assist her clients and providing them with the help that they need. Meeting the need of the client is very important to my participant.
During my second interview I asked my participant what his roles were like while being a part of this group, he shared a lot of great information to me during the interview he mentioned,
Oh, okay, well, of course, you have to do a little bit of preparation I usually get on Zoho, that's our database and look at my last notes that I had with with the youth that I'm going to visit to refresh me on where we left off out. It's easy to forget when you visit with several the details, so I do that and I also look and see if there's any reminders that I have I make I keep up physical paper of each visit to the very brief and I look at that, so I don't forget anything that I told him I bring them or anything I was going to look up or that kind of stuff. Also, if I'm not sure about what I'm going to be working on. If I don't have an assigned lesson plan or something, then I'll have to dig up some or with depends some (clients) you can go visit and you don't have to have a plan. You don't have to you know each other well enough, you can just get right into the, you know, into the fun part. So, if you don't have that rapport, or if they're not open, well, then you have to use something more structured than there's plenty of those things given to us to use.
While he fully takes on his role as a group member he shared that there is a bit of preparation that comes along with it. He mentioned that he has to refresh himself before having to go in and meet with his clients. He talked about a database program called Zoho, that helps him get back on track with his clients. This program helps him remember where he last left off.
During my last interview I asked my participant, "What is the position or rank that you consider yourself in this organization?" she mentioned,
So being a (group member), volunteer, you know, basically, I'm here, all my free time, my own time, I'm not getting paid to be here. And just come here whenever I'm available, and just to come and serve my clients.
Above all she shared was her status, while being a part of this group she described herself as a volunteer/group member. I wanted a little more so I continued by asked her to give me a little more detail about what was expected of her as being a volunteer for this amazing group of people and she opened up to me a little more and shared about some of the roles she perform while serving her clients. and mentioned,
In terms of an expectation, not really above for like our job duties? You know, basically assisting clients. Either one on one, or if it's allow you to do in groups, you know?
My yeah, just (group members). There are other different programs such as the bright future parenting classes. So that's, that's what I'm currently doing right now with my clients.
She then shared with me about the role of having to assist clients either one on one or in a group setting. She also opened up about another program that she is a currently a part of called bright future. The role of meeting their clients needs is very important to this group, they are all very passionate about helping their clients strive to be the best they can be. The above quote also shows how active these participants are while being a part of this group.
Role Taking:
The second node that I created with Envivo is called role taking. I created this as a sub-node with the main node being status and roles. I created this as a sub-node because it is related to statuses and roles. Role taking are known as everyday activity to be the acting out of socially defined categories such as being a student, a parent, a volunteer ect. Throughout my interviews, all of my participants shared with me all of the different roles they performed while being a part of this group. I found this very interesting because they shared with me some of the things that they did to help them prepare to become involved with this group. For example, during my first interview, my participant mentioned,
So we have a lot of like, before you can even go you have the whole training setup, you have to go in and kind of shadow people before you can even go in and do one on ones with (clients). Then from there, you get assigned your (clients). And you kind of just going based off their case files, and which whatever you do, or whatever you want to do, say an assessment. You do that with them, you file it in, and then the next time you visit them, you kind of switch it up and see where what you can help them with, it just depends on the client on what they need, and how they can handle it. Because they can be total different personalities from one day to the other. So I think it's just looking into their case files and just seeing what they need, or where you left off with them.
The significance of this quote expresses what she had to do to prepare herself for becoming a member or involved with this group. She mentioned how she has to do one on one shadowing to prepare her to get assigned some clients, then from there she is free to work with her clients with whatever style she wants. She also mentioned about giving her clients assessments to figure out for next time what she can focus on depending on the client's needs. It was interesting to hear from her that they create each client's own case files because it helps to keep better track of what their client's needs are or where they last left off.
During my second interview, I asked my participant "What are some of the roles you perform in your group?" he mentioned,
It depends on its, it's just like any concentrated visit with anybody you know, there are things come up. This isn't just any conversation, there's attention paid the world we're talking about. So it's a heavy visit and compared its not a light visit. So, by definition, you're left with things to think about afterward. And there's a lot of subtleties going on. They have a lot of things running with them simultaneously in there that we don't know about. That you have to take into consideration. Most of all, I'm probably left with a little bit of discouragement, a little bit of sadness after I come and, and get reminded of the third trapped here, more or less, and that's how bad they want out and they want to change and those things aren't are unsettling. Sometimes they cause a lot of thought.
