"Guidance" Organization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fabiola Leon

Guidance Organization

May 16, 2019

Department of Sociology California State University, Fresno

 

Introduction

For my group I choose a local central valley college with an organization that is meant to help first generation students who are also considered to come from a low income household. I started my research by conducting observations of what my group did. I did my observations at a college in the central valley for a period of two weeks. During this week I was trying to better understand their mission and witness how important their interactions with themselves and others really was. By doing so I would be able to see what sociological theory could be applied to the observations as well. I was able to conduct a total of three different observations that would normally take upon an hour long each. During my observations at this college in the central valley I found people playing different parts such as roles, I was able to witness front and back stage during my observations and lastly I was also able to witness how statues play a big part in this organization held in this Central Valley College. Depending on the time and location in which the people who I was observing were in their actions differed.

            After collecting enough data based on my observations of the group I then on started face to face interviews. I was fortunate to be able to interview three people from this organization who gave deep detail of what their organization was really about. I interviewed members of an organization who are part of a central valley college, who aim to help students succeed especially low income students. After doing my observations in this Central Valley College I paid close attention to who would be the best candidate interview, who was the one who would have the most information about this organization. After doing my observations I realized the perfect candidates to interview would be a counselor and peer mentor students. I then schedule appointments to meet with these people and ask for their consent before beginning my audio recording interviews. I was able to perform a total of three interviews, two of them were women and one male. I interviewed a female counselor who was part of this organization, a female peer mentor student and a male peer mentor student who are equally involved in this organization. The reason why I decide to pick these three people for my interview was because I felt like they had a big part in this organization and shown the most interest in this organization.

            The last part of my interview involved was gathering information about my group through different sources.  I was able to find different documents about my group which later on I was able to analysis and see what they did in order to help students during their college years.  I was able to see how the counselors and peer mentors in this organization played a huge role in helping students succeed and also witness how this organization is not like any other, they come off more as a family rather than an organization. The documents that I was able to analysis were from the school I was doing the research on but also from different schools who had the same organization with the same mission. In total I was able to gather 30 documents and analyze with five different concepts which were diagnosis, prognosis, motivation, identity and lastly agency. All my findings were through online videos which I later transcribed them once I saw them and noted that they were all sharing the same mission statement and purpose. For the diagnosis I focused on what was the injustice in the group as well as what they were fighting for and wrong with the group, of course throughout the videos they hardly talked about that because it would make them seem as a weak group but I was able to gather some information on that. On the prognosis it was more of the solution what were they doing to find solutions to the problems they may be facing. Motivation was much easier to spot out throughout the videos it focused on why people should care and why it matters what they do. Meanwhile identity was more of what it meant to be part of this organization, and what are the characteristics of the people involved in this organization. Lastly agency was more like what you can do to get involved, how you solved problems and lastly their achievements.

Literature Review

            Society tends to play a huge role in the lives of many if not all people, in a way in which a person personality and behavior is influenced by its surroundings. Often a person can witness how another person acts when surrounded by certain group in which they are trying to fit in and associate with versus when being alone they tend to be their normal selves. Being their normal self is doing what they like doing and not wondering what others are thinking of them rather just being them and not overthinking whether or not they are being accepted. A person can witness different types of behavior caused by the surroundings of a person and how a person wants to be seen as. All this goes back to symbolic Interaction in how individuals tends to act when surrounded by others which lead up to the formation of a person's identity, values and also even their beliefs. To be able to better understand how a people's surroundings impact how they act or respond to certain things one should look at the front and back stage, roles, statuses, looking glass self and self.

            The first thing one should look at when interviewing a person or trying to find out who they really are like is by focusing on the front and back stage. The front stage and back stage according to Goffman primarily focuses on the different types of behavior a person tends to interact with on a daily base. In the article "Eliciting front and backstage talk with the iterated questioning approach" by Robisn and Schulz, Goffman mentions how the front stage is a critical area where a person's real identity is being overshadowed by playing the role one is striving to live up too. Meaning this is where a person is stripped from their true self and is trying to be someone who they are not in order to feel the acceptance of the group in which they are being a part of. When conducting an interview with someone front stage can cause barriers between the interviewer and the interviewee for the following reason that the interviewee is avoiding personal thoughts and rather just saying what they believe others might say as well. Meanwhile the backstage according to Goffman this is where a person is free to speak what is on their mind and act however they please it is where they are found to be most vulnerable when answering question. Goffman would consider this to be a stage where a person finally steps out of character and speaks what is really on their mind, in this stage often one tends to walk out of character as well when they are with someone they feel comfortable with and trust as well. The following question now would be what type of leadership would one play when getting things done in a group versus when they do a tasks individually or with someone they feel most comfortable with?

            The front stage and back stage also focuses a lot on the "Self", self-influences our behaviors and how we act during the front and backstage. In the article "The Nature and Significance of the Self" by Kent Sandstrom, sandstrom argues how humans act differently in different scenarios with a mission of leaving a good impression. Erving Goffman argues that the way a person acts is far more influenced by other things than just by how others view them. For example, Goffman argues that the nature and demands of a situation urges people acts a certain way to achieve their goals. In many cases one can see this happening when applying for a job, normally a person does not prepare themselves to talk to another person but when going to an interview there is a lot of prepping and formality than normal. One would say that the way a person views self is by the forms of acting, since one is truly not themselves when associating themselves with people who would be considered in their front stage rather than their backstage friends. Another way in which self is presented is by impression management, where one will do the impossible to play a different identity than their own. This is important to some because this is what causes a person to be distinguished from a group of people and have people remember them by an action they did. When trying to fit in and meeting the expectations of others what are a few things one might change about themselves?