The role that he expressed to me here was that he has to conduct visits while being a member of this group he shared that these visits with his clients are not just any ordinary visit, in fact, they are heavily concentrated visits. He has to take into consideration that his clients have a lot of different things running through their minds while he meets with them. He also shared with me that after his visits he leaves with a little bit of discouragement and a little bit of sadness from because of what his clients share with him.
During my last interview, I asked my participant to share with me three things,
or as many as she'd like, that helped her to prepare her on becoming a member involved with this group she mentioned,
Okay. So some of the stuff that I prepare myself before, you know, actually meeting with a client is, you know, educating myself or receiving tools for my supervisor of, like, you know, what are the steps need to take in order to, you know, in order to reach out to this (client), you know, because some of the clients that we work with, they can be hesitant when talking to someone you know, so, you know, you have to learn how to use more effective communication skills, you know, so I had to prepare myself, how to use how to become a better communicator, how to present myself in a way where they will see me as a (group member), but not as an authority figure.
Interestingly to get more detail, then I asked her "I would like to know, what do you do to prepare yourself for for your actual group?" she responded and said,
Okay. So I did a research, I did a couple of research about this organization, just so know, what is their culture? What is their policy? Like? You know, who am I, you know, who are my boss, like, the people that I'm going to work with, you know, so that I have, like, a sense of feeling, oh, you know, what their culture represent what their goals are, you know, so that I can try to, you know, present those to them when I become a (group member).
In the above two quotes, my participant expressed how she prepares herself by educating herself by receiving the correct tools that she needs from her supervisor. She also mentioned that before she visits with her clients she has to use very effective communication skills, so she says that preparing herself on how to be a better communicator is important to her before she visits with her clients. I found this as very interesting because communication skills is a very important skill to learn when interviewing and this group of members does a lot of one on one interviewing. The bottom quote also mentions that before she became a member of this organization she researched the group so she can have a better understanding of the culture and who her boss was.
Front stage self and Back stage self:
The third node that I created with EnVivo was for concepts front stage and backstage self. I combined both of these concepts together because they both relate to one another. It shows both sides. The front stage self is how we want others to views us this normally occurs while others are watching us. The backstage self is known as what we consider our "real self" to act while others are not seeing us. For example, while I was interviewing my participant I asked my questions like "Who are you when you are not being a part of this group?" or I would ask "What what do you do to prepare for this job?" my first participant mentioned,
Well, usually I know I'm going to come in. So I kind of just look over my whole schedule and see what I'm going to do when I come in office. But usually, I come in and just kind of look at what needed to be done. Or ask if anybody needs help, before I do my stuff.
I kind of just basically try to assist since I can't really see it, the (clients) yet. So
that's kind of just kind of assisting people for now, and then getting into the role of starting to see my own or starting to be a part of (my group)
To me this quote expresses what we call performing on stage for her group. She mentions how she prepares before she is going act for her group. One thing that she does while she is performing in the office is that she ask everybody if anybody needs help with anything. She said that she performs in the front stage by assisting others in her group. I continued on with my interview, then I asked her "Who is your normal self?"she mentioned,
Yeah. So yeah, I'm a student in College. That just kind of takes up most of my time. Usually, I work, I do a lot of what it is event decor, and catering. So it's fun. It's pretty fun to something I've never done. But that's totally different. Yeah. Different than this. And it's just, I like them. I like them both. I try to see the positive of what I'm doing. So that it doesn't seem like a drag to me. I love to work out, run, play sports and stuff. I do love to coach kids. So for me, it's kind of like, kind of kind of balancing in switching it here in there. Yeah.But yeah, that's pretty much my daily life. Just being with my family. I'm a family person.
Our backstage is normally what happens behind the scenes. In this case I asked her to share with me a little bit about who her normal self was in other words who she was away from this group. She mentioned that away from this group she is a student in College and that on her free time she also like to a lot of event decor and catering. She also mentioned that she loves to spend time with her family and is a family person. This group member also shared that she loves to workout for example running and playing sports were signs of things that she does to workout.