            Furthermore, one not only looks at the "self" in defining one actions when changing their identities to fit it one also focuses on the looking glass self. In the article "Looking – Glass self by Jennifer L. Dunn, Dunn mentions the theorist Cooley to be the first to identify the looking glass when evaluating the "self". The looking glass self is a concept in which people use to imagine how they look like to others and connecting this to the concept of the self, where these two concepts combine the identity of a person. Cooley argues that there are three major components that form the looking glass self-concept, the imagination of appearance, the imagination of judgment of appearance and lastly a type of emotion such as pride or mortification. Due to these three components a person identity is constantly changing periodically trying to conform to the different settings they are in, the self is one of the easiest to manipulate by our own self. It is a way of viewing the individual reflection and emotional aspects when developing the identity of a person, a person tends to look at others and wonder how others would describe them. A person will leave their morals behind them and adapt to the norms of others just fit in and be seen differently in the eyes of others trying to leave a good impression. Usually a person in this concept does not accept who they are rather they try to accept something they are not, meaning they are accepting a new identity that they want to believe others view them as. This new identity tends to make a person more acceptable and wanted by others because they are not going against others rather they are conforming to a new life style which others are already living. Stripping them down from who they really are as a person just to strip on a false identity that they want to believe is really who they are. How often do you find yourself stripping off your true identity to feel accepted into a group of people?

            After view these different concepts and how they play a distinguish role in forming a person's identity, one will now focus on the actual roles of a person and what their role in society actually looks like. A role of a person is often seen as through race, age, appearance and demeanor as well as gender according to "Roles, status, and relationships in ethnography" (Warren and Karner, 77-78). There are many different types of roles seen throughout society some more important than others but yet without any forms of roles there would not be any social control. A role is not something you achieve like a status is more seen as something you have been ascribe as you were born one does not have much saying in what roles is given to a person. Roles can also influence others even though it is ascribe to them. For example, a girl often looks up to their mother for guidance such as when raising their own children at this point they be taking on further roles than the ones they were already ascribed to at during birth. A role is never forgotten or taken away just more roles are ascribed to a person and with that being said new roles being learned can be passed down to other people by learning them. The roles are flexible and be seen to be changing overtime within each person and during this time the person is not wondering much about their identity rather just worrying about growing as a person. Which roles are the most important to have when forming an organization?

            Roles play a big part in a person identity but status play an even bigger part when forming a person identity. For the following reason that statuses are not ascribed to a person rather they are achieved. Achieved by working hard and dedication, for example a student going to college to receive a bachelor's degree to work as a teacher. Their status and roles change with this they are no longer just considered a student rather they are seen as a teacher and treated differently with more respect because of the status they now have in society. Status are really what define the identity of a person and while also going hand and hand with their roles in society. Knowing a person status helps a person know what they are expected to do in society and what roles they must take in order to follow their statuses. They are seen as privileges and determined what ranking a person has in society and depending on that ranking there seems to be different types of treatment. Therefore, many try to achieve higher statuses putting them in higher rankings which also causes others to view them differently and have a sense of how others view them which also plays a significant role in the formation of a person identity. How does a status impact a social group?

             After viewing all these different concepts and analyzing them one can witness how they all fall into the Goffman concept of front and back stage. Front and back stage, self, looking glass self, roles and statues are what helps to form a person identity and how they will behave when interacting with others or when being alone. These concepts also gather around symbolic interaction; symbolic interaction is also connected with labeling theory. Where a person is labeled by other based on their actions therefore, many hide their true identities to not be labeled negatively by others. By doing so people are trying to be part of the top group of people who are ranked high in society for the following reason that they are trying to feel accepted into different social groups. Overall symbolic interaction are behaviors which people use to feel accept and be part of a group who are similar to them but yet in a way considered different. Symbolic interaction tends to strip a person real identity and making them believe who they are trying to be is really who they are. Meaning they are forcing a fake identity onto themselves to be able to witness how others view them by doing it is harder to view a person true identity.

Interview Summary

            Interviewing is more than just sitting down with someone and asking them different types of questions. It is about asking the right questions and analyzing their responses to those questions you asked. It is also about finding more information about whatever you are researching, knowing who you really need to talk to in order to get the insights. While doing all that one also needs to kept in mind and remember that one must also demonstrate validation, empathy and probe. By doing those three things not only will you have an ongoing conversation with your interviewee and be avoiding awkward silences but you will be able to gather much more data. While at the same time demonstrating to your interviewee that you care for what they have to say and believe every word they are saying as well. Doing so you will not only gather data but you will also be gather a lot of thick description, which will help when you are analysis specific details.

            When conducting an interview one must be considerate towards the interviewee, for example not asking questions which makes your interviewee uncomfortable. In chapter 6 it teaches us how to design our questions and gives a very good tip. It advising one to start off with easy questions, to make your interviewee less tense and later on near the end of your interview ask the other questions. Making sure if your interviewee is freezing up and does not wish to respond to that question to assure them that it is okay and move on to the next questions. There are also different types of interviews, when doing research on a particular thing one must think what type of interview best suits them. For example, according to the readings focus groups are best used when doing research on program evaluations, market research and communications.  For the following reason that in these types of research not just one person gets to decide on the group rather as a whole get to put a saying and questions on what is really going on. Finding the right respondents can be a challenge, but the best way to find someone who could give some thick description would be by locating a social setting in which they can be found, in the community or even through the source of the internet. After finding someone planning the interview is very important it will help you throughout the whole interview process. A few things you must do is find out when they are available, set up the date and also have a consent form which will allow you to access the information they give you without creating any trouble.

            Once all that is done all that is left is to make sure that is someone one is really interested in interviewing. In chapter 7 it emphasizes more of the actual interviewing process, it teaches us how there is no wrong or right answer if the interviewee truly believes what they are saying to be true than it is and one should not question it. One should have open ended question by this meaning the question should lead to another question that is what makes a good interview. Also keep in mind once the interview is over and the recordings are off it is time to leave, though it is okay to briefly talk to your interviewee about the interview. The reason why it is important to not stay too long afterwards is because your interview will then feel comfortable in telling you more information that you did not record and you will need to play the recording again and record. Many interviewees do not like this and will ask to turn it off but you can't because they are saying more important things that can be used for your research. Therefore, it is best to leave as soon as you're doing asking your questions and thank them for their time.

Ethnography Summary              

When deciding to do an observation or interviewing someone location matters. Making sure you are somewhere you can observe many details and get new data each time you observe matters. The location in where one interview plays a huge part in how your observation will go and how your interviewees will answer as well. The less that going around in your surround is a good thing it helps others to concentrate but at the same time it makes you have less data to report and which can lead to shorter observations. When picking a setting you must also think about how accessible it is to you, do you find interest in this particular location and how much will it cost you. By assuring that those things are not a barrier to your research will make the process going much smoother and you will be able to collect as much data as you need at any given moment. "Starting where you are" is a good way in looking at this it is a technique that allows you not to go to far, and allows you to access many different types of interactions coming together one world for your research allowing you to get enough thick description involved. Also the way a person presents themselves for the first time plays a major key component in all this because they are just like first impressions and if a person does not feel comfortable around you they will shut down. Another thing to remember when doing research what type of people you will be observing because this can get in the way of preventing you from observing you if they do not accept you.

            Moving onto your research one must keep in mind that a person status and roles will vary depending on the location they are at. Therefore, it is important to keep track of what statuses each person plays in your research and making sure one finds a way to fit in as well. Once doing your research there are major key components to do which are to validate, empathy and probe by doing so you will have better outcomes with your interviewee and be able to gather more thick data. Doing those things shows the person you are interviewing that you care about what they are saying and you are trusting what they are saying to you is true. A person becomes so included in what they are studying that they soon are not seen as interviewers rather as group members which others would call them "Going Native" since they involvement in what they are researching are to intense and have gather a lot of information they are considered to be part of that group. There knowledge over this group that they are so investing have now become a part of them, doing so it helps researchers be better aware of what they are actually studying.

            In order to be able to write a good set of field notes the researchers have to make sure that their observation notes have as much thick description as possible every little aspect matters when doing research. Holding memory is a key factor in being able to write down good field notes. A way in which one can retain a good amount of memory is by picking a right setting in where one feels the most comfortable by doing so it triggers the memory and allows it to retain more information. Preparing and labeling field notes helps greatly when on actually doing observation it keeps you from looking down for long period of time taking notes and allows to witness every single aspect that is happening. Doing so it also makes it easier for a person to later be able to code their findings without any difficulty.

Content Analysis Summary

            In chapter eight and nine one was able to see how research is not just conducted by face to face with an individual rather it is through other sources such as the internet. It is a good idea to search on the web for the following reasons that there is more knowledge there too and if one does not really understand what a person is saying one can always look in further details through the web. It is also a faster source to use while doing research because you get to get more ideas from others in faster time for example, I was able to see other people's experiences throughout the same organization but in different schools. With that I was able to go in-depth with my research and get more perspectives of how the organization was running.

            Throughout these chapters one was also able to learn how to make connections with the readings. It is important to be able to develop interpretation meaning making connections between your analysis to further your research and be able to connect your analysis with your data to form a stronger research. It is important to know what documents you are using; it is recommend for a person to use historical documents rather than advertisements. For the following reason that a person can get more data by using historical documents and be able to expand on them and be more informed with them. Compared to an advertisement document where there really isn't much information on there just the basic information about the organization not much research can be done on there.  Another reason why it is recommended is because there are more interesting information on there and also it is an easy way to pass on information from the past to the future. Overall to make connections with your research it is important to be able to identify what you are looking for and make sure it is something that matters to you.

Methods

Ethnography Methods

            I observed my group "Guidance" which was in a college in the central valley for a total of two weeks. During my time observing this group I attempted to observer every detail that came across this group, from the settings to the people who were apart of this organization. To make sure my observations were different and not alike I made sure to spread out my observations, ensuring myself that I would be collecting different data since each day is a different day. By spreading out my observations it helps me be able to witness how different behaviors can cause there to be a shift on the way things will be done that day and also help me better understand how the front and back stage make up a person in the environment in which I am doing my observations in. 

            The first day of doing my observation in this college in the central valley was on a Tuesday, my next observation was on a Thursday and my last observation was on a Monday. On Tuesday April 2 2019, I began my observation around 1pm which was right before my next class. I did my observation this day for an hour. The following notes are from April 4^th 2019 at 4pm. This time I was done with all my classes so I had more than enough time to do an hour of observation. On April 8^th 2019 I observed one of the workshops they were having for students, this workshop took an hour long. In total I did three hours of observation on this group.