During my second interview my participant shared a couple of the stuff that he experienced behind closed doors I took this information that he gave me as backstage information because he talked about how his commute to and from the group was pricy for him. He shared that he had to drive 40 minutes to just to be a part of this group. That information shows that he is a very dedicated group member and must love what he does for this group.
Enough three's enough because I take the whole trip down here the visit time is only like an hour. And so you only do one visit if you can't do the two that means you have to come back again. Oh yeah, and I have to drive so just too too much time. Right if hundred percent of town I'd be more willing, I would probably be more involved give a closer to the word it just takes 40 minutes of driving round trip for me. It's expensive and time consuming.
After he shared a little bit about how he felt about his commute to and from the group I followed by interestingly asking him to share with me some of the things he does to prepare himself for this group. So I can gather information on what he does while he is in action in the front stage.
Like, I don't think I don't think I don't have any formal preparation for it. Not to say that you don't, there's not some anticipation ahead of the visits because especially at first date, a little bit in intimidating, different and that so there have a little preparation sometimes prior to the meetings but that is not common anymore. Most of all, I just tried to stay that alert that day I, I just look forward to that my day is kind of built around the visit if I'm going to do that I that's kind of my goal for the day. And just stay clear and and and on on on task with it. And try not to get in a hurry. Try not to get rushed here in the preparation or the visits, try to
promote some calmness not and not be hectic.
He shared that while he is on stage he stays very alert while he is assisting or interacting with his clients. He also shared that he tries not to be in a hurry or be rushed in fact he says that he tries to promote calmness and not to be hectic. I choose to categories this quote under front stage because my participant expresses some of the things that he has to do in order to act in the front stage.
During my last interview, I asked my participant to share with me a little bit of her background and who she is aways from this group she mentioned,
Okay, so aside from me a member here. I am a mother of one. And I'm also student. Okay. And then I'm also a full time worker as well.
Interestingly, she answered really short and consist that she was a mother of one, a student and a full time worker as well as being a part of this group. She was actually one of the group members that was the most active and it was fascinating to hear that besides all she does for this group she balances out being a full time student, mother and a full time worker. The above quote is an example of backstage self.
Looking glass self:
The fourth node that I created in EnVivo was for the concept looking glass self. According to Horton Cooley we see ourselves from the eyes of others. Our self-concept is developed by learning to think of our own personality as others think of it, he called this concept looking glass self. Throughout my interview I asked my first participant "How do you think others in your group judge you?" she mentioned,
The others, my group, I feel like they know, I'm going to be here and I'm going to give it my 100%. They're also in, they see me as encouraging or they know, I'm always here to support them, so they can rely on me. I may be a little quiet, but they can still count on me and stuff. They see me as an extra help, you can say.
She responded by saying that others in her group know that she was going to be there 100% of the time. She shared that others in her group seen her as encouraging and very supportive. She also expressed how reliable she is to her group members.
During my second interview, I asked my participant what he liked most about his group and how he liked it? He didn't share much with me he kept it very straight to the point and just mentioned that he liked it because he kept showing up. I feel that I could have asked this question differently so I could have got more from my participant. What I got out of his response was that his group members would consider him to be reliable because he keeps showing up. I must admit that during this part of my interview I was still a little nervous and the way I was asking the questions was not coming out just how I wanted it.
I keep showing up. I keep coming back. It's rewarding. It's a as interesting as I thought it would be. And I like it more than I thought I would call it.
I continued to my next participant. She shared about how others view her. She mentioned,
You know, I never really asked what other see me, but I did have a conversation with my supervisor. You know, she didn't refer to me as a hard worker, you know, I'm very, I'm, you know, I'm always there, when I'm needed. And I'm doing more than I'm supposed to.
During my third interview, I asked my participant "How do others see you?" the above quote shows that she shared that her supervisor described her as a hard worker and as someone who is very reliable. She also shared during the interview that she does more than she is supposed to. I found this as a great example of how we want to present ourselves to others or how we would want others talk about us to others. Especially those who are in higher position than us. I'm, sure she was proud to hear such great compliments from her supervisor. I found this to be a great example of the looking glass self concept.
The Self:
My last node I created is called the self, the self is known as perceptions of who we are in relation to ourselves, others, and society. During my first interview I ask my first participant "Who do you feel are the major influences in your group?" she responded,
The biggest influences right now are the men in my groups. And they've actually just been a help they've contributed to help every single person that has stepped in here, including myself, which has totally helped me because if it wasn't for them, then I don't think I would like know what to do.
She interestly shared that the men in her group are the major influences in my participants group. She said that they are all very helpful and that they have contributed to helping others in their group. She also shared that the men are the ones that have helped her with learning and understanding what is expected from her while being a part of this group. I continued by asking my participant "What do you think others in your group think about you?" She mentioned,
I don't think I can control what others say about me, I think it's more like how I handle myself and I how I control myself. So I really can't control anybody's emotions or thoughts towards me, but just being here and doing the work the right way. And every day, which should say a lot about how they should see me for.
How she could not control what other in her group say about her and said that what's more important to her was how she carries herself around her group members. She also expressed that she has no control what others emotions or thoughts are toward her and how she is just there to do what's required of her the right way.
During my last interview I asked my participant to share with me what others thought about her being a part of this group? She mentioned,
When I did mentioned to my friends that I'm gonna be a (group member), at this location. They they saw me as a very, you know, how do you say, what's that word? You know, what's the word when you're not scared to do anything.
She talked about what some of her friends said when she mentioned to them that she was a part of this group. She shared that they seen her as someone who is brave. During this question she struggled a little to express what others thought about her. To me she is someone who has a big heart with a lot of courage to service the clients that she does with this group.
This above image is a picture of what's called a Word Query, I ran a work Query of all my transcribed interviews. When I ran the word Query I was able to identify the summary of the words that I used the most during my interviews. For example, in the above image, you can see the word Like right in the center of the query this means that it was the word used most throughout my interviews. The summary for the word like that EnVivo gave me was 178-word count. Looking through the summary the words, know, just, group are also words that were most frequently used. The frequency of these words shows how many times they were spoken all over my interview. I found this to be very fascinating took to have access to in Envivio.
Methods
I analyzed 25 different documents on my group that I am studying. Some of the documents I found were on different handout, a presentation that are provided to my group members. I also N captured their social media account. I choose to use the Facebook search for my organization. Besides Facebook, I also decided to use my group website page which was full of great information about my group. All of the documents that I collected were connected somehow to my group. I downloaded many of the documents that I collected as PDF files which I later would open with Nvivo. I used NCapture to help me capture the Facebook account information that I needed to later open up on Nvivo to create my nodes. After gathering all of my documents I made sure to read through them to help make it easier to create my nodes in Nvivo.
The group that I am studying is very active, I was able to find so many documents about my group. However, some documents were more useful than others because they obtained way more information. Some sources that I found the most useful was their social media account and their home web page. One reason why their Facebook account was so useful was that they keep the account up to date, it included all of their upcoming events that are taking place in the organization. I noticed that their social media account also had many engaged followers who liked to shared comments on some of the post they shared. A few of my documents were also job opportunities that were listed on my group's webpage that I found to be another great resource for my group. A few of the documents that I collected from my group's web page consist of all the different services offered to the clients. One thing that I noticed while analyzing my group's documents was how they praised the group members I am studying for their commitment.
After analyzing all of the documents I utilized different concepts which I coded into NVivo. I created five main nodes in NVivo which were framing, agency, identity, diagnosis, and prognosis. I found data to support these concepts throughout my research on my group. On NVivo I also did a query to look over all the different words that my documents most utilized.
Overall, the process of analyzing all of the documents was very helpful and exciting to do it really helped me to better understand and learn the group I am studying. I learned so much about my group after this process it made me love my group even more for all they do. Throughout, this process I was also able to see how the public engages with my group. For example, their social media account shared all of the great accomplishments and allowed me to see how motivating the people who have either been helped by this group feel and are grateful for the services they have provided. Another example was their web page my group did a great job at praising those who volunteered their time to help them this is what made others want to get involved. Analyzing these documents gave me a better understanding of how large my group is and all the great things they do for the community of Fresno.