            In my observations symbolic interactionism played a huge role in helping me with my thick description as well as helping me with the concepts I will be using for my paper. It is important to make sure to have a lot of thick description so that a person can feel as if they were being part of the observation too without actually being there. Therefore, I began by describing the environment surrounding me to have a set image of how the setting was. The theories I will mainly be focusing on are front stage and back stage, roles, statuses, thick description and lastly meaningful action. I first gathered my data and then I applied my data to the theories I felt that would best fit my data. Then I did some analyzing, I analyzed my data by using a computer program called NVivo. NVivo allows us to be able to better analyze our findings and better understand what are findings are telling us. A way in which NVivo help me with my data was by helping me organize my data by creating nodes and forming word- frequency queries. It also helps me by being able to form a world cloud in which help me see what word stood out the most in my observations.

            I found very few struggles or barriers getting in my way while being able to collect my data for my research project. While collecting my data for my project I found it to be quite interesting for the following reason that one is paying more close attention to the smallest details and seeing how those small details make a difference in things. I also enjoyed doing this project because I did not have to travel too far to find my data and where I was collecting my data everyone would welcome me and allow me to do my observations. To ensure others that I would be doing some observations just for a class project I let them know ahead of time, which made it less confusing when seeing me jot down notes. Although they knew my purpose of being there, I personally felt like they were trying their best to play the front stage as best as they could be being that they wanted to be seen as professional as they could be. On the other hand, I was playing the Martian role while collecting my data, I was jotting notes to help me remember what I saw and later on be able to talk about it in thick description. The reason why I decided to do jotted notes over recording is because of the setting I was in, although there was a lot going on I felt it was not appropriate being that it would cause a distraction and might even influence the front and back stage. Overall I felt like this was a great experience and in future research projects I would do this again.

Interview Methods

            My interview took me a total of three days in total, my focus was to interview each individually on a separate day so I could analysis their responses later on throughout the day and improve my questions for the next interviewee I was going to interview.  During my interview I focuses my questions on some of the concepts we were through in class which some related to Goffman as well. For example, I used the following concepts, Front stage and back stage, the self, Roles, thick description and Presentation of the self. Also to help guide me through my interviews, and cover all the concepts I made an interview guide which I took with me to my interviews. After recording all three of my interviews and I later on transcribed those audio voice recording into two programs call "Otter Voice" as well as "Temi", once I received my transcripts I then used the Nvivo program. Which help me run a word frequency, which allowed me to see which words were most said throughout the interview, which allowed me to see how those words made up this organization.

Content Analysis Methods

I was able to analyze thirty different document which involved the organization I conducting my research on. All the documents that I used throughout my research were through YouTube videos which talked in great details about what the organization was about and who they stand as a group. Once I saw all thirty videos and made sure that they had all the information I needed, I went ahead and transcribe them and copying and pasting them all on a word document. After gathering all my transcripts, I went ahead and used NVIVO 11 and saved them onto a new blank documents where I would be later on coding them into the five concepts. Although I did have thirty documents I only used someone for the reason that I felt like those had more useful information that I would be able to get more out of. With that being said I also focused on the ones that were fairly relative to the school organization I was focusing on since the thirty documents were from other schools with the same organization. However, I still used the information from those other schools because they had the same mission in helping students and guiding them to their future career goals.

In the beginning of analyzing my resources I found myself struggling quit often. It was not until I talked to my professor and he assured me I could use YouTube videos and transcribe what they were saying in the videos as my sources. After doing what he told me I found the whole process go much smoother and easier to be able to analysis the information I needed for my research. Although the organization I was focusing on here in this central valley college was well known there was not sufficient videos to help me conduct my whole research so by expanding the organization to other school I was able to gather more information than I actually needed. Which was a good thing because now I would not only be focusing on the broad topics but go in-depth with my research. Overall after doing this I found it to be very interesting how this organization regardless of what school it is at they all share something very important which is everyone consider them to be a family organization. What I mean by this is that anyone who knows, hears or is a part of this organization knows they are not just there to help you get through school but they are there to make sure you feel like you are at home and you belong somewhere, where people truly care for you not only with things related to school but in your overall life.

After analyzing all my thirty sources, was able to focus on five different concepts which I coded onto NVIVO. By doing so I was able to find all the data I needed to support my concepts diagnosis, prognosis, motivation, identity and lastly agency. By coding them into nodes I was able to better understand and remember what each concept meant. For example, motivation I was able to organize it with why the organization really mattered and who were the students benefiting from it as well. The reason why this organization was still running and achieving many successes within students not only here in this central valley College but in other colleges as well. Another way in which NVIVO helped me was by being able to use their queries, by using the queries I was able to use many word cloud which made the main words stand of from each concept I used. This was very helpful to me because it illustrated not only the main words but those main words help define the organization within each concept.

Analysis

Ethnography Analysis

Thick Description

I did my first observation on April 2, 2019 at a college in the central valley. In this college there is an organization that we are going to call "guidance" there main location is in one of the main buildings in the campus. Often people are confused about their location because they are constantly under construction. It is often really fresh in here with people coming in and out of the office.

"Their main office is semi big compared to the other organization on campus and are well known. When I walked into the office there was a front desk, four rows of red chairs with approximately five chairs per row. When you walk in there is a big white board to my right side with the names of the employees and words that say who is clocked in and who is not."

 

Inside this main office there are smaller offices where people stay talking to students about what they need help on and check how they are doing with school. To make the environment less intimidating the staff members decorated their offices to make them feel like a welcoming place with personal belongings.

"In these personal offices there were many family pictures, a lot of papers, it was much fresher inside there, and many flyers on the walls with important information for what I assume for both students and staff."