Analysis
FRAMING
The first node that I created on Nvivo is called framing. Framing is what helps us understand and know what the group is all about. With framing, we can see all the different ways they inform and communicate with their audience. Framing is what allows us to understand all of the different methods that my group uses to communicate with society and those inside the group. One example I used was their social media account and their personal web page. One their social media profile in a comment they mentioned,
"The International Day of Families, is an occasion to celebrate the importance of families, people, societies and cultures around the world. It has been held every year since 1995. We would love to hear how your family celebrates one another. #FamilyStories #Love #_________ #___________559 #FresnoCounty #CreatingPathways #ForYouthInCountySystems #CreatingChange #Volunteer #Mentor #Youth #BeTheChange #FollowUs #InternationalDayOfFamilies"
This above quote shows that my group is expressing that international day for families is something that is important to them they frame it in a way that shows their audience that family is an important factor to them they are teaching their audience that its a day that should be celebrated around the world. They used a question to get feedback about how their clients and their families celebrate one another which I found to be very creative. Another helpful quote that I found on their social media page also shows how although this group is a small group they are committed to making a change in our world. The quote mentioned,
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." #___________559 #FresnoCounty #CreatingPathways #ForYouthInCountySystems #CreatingChange #DoWhatYouLove #EndlessPossibilities #Volunteer #Mentor #Youth #BeTheChange #FollowUs #NationalInternshipAwarenessMonth #InternsRock #AppreciateAnIntern"
Another things that I found very interesting was all of the hashtags that this group used to express their group. This is also an example of how they would praise some of their group members. One the other hand I also nodded under the framing the quote below which gives us an example of how they frame one of their primary goals,
"To create pathways success for youth in the Justice Welfare Systems through effective programs and services."
In the above quote we can see with this quote, the group is framing to outsiders the mission of the group with the claim that it will help create successful pathways for the youth in the Justice Welfare Systems.
AGENCY
The second node that I created with Nvivo is called agency, after I went through all my documents it was very easy to locate quotes that best fit under the agency concept. Agency is the way that a group constructs and reconstructs the world society has certain structures that influence human behavior so when a group has agency the group is trying to change such behaviors. Throughout, my documents I ran into a few quotes that fit this node which mentioned,
"___________, was established in 2004 as a community benefit organization with a nonprofit designation with the mission of creating positive change and promoting successful outcomes for youth in the Fresno County juvenile justice and foster care systems."
In this above quote we can see that it shows that the agency has been successful since 2004. It shows that the way this agency is constructing a society where they want to create positive change to the youth in their society. Where as in the quote below it shares that since 2005 they have been servicing in custody youth, out custody youth and their families. The quote mentioned that the agency believes that the youth deserved the opportunity to improve the quality of their life regardless of their past mistakes. The quote reads,
"__________ has been in existence since 2005, serving in-custody and out of custody youth and their families. We believe that all youth deserve the opportunity to improve the quality of their life regardless of past mistakes. _________ offers a menu of services aimed at helping youth and families overcome their obstacles. As a result, we have seen tremendous success with youth in the program that stay out of the system."
The last quote that I put under agency mentioned,
"_____________ provides Mentors to youth in custody at the Juvenile justice Campus uüilizing professionally trained mentors composed of community members, college items, and professionals who meet with youth one-on-one on a weekly basis. ___________ provides ongoing professional training to a Mentors to ensure high quality services and to assisial volunteers in the process of building healthy relationships with youth"
I put under the node for agency because It covers some of the duties and roles that are required from the agency. It shared that the group members meet one on one, on weekly basis and they get provided training to all group members to ensure the high quality service that their clients deserve. It also helps the group members build healthy relationships with their clients. The fit for the concept of agency because it allowed us to see what the agency is all about.
Identity
The third node that I created with Nvivo was identity. Identity I found to be the most helpful concept because it helped me to get a better understanding about who my group was. With the concept of identity I was able to see my group in action performing their own identity to society. Identity can consist of different attitudes. A good example I came across while coding with Nvivo was,
"__________ promotes programs and services that are based on research, evidence, and/or best or promising practice.Mentoring Bright Futures Planned Re-Entry Program (PREP) Education and Employment Advocacy."