 

Maria is a person whose office is really welcoming it not only has pictures of her family around her walls but it also has useful information for students. Some of the information she includes is information of deans and the president of the college as well. As well as flyers with programs on campus to guide students in anything they may need.

"Maria office was also very bright, with bright white walls and many flyers around her walls as well with the most important information such as the president of the colleges contact information to the simplest information such as events occurring on campus."

 

Front Stage and Back Stage

            During my observation at this Central Valley College I was able to witness front and back stage throughout my three hours of observing my group. Front stage is typically seen as a person acting a certain way when being around others, they tend to act more formal. Meanwhile backstage was more of a relax zone where people could truly express who they were and not worry about how others view them.

"We walked through the hall talking about what we like to do on our free time and shortly entered this wide room, where there were students and other staff members gathered in a circular table sitting down with papers in front of them."

 

Right here we can see how Maria was more in the backstage zone because she was more relaxed asking me what I like doing in my free time and her telling me what she liked doing as well. Throughout our walk down the hall she was more cheerful and full of laughter she seems to be less stress and willing to talk about other things rather than of work.

"The meeting then proceeded and the environment got real quiet and serious, the first thing they discussed was final weeks, what were students going to need in order to succeed and do great on their finals."

 

Once we entered the room things got more serious Maria did not seem to please to be in there I assumed she seemed kind of stressed based on how her postured looked like. She was not as talkative about other things she went straight into business and what the meeting was really about. Maria main concern was how to improve and provide more resources for students, she was thinking more about student's success rather than on her own.

"Maria mentioned to everyone that although they are tired and just wish the semester was over they need to still be give it their 100 percent because many students depend on them for guidance and help."

 

Although Maria was mainly portraying a front stage throughout the whole meeting with her staff members towards the end she went more on a backstage. She tried to remind everyone that it is okay to be stressed and all but to remember their mission. She showed empathy towards her staff and related to them in how they feel now towards the end of the semester but no matter what they had to pull it through and not show their students that they too are tired.

Statuses

A status is known as something a person achieves such as being a teacher, counselor or even a student. Having statuses comes with a lot of responsibility and depending what type of status a person has can impact the lives of others. For example, Maria status plays a huge role in the lives of these students attending this college and even though she has a high status he also has to obey to what her boss tells her in order to continue making this organization great.

"Once we sat down Maria called the person who is above her and talk to that person about what they had talked about in the meeting being that there was so much information Maria too had jotted notes with her that she was reading off of."

 

That is just one of the status seen, but a status is can be different just varying in where the person is at.  Although they are different it does not mean one roles is more important than the other because in this organization everyone status is just as important. Just as curly hair girl she is in charge of setting everyone schedules and she can too become very overwhelmed with everyone approaching her.

"The front desk girl we are going to call "curly hair" is constantly taking on phone calls setting up appointments with staff members, the phone is ringing every five minutes. When doing curly hair is searching up available times with certain staff members the students can see."

 

A status is not something one is ascribe to at birth rather it is something one must work for in order to have which can often take time. With the right help and with others guidance people can achieve any status they would like to have. Just like in this program, this program is to be able to help students achieve a high meaningful status.

"Sarah began by breaking the ice and talking about herself and how her, daisy and Oscar were all part of the "guidance" program because they have seen how much help they received once too from this organization when they were in college too."

 

Meaningful Action

Meaningful action played a big part in my observations as well because this explained exactly why a person does what they do. Maria plays a big part in this organization although she is not fully in charge of this organization she does take on most of the responsibilities and therefore she must make sure she is following all the guidelines and is approved for an activity being done. Maria has witness many students in this organization who are considered to be low income students and therefore she is doing what is expected from to help these students overcome any obstacles with these activities and help provided by this group.

"Once we sat down Maria called the person who is above her and talk to that person about what they had talked about in the meeting being that there was so much information Maria too had jotted notes with her that she was reading off of."

 

It is important to get approval by the main person in charge therefore there will be more support from them and any activities to improve the group or help students out will be approved. Most of the time the actions by this group do get approved and the outcomes are very well so they do not come to any struggle of doing any sort of on campus activities. Also they tend to do things if they see the outcome cause great things to the organization but approval needs to happen in order to be able to do something.

"Based on how cheerful Maria seemed I am assuming the person above her told her, she was doing a good job and to keep up doing what she was doing."

 

On the last day of doing my observation I was also able to witness meaningful action in the workshop I attended which this organization was doing. By having leadership and knowing what a person task is, it is easier to get things done. Also it helps people stay on track and stay organized with anything they need to accomplish as we seen with Sarah she sets people to do certain things which will help throughout the presentation.

"Sarah was one girl and the other girls name was Daisy and the male is going to be Oscar, I assumed Sarah was the one who was going to be running this workshop since she was assigning task to Oscar and daisy."

 

Roles

 

Throughout my observation I saw how every person roles are different and very important to follow. By doing so it will help everyone stay organized and prepared,

"By doing so they are checking if they are on the right track for graduation, as students are done with their meeting they are walking out looking satisfied with their meeting and are escorted by the person helping them."

 

Each role is different in many places but in this organization everyone's role seems to be very similar because their mission is to help out students who need help. A way in which these roles can be seen is when speaking to students about the different organization that the campus offers as well as the help they give too.

"A few resources which daisy mentions were the student health center where students and staff members can go for free if they need medical treatment such as if they are feeling sick."

 

I was also able to witness teamwork, in this teamwork I was able to witness different types of roles and statues coming together as a team and discussing what would be best for this organization. As well during this talk there was respect shown throughout the whole thing not turning anyone down.