I categorized this above quote under identity because it clearly states the different offers that help identify the particular agency. The identity of this group is clearly stated PREP means planned re-entry program. It also mentions that the group promotes programs and services that are based on research. The second quote that I put under the concept of identity is the one below which mentions,
"We provide support with various needs including, but not limited to: clothing, food, assistance with transportation, tutoring, emergency housing and also work with many agencies in the Central Valley to leverage resources and refer our young people to supplemental programs and services-eligibility requirements may apply, but even if we don't offer a needed service, we'll get you connected with a trusted partner who does."
This comes from a handout document that is provided to the group's clients. The document and quote above shows the identity of its members and exactly what its members do. It also shows their positive attitudes to helping others. Through this quote helps identify how hard working each member of the group are. It also shows how dedicated they are to helping the young people and families involved. The next quote comes from a different document which serves a very similar purpose. The document mentions,
"PREP is designed to reduce recidivism among youth in custody (Commitm JJC. PREP includes a Leadership Pod, Social Workers (SW) assigned to each eligible youth client, and Family Support Specialists (FSS) partnered with each family. These features are important for careful and strategic care of the youth and support for the families towards transforming barriers to thriving."
The connections that both of these quotes have is that through these documents they are trying to let the public know that they are here to serve the youth and their families to a better path to success. This particular group has made it clear on the services they provide to their clients. In the above quotes, we can clearly see who the group is and what it is that they do.
Diagnosis
The fourth node that I created in Nvivo is called Diagnosis. The concept of Diagnosis is the issue that a group is dealing with or currently facing. My group deals with a diverse community. So many different problems are diagnosed by my group. One quote that I nodded under this concept mentioned,
"___________ has grown in its capacity to serve as a multidimensional organization, working with youth inside the JJC, during the re-entry phase, and with youth's families in the home and community. Through a talented team of staff, interns, community volunteers, and partners, we have grown our re-entry/after-care programming."
The group mention in this quote that they are grown their capacity to serve as a multidimensional organization. Their main problem is working with those youth inside of the JJC during the re-entry phase and also with their families in the home and out in the community. Without my group's action to helping these families and youth in need, the problem would unfold and become bigger. The next quote from a different source mentions that,
"Focused on reducing recidivism, poverty, crime, homelessness and school dropout rates, this program is committed to working with youth and young adults on their education and employment goals."
We can see that this quote focuses on reducing poverty, crime, homelessness and school dropout rates. The problem here is the different clients that are experiencing dealing with homelessness, youth who are dropping out of school and crime. These are a few reasons why this group is trying very hard to putting an end to all these ongoing problems. My group remains very active as there are many people in need. I found on a handout about my group that,
"The Mentoring Program is a collaborative venture among CSUF, Fresno County Probation Department and the community Mentors are matched with youth and work with them, assessing their needs and developing a case plan to support them in custody and also when they transitioning back into the community. Mentors commit to a minimum of 1 year of service Mentors receive training in case management, policies and procedures, mandated reporting, and Thinking For a Change."
They put forth many of their focus on the youth who are involved in their program. Making sure that these youth are on the right path to success is another big problem that my group focuses on by providing all of the references that they offer to them in the above quote it shows all of the ongoing training that they provide to the group members to help better assist their clients in solving the problem.
Prognosis
The last node that I created with Nvivo is called Prognosis. The concept of prognosis is the way a group wants to fix the problem. We use the concept of diagnosis to determine the problem and the concept of prognosis is the way the problem is fixed. While analyzing my documents. I was easily able to locate many of the problems my group focus on. My group is always trying to do the best they can to help fix their clients problems. One of the best quotes I found to fit this concept mentioned,
"To reduce stigma of youth involved in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems, we organize youth and young adult voices (that are often unheard) as well as providing education and awareness on the various issues impacting our youth and their families."
I found this on one of the documents which I felt best to fit the concept of prognosis. The group mentions how they reduce the stigma of the youth involved in the JJC and child welfare system with this approach it brings equality to all of my group's clients. They help the youth be heard as well as provide education and awareness on the issue impacting the youth and their families. Another similar quote mentioned,
"_________ provides three of the five types of research based mentoring by utilizing community members, collegiate interns and volunteer at large who primarily meet with youth in one on one (traditional) sessions weekly. _________ also conducts group and team mentoring. Mentoring is provided to youth on both sides of the campus. (Commitment and Detention). ________ Mentoring provides ongoing training to volunteers to help assist them in the process of building healthy relationships with youth."
They show that a way to solve the problem is by keeping the volunteers and interns active by having them meet one on one with each one of their clients. This one on one session is provided to the youth on a weekly schedule. It also shows that working as a team to service everyone on both sides of the campus is a technique they use to solve their problems. This really showed me that my group members are willing to improve youth to a better future. The last quote that I coded under prognosis mentioned,
"The Mentoring Program is a collaborative venture among ___________, the community and a multitude of universities from Fresno and beyond. Mentors are assigned youth and work with them 1-on-1, assessing their needs and developing a case plan to support them in custody and when they transition back to the community Mentors are volunteers who commit to a minimum of 1 year of service."
This is very similar to the two other quotes I coded under prognosis. It really shows that my group is all about helping their clients and by doing that they are making sure they provide their clients with the best services. They are very active group members who are working on changing the youth to a second chance and a better future. They are providing them with the help that they need to make sure they get all of the references out there for them such as the one on one sessions and everything their PREP program has to offer.
QUERIES
For one of my queries, I decided to run a word frequency for the sources and nodes I had coded with Nvivo. The top six words in the word frequency were the focus, youth, forward, programs, Fresno, services. The word youth was the word that I most used throughout all of my documents. The word cloud listed below gives a better visual representation of the data.
Conclusion:
During my observation, I was able to experience my group react to things based on their current situation. I observed them in action inside the cold secured building and throughout my entire observations, I was able to see how they all worked as a team. This research helped me to better understand my group's culture and the language they speak. After I completed all of my observations I was able to see all of the different theories that came into play while they were in action. This research was so much fun I learned the different ways that people perform and prepared for different situations. I must say that I love my group so much more after my research was complete. This assignment helped me to play the martian role and observe the situation as an outsider looking in as well as dig deep for thick description.
Throughout interviewing my three different participants I was very satisfied with everything that they shared with me. I interviewed three of the most active and engaged members of my group to help me better understand who and why they are a part of this group. I completed a total of 55 minutes worth of interviews in a total of a view day spam. I feel very good about the amount of information that my participants shared with me and can say that I better understand the culture each one of these participants bring into this group. Throughout the interviews, I was also able to tie in different concepts to the different situations that each one of my participants shared with me. For example statuses and roles, a role is the set of norms, values, behaviors, and personality characteristics attached to a status. My participants shared different situations where one of their main roles was client interactions whether it was a one on one or group. The second concepts that I talked about were role taking, role taking is something that is acted upon on a daily. This was a very important concept for my group. Frontstage and backstage also is another concept that my group performed. The front stage self is how we want others to views us this normally occurs while others are watching us. Backstage self is what we consider to be our "real" self. During the interviews, my participant shared a couple behind the scene stuff that many don't get to see especially the behind the scene stuff which to me was one of the most exciting parts. The looking glass self and the self was other concepts that are an important part of my group to them what others think and say is very important especially because of the environment they are in while working with their clients. With all this being said I would like to say that by conducting these interviews I have become closer to the people in my group and feel that I am now a part of them.
Overall analyzing all of the documents about my group was very interesting. Putting everything into concepts was a bit of challenge because I felt that my documents all somewhat provided repetitive information so some documents I used more than others. Although I felt that a lot of the information could fit in one concept and the other my group did show much of the concepts that I created in the documents. Framing concept helped me to see how my group communicates with outsiders and I was also able to see how they engage with those in the community. The agency they have is very dedicated to helping the youth and their families to a better future. Being able to understand their problems and what they do to solve them was a very fun experience. Their main goal is to focus on making the youth feel heard and on a pathway to success as well as help their families in a time in need.
Bibliography
Discovering Qualitative Methods: Ethnography, Interviews, Documents, and Images, Third Edition. 2014. Carol A. B. Warren and Tracy Xavia Karner
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