"We walked through the hall talking about what we like to do on our free time and shortly entered this wide room, where there were students and other staff members gathered in a circular table sitting down with papers in front of them."

 

 

 

 

Interview Analysis

           

Front stage and back stage

For my first node, I created one for front stage and back stage. In the front and back stage my interviewee said they did not feel like the need to act differently, which proves that this organization makes their employees feel welcome and at home. It is important for a person to feel this way because this motivates a person's work and I believe also has creates strong bonds with one another.

"I feel welcome that I don't feel like I ever have to act a certain way. I always feel like a good environment in here. Just, you know, happy people, students that come in that need help or advice and, you know, the counselors and peer mentors that are willing to give that to them."

Throughout this organization there is no need to act a certain way in order to feel accepted, this organization is like a family and makes sure you feel at home. There is no need to act differently because at the end of the day everyone is different and people are well aware of that.

"I'm always the same. I don't, I'm not different because I'm talking to, you know, I mean, people are people. I believe whoever you guys going to shine through, I'm not going to come act different to you. And I see, I don't know how to do that. Everybody's different. Some people can, I can't."

In some organization one cannot freely express who they truly are in free that others may make assumptions of them. In this organization although everyone treats each other like family one also keeps things very professionally among each other.

"It can be a two-way side of thing, but like in a one way, I mean I'm not expecting you to be like, oh, funny, goofy and stuff in front of your parents and they're like funny, goofy at work. It's like, I think there's a fine line between doing that and in knowing how to stop and be professional."

 

Roles

Throughout my interview I saw how every person roles were different but at the same time the same and very important to the organization. By doing so it will help everyone stay organized and prepared for an unexpected situation.

"I would say the students although I am a student myself. I am here for the students if they ever need anything, any type of guidance. I encourage all of them to see me twice a semester and, and yes, just helping them and making sure that they feel good about themselves here at school, as well as their classes.

The roles played here by the people in this organization have a huge impact on the lives of the students therefore they need to give it their 100 percent to make sure their students are okay. There are different roles in this organization but overall the students come first.

"I wouldn't be here, if my work was not directly with helping students, then I don't need to be here, you know, so I don't see any other important role. "

Being prepared for anything is really important when helping students who come into the office to meet with either a peer mentor or counselor. It's important to know all the resources available to students so one can guide them into the right path. Overall this program does not only focus on helping students academically but also making sure they have the emotional support they may not have at home.

"I know a lot of the students come in and they're kind of like lost. And I think, this program really does a great job in kind of providing not only the academic aspect to it, but also that emotional support and finance."

 

Thick description

I did my first observation with one of the peer mentors at this valley central college, who started me off with the basic information. Telling me who he was not only as a student but as a student who is part of peer mentors. This person along with the rest of the people I interviewed explained in details what he did as a peer mentor.

"Currently this semester, I am a peer mentor in the office. So I have 38 students on my caseload. I meet with them one on one, discuss issues in regard to grades, academic personal issues, and they scheduled appointments with me. On top of that, I also lead workshops."

As previously said this program does not only focus on the academics of a person and how well they are doing but also about how stabled they are emotionally as well. The second peer mentor that I interviewed gave me an insight of a case of where a girl need emotional support and what she did to help her.

"So she came in and um, yeah, she was crying. There was, um, some things that she found out from her family that, you know, really conflicted, um, with her ability to kind of stay focused in her classes. Um, and like she was literally crying so badly. Um, I took her to the room aside from here because she didn't feel comfortable being where everyone else's was right now in the cubicle. So, um, I then try to talk to her a little bit. Then I provided her with the resources for the health center."

The other person I did an interview on was one of the counselor from this organization who assure me this was not like another organization the people who were involved in this were more like a family. If anyone has a concern they do not feel timid to ask each other because they have all form a strong bond that allows them to ask anything. Being the family they are, their main goal as a whole is to provide students with all the resources they need to succeed.

"The interesting thing is when I used to call her the mother, I always call her mom. Right? Because that's just who she was. That's what she embodied and she would go the extra mile for the student. That's just who she was. You know, you're talking about "Guidance", (person's name)."

 

The Self

In this organization one can see how the counselors do no only influence the students who attend this valley central college but also influence their own peer mentor students. In this organization there is not just person who influences the rest of the people in this organization but each other influence each other.

"I felt a lot of people have influenced me to where I am today. I feel very blessed with everyone with my current counselor and not just a little bit but a lot and the counselors here are very supportive of all the students here in the program, my peers."

Although there is not one single person to point out that has influence everyone there is one person who helped shape this organization. This person was the one that help build up the identities of not only the counselors but also of this organization.

"That was (person's name) and so we just tried to pick up and I'm glad I worked under her and I never knew when I met her at that I would actually work in this department I was longed and wish that I worked here. And so when I got the opportunity, I'm like, yes, that was going to serve under her."

 

 

In this organization like previously said everyone helps to shape the name of this organization and make it what it is today. This organization wouldn't be where it is at without the counselors and peer mentors because they do more than helping students they learn from experiences they encounter and grow as a person along with those experiences

"But also working now for them, I kind of see the behind the scenes of what it takes to be a peer mentor and why these services are being offered in the first place. So, um, I think I wouldn't necessarily point out one specific person. I think all of us have, um, everyone in here has really taught me something new and I'm just grateful for that. So it's a great experience."

 

Presentation of the self

In many organizations but especially in this the way a person presents themselves, how they dress and behave towards others is very important. It shows them as serious people who actually know what they are doing and want to be at their job to assist students.

"definitely you are here to help you here to accommodate to student the way you act. They have to know you care, if you come in and you don't care then you don't need to be here because they need to come in knowing you are here to cover them when they need that help and you feel not enough frame of mind. I said stay at home that day."

 

Also this organization is mainly about respecting their students and making sure they feel like they are being respected at all times. Due to the fact that many of these students come to the office afraid to speak up for help. If one dresses or approaches a student in a disrespectful way that student is most likely not going to speak up. Therefore, one must act professionally but also remember they aren't students they are more like family.

"Definitely attitude is a big component. I think, um, personally that's how I see it where you can be this well dress individual, but if you treat others with such disrespect and just give the rude attitude, it's like, dude, like you're a jerk. Right? And so I think definitely dress has, which play a big part."

The appearance of a person says a lot, whether they want to be somewhere or they are working there because they had no other choice. This organization is very aware how a person's appearance matters and therefore, they address this topic as many times as they can. This organization also tries to show others with their actions how they aren't individuals who work separately but are a family who form strong bonds.

            "Yes, I feel especially as a peer mentor, we are the examples and we do especially our students as well I feel by dressing and you know, being professional. It creates that counselor student bond or that peer mentor student bond, because I feel if you were to dress not a professional then they would see you as but maybe they wouldn't take you serious or they would, they would."

 

Content Analysis

Diagnosis 

For my first node, I created one for prognosis as its own node within NVIVO. Diagnosis help me better understand the challenges and problems the group may face; in other words, it helps it demonstrates the injustice being committed to the group. Due to the injustice being committed within the campus this organization came to existent but still faced many barriers.

"Students still had a huge challenge to overcome because the campus was a predominately white campus and so any student of color was thought to be a "Guidance" student."

By having these injustice being done throughout colleges worldwide is why this organization came to be. These injustices being done have been occurring for years now and therefore, they are fighting to have equal opportunities for all the students even if some students still face the challenges of acceptance. It is not an easy topic for this organization but with time they have been able to improve the system little by little.

"That is it was not a real welcoming environment in all cases there were cases it was from the early years of having to fight for access for our students to a period."

Another challenge in which they face is that many of the students they help are first generation and have never really thought about going to school. Those who do make it to college tend to struggle and be close minded about any opportunity they get. Therefore, not only do the counselors struggle to help them but so do the peer mentors but they do not give up on them and by doing so they are able to witness many student's successes.

"College has never been in my vocabulary I'm the first one in my family to go to college no one rally finished high school. I guess my high school didn't really teach me about college and the things I needed to know. I knew I had to get into college because I had to make a life for myself."

Prognosis

            For my second node, I created one for prognosis with NVIVO. I did not really struggle for this one because throughout my resources I found solutions that my organization had for students who struggled. When they seemed like they had no other solution to help the student they were able to find one. This group is very persistent when it comes to their student's success and will not stop till they are able to help them.

            "Because of that push forward they gave me it help me get through circumstances that I

was having a while going here and they all try to support you in whichever way they could."

This organization does not only focus on helping students overcome any obstacle they encounter they also focus on making sure the student is doing well overall. They believe if a student is not doing good is because of an outside factor therefore they make sure that a student's health is okay and they feel emotionally supported.

            "Type of problem like whether it's academic personal health-wise if you need medical help if you need dental help if you need your eyeglasses fixed or are having trouble with classes or even at home they can come to you for help."

This organization solution is generally to help students and make someone out of them so they no longer suffer and work in the career they have always wanted too. Many of these students who are part of this organization have done great things and have admitted without "Guidance" they wouldn't be where they are today and therefore look forward in paying forwards to other students.

            "I graduated and I want to help give back in some way, I'm never going to forget about how they made me feel and like a lot of students I can say that I am personally one of those students who look forward to giving back in my future"

Motivation

            The third Node I coded with NVIVO was for motivation. The concept of motivation is what truly makes up this organization in this Central Valley College. Here one can see their purpose on why they do what they do for students and also see why people should care about this organization.  Here one will see how much of an impact this organization has on students worldwide and how it has made them feel as part of another family, with the sense of belonging.

            "Dedicated to creating a sense of participation belonging and empowerment for students specifically first generation or income eligible students".

There main motivation is to get students out of college as soon as they can so they can start working in their long life dream job. Although it is not an easy process all the people who are involved in this organization take their jobs very seriously. The peer mentors that are there to help students succeed are also students at the moment are still finding ways in which they can help them succeed together.

            "I need help it really would be there, they help me through my personal life and a lot of my staff have been "Guidance" students themselves on this very own campus" and they have spent their lives helping other students become successful just as they were successful too."

Knowing you can overcome anything is a great feeling also being able to give back feels even better. This program does a good job helping first generation students but they also teach them a valuable lesson of giving back to their community as well.

"I been a first-generation college student I know how challenging it is but I also know

How gratifying it is to serve others."

 

Identity

            The fourth Node I coded with NVIVO was for Identity. The concept of identity is the group of who they are and t their behaviors. Within in this organization we can see how each member has a unique identity which helps form this organization. Throughout this organization one can really witness who they are a whole and their mission in helping students as well.

            "Guidance" has had a huge impact in my life I really enjoyed the structure the program had for me, I have spoken to counselors on a daily they have help me keep my schedule aligned; I truly see the value added for family."

This organization is mainly seen as a family it does much more than any other organization, it does not only provide you with information you may need but it also cares to know of your achievements and if you are okay overall. The counselors and peer mentors do not view what they do as a job rather they view it has been part of something that is making a difference in their community something they love to do. They are very welcoming for the following reason that they do not want students to feel like they cannot go and get any type of assistance they may need.

 "Guidance" does feel like a family environment which I find it to be very important to me, they look out for each other and they support you in any way they can; they basically turn into your family."

As seen throughout the whole videos I have watched about this organization their mission is to inform others about what they do and also show them the importance of raising student's education as well. This organization does a really good job emphasizing the importance of education and it really shows.

 "I referred to a lot of my fellow cohort as brothers and sisters we have made it through a very tough moment in our lives together the kid of connections tat you make are life long and hard to describe in words."

Agency

The last code I used for NVIVO was for agency. This one is the most important one out of all of them for the following reason that here we can see the achievements and how a person can get involved as well. This organization we saw that they went beyond what they needed to do for their students and due to that we saw many achievements.

            "I think the resources that "Guidance" provide are essential to first- generation students. I have had great counselors that have put me in contact with many people on campus that have provided me with guidance towards my career pathway."

This organization started off really small and at one point had even struggled to get students to be part of this organization. With time this all changed before they knew it they had so many students applying to be part of this organization because they felt like they belong to it and also saw how they had changed the lives of many students as well. Due to them only have some availability each year they can only accept a certain percentage of students but they do not refuse to help other students who are not part of the organization.

            "Guidance" is one of the largest student programs here on campus we have over 1600 students some of our services include financial aid assistance and student orientation."

Students really feel welcome in this organization and they tend to always have the answers to any problem a student has therefore they are also one of many organization students tend to seek out for help. They have achieved many great things do to the fact that they put their students' needs first and always have an open mind. They will never refuse to help any student regardless of their circumstances because they are there to help them.

            "Being first generation student you do not know all the resources provided to you, therefore a student could really rely on "Guidance" they are always there to answer my questions and provided encouragement/support I have a great time being part of this organization."

 

Conclusion

            After finishing my observations, I was able to collect a lot data and further analysis it and it help me come to the conclusion that depending on where the person is at the way they interact is very different regardless of their status and roles. Throughout my organization I was also able to find a lot of front stage and backstage and I too was a part of this concept. I did my observations at a college in the central valley in an organization that we are calling "guidance" by being the Martian role.  After doing so I gathered my findings and found how they all related back to the theories that I would be using in my paper. Overall i found this to be a great experience and really eye opening, it made me realize how important the insignificant things we think are insignificant how they really are significant.

           While for my interview I was able to gather more insight information about my group which helped me conduct an in depth research during the different theories I decided to use.  In the beginning when preparing myself for the interview I found myself scared for the following reason that I am a shy person and did not know how my interviews were going to be like. Overall though I feel like my interviews went very well after my first interview, I truly felt like the skills I learned in class really help me demonstrate empathy, probe and validation. After analysis all my data that I have collected from my observations to my interviews I can honestly say I have "Guidance" does a great job caring for their students success and making sure they are aware that they are not alone and can go talk to someone about an issue they are dealing with regardless if its not school related. In this organization they all truly seem like a family just as they said they were, they all seem to care and show emphasizes on their main purpose of being part of this organization. Not only do they carry on with them a strong reputation but they also make sure everyone knows their students are their number one priority. Overall after analyzing the data I collected from the interviews I came to the conclusion that they all have the same mission and are well aware of what actions they need to take to continue having these strong long lasting relationships with everyone. Almost everyone in this organization goes up and beyond they basic requirements, and they do not do it to seem like they do more work than others but they do it because they truly care for their students and want to know what they can do to continue helping students beyond their abilities.

Overall analyzing the different documents about my group was really eye opening, I was able to learn a lot more from my group. This organization I pick is a well-known organization not only here in the central valley but in other colleges as well, but being able to find the right documents to do in-depth research made it a somewhat challenge. While doing my research on this group I was able to really see the concepts; diagnosis, prognosis, motivation, identity and agency in many if not all my documents. All my documents were well descriptive and gave me all the information I needed to conduct my research and were able to teach me more about the group than I had already learned from previous research. Overall this groups main focus was to give everyone the same rights to further their education and guide them throughout the process, it is like a second family that you can count on when you feel like you have no one else to rely on. This organization is very welcoming to anyone not only the people who are part of this organization and are very reliable, they treat each other with respect and care and there is no need to pretend to be someone you are not. Everyone different identity helps to build this organization and has helped be where it is today with all their different ideas and ways of thinking. I was able to witness this by using the transcripts and also by the use of the NVIVO program which help me organize my work and also use word clouds which help me point out some main words that make up this organization.

 

           

           

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Dunn, Jennifer L. "Looking-Glass Self." Encyclopedia of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations. Eds. John M. Levine and Michael A. Hogg. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2010. 542-544. SAGE Knowledge. Web. 12 Mar. 2019.

 

Robinson, Laura, and Jeremy Schulz. "ELICITING FRONTSTAGE AND BACKSTAGE TALK WITH THE ITERATED QUESTIONING APPROACH." Sociological Methodology, vol. 46, 2016, pp. 53–83. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44282485.

 

"The Nature and Significance of the Self" chapter 4 in Symbols Selves and Social Reality by Kent Sandstrom, Daniel Martin and Gary Alan Fine. 2006.

 

Scott, John. "Symbolic Interactionism."Off-Campus Authentication @ Henry Madden Library, 2015,www.oxfordreference.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu