“It is beautiful, it is nice to see their smile when they grab the food or when they come with their children and they smile because they are glad to have their food.”: Working Together for Those Who Need it the Most

Hilda Jimenez

Introduction:

When deciding what group to do my research on I was looking for a group  that aimed at helping the community. The group that I focused my research on is United Fighting Hunger, it is an organization that focuses on helping those in need, by providing them with food and guidance.  I was curious to discover how this organization works, and how successful they are in accomplishing their mission. In order to determine how the members of United Fighting Hunger work together, I performed the following qualitative research methods: observation hours, interviews, and content analysis. Upon finishing this study I was able to determine that members of United Fighting Hunger are devoted to the organizations mission.  The group is well organized, they are courteous, respectful, and friendly not only to each other but to recipients as well. There are some negative stereotypes about the organization that encourages the public to not donate to it, however, it seems that the majority of people are pleased and thankful to this organization for everything it does to help the needy. In the sections below I will be explaining the theories that I used to gather and analyze data.  I will also be further explaining the methods used when collecting data, and the purpose of each method of data collection. Analysis of the data collected will also be included in this paper, that will explain and give examples of how theories were used to determine how the group functions, and how successful they are in fulfilling the groups purpose. This paper will conclude with the presentation of the main findings. The following section is a summary of the theories used to analyze and gather data.

Literature Review:

Canadian sociologist, Erving Goffman's work has helped to better understand individuals interaction with each other, and with society, he uses symbolic interaction to describe these interactions.  Goffman compares individuals social interactions to an actor acting out a scene in a theater; he describes it as an individual having to play out different roles, routines, and scenes, in different stages with different props throughout their day and life.   Goffman believes that individuals are always aware of who their audience is, and act according to their role at the specific time and place, he refers to this concept as individuals having social roles. (Dillon, 2013)

Goffman indicated that everyone has different roles in their lifetime, such as being a daughter, sister, student, employee, etc, and that each role requires a different set of abilities and conduct. A person's behavior will change according to the audience he or she is with, this does not mean the behavior or actions are fake, just that the individual is acting according to the needs of the audience.  There will be some roles that an individual enjoys more than others, however there will always be three things that are apparent in all social roles. First, all roles that an individual will be interdependent on other roles that the individual has. Secondly, all actions being played out in a role will be in reciprocation of actions by someone else. Lastly, Goffman would argue that an individual does not perform roles, but rather plays them, and he or she is is aware of the roles he or she plays. (Dillon, 2013). There are also other interpretations of roles, and how their determine an individual's actions. It is important of an individual to be able to recognize the role of others, in order to carry on their role as is expected, because all roles are interdependent on each other (Fine, 2006).

It is argued that individuals have a tendency to categorize others based off the commonalities in actions and attributes they have with others.  The classifying of individuals is done to help the individual define the situation that he or she is in, and the behavior that is expected of him or her in that particular place and time. However, the definition of a situation is not just ours, everyone's definition of a situation will vary depending on personal life experiences. Individuals are not only expected to play out roles for others, but rather they expect others to play out roles for them, this is the way society functions and makes things easier for each party (Fine, 2006).  

Role taking is the idea that individuals choose what roles they want to take in life, and how they are going to play out those roles in order for them to coordinate as best as possible with roles of others.  One has to be aware of what others are doing, and adjust our actions to the actions and expectations of others. The roles an individual takes on comes with expectations and obligations (Fine, 2006). In impression management, Goffman argues that one puts on an act according to the situation one is in, meaning that one does not act the same when one front stage, in front of an audience; and backstage, where one is alone and relaxed,   He argues that when one is in front stage mode, one is acting to the best of one's ability, because individuals always want to give a good impression, and it is only in the backstage mood where an individual relaxes and is for once not playing a role. Impression management is done in order to see results in one's favor, as it is ideal to make a good impression on future employers, co-workers, partners etc. (Dillon, 2013).

When discussing all the roles an individual takes on it is important to talk about the self, which is described by psychologists as something belonging and coming from the individual,  the combination of an individual's, morals, values, traits, etc, however social psychologists describe it as something that is acquired from social interactions with others.  They argue that the self will change over time, as it is dependent on the interactions and roles that one shares with others. Because an individual acts differently in every situation that he or she is in, their definition of self, is not their own but rather something that their audience lends him or her (Fine, 2006).  

The self can be looked at as a social process, meaning that one's own definition of "I" and "me" can be based off of the social judgement and perception others have of him or her. George Herbert Mead suggested that the definition of oneself is achieved by inner conversations, because it is here where the individual is able to analyze how he or she carried themselves during a certain role, and can determine what the social judgements of others might have been.  However, Charles Horton Cooley's theory of the looking-glass self contradicts this, as Cooley argued that others do not determine who the self is, rather one makes up our definition of who the self is, because we make up our own conclusions of who others perceive us to be, and that helps us come up with our perception of our self. Cooley does recognize that an individual's perception of themselves might not always be accurate, because an individual might not always be interpreting their audiences response correctly (Fine, 2006).

Harold Garfinkel is an American sociologist who introduced the concept of ethnomethodology, which he described as the methods people use to create an ordered reality.  Garfinkel argued that ethnomethodology does not focus on trying to explain social life, but rather aims at describing and discovering ways in which people categorize and organize their daily activities and experiences in order to accomplish an ordered social reality (Dillon, 2013)  Individual's aim at living an organized life because they enjoy having social order, and knowing what they will do next; routines are followed in order to keep things moving smoothly. Part of keeping order is always looking to play a role out to the best of their abilities, in order to have smooth interactions with others.  Individuals look at their past experiences or past experiences of those around them, and learn from them, to try to avoid disruption of routines, because the concept of ordered reality denotes the worst feeling in the world for an individual is now knowing what's going on (Dillon, 2013).

Being able to establish an ordered reality is also beneficial to society because it helps uphold the idea that all actions have a consequence.  The idea of ordered reality is present in all aspects of life, like is role playing, because by keeping order and organization it is easier for everyone to perform their functions, and also having an idea of the routines of others and functions of others.  Ordered reality allows us to create a timeline of an individual's routine, which can be beneficial in scenarios like crime scene investigation, determining cause of death for a deceased, and even in jury deliberations (Dillon, 2013).

Methods:

As explained by Warren and Karner (2015), the first step in beginning ethnographic research is choosing the setting that will be studied. In some occasions the researcher will be assigned the location, however, when this is not the case the researcher must consider a few things. The researcher must be careful to choose a location that is accessible.  Some locations may seem open to the public, however, there may be regulations, such as patient confidentiality in health centers, the researcher has to be careful to not trespass, doing so can be considered unethical. Once a setting is chosen a proposal is written and must be approved before beginning any field research. Upon entering the setting the researcher should introduce themselves and explain the purpose of the research.  During this time the researcher should be looking for their gatekeeper, the individual who will grant access to the setting, A key informant is also important, it may be the gatekeeper, they will know the most about the setting/group and who the best people to talk to are. Once entry is granted observation hours may begin, if the location is not a public open area, the researcher must announce that he/she will be performing observations. The researcher must have considered if he/she will be observing from the side or if follow-alongs will take place, and they must dress according to the setting.  During observation, the researcher may be seen as a research bargain and they may be asked to help and become involved in the group. When observing the researcher should have an idea of what he/she is looking for, specifically the statuses, roles, and relationships that can be found within the groups. When observation hours begin the researcher should have determined what method he/she will be using to collect data, such as field notes, writing notes from memory, or even in recording intervals. It is ideal for fieldnotes to include thick description. Once the researcher knows he/she has the sufficient data they may conclude their observation hours and complete writing out the field notes so that analyzation of them can take place.

Researchers may conduct interviews; which are beneficial in obtaining in-depth information, emotions, biographical and account responses, that can not be acquired through surveys. The first step in interviewing is writing out a proposal with research questions included.  Research questions may include a face sheet, with demographic questions, and a series of questions on topics the researcher wants to learn. If the researcher is working independently, he/she will decide the topics discussed during the interview, however, if the researcher is a student or working with a group, topics are commonly assigned. Once the proposal is approved, the researcher should begin to think about who he/she can interview and what interview method will be used.  There are various methods of interviewing, the most common being face-to-face one on one, but there is also telephone, video camera (internet), couple interviewing, and focus group interviewing. The interview method and the number of respondents are both determined by the researcher. The interview should choose respondents who are accessible and well involved in the setting/group, minors and prisoners should be avoided. Interviews should be conducted in a quite public space and the interviewer should set a date and time that best fits the respondents' schedule, as being considerate of the interviewee is important.  An informed consent form will be needed, and the interviewer should explain the purpose of the interview. It is important for the researcher to dress appropriately, be a good listener, and seem interested in the topics that will be discussed. The interviewer should aim at developing a rapport relationship with the interviewee, his will make the interviewee more comfortable and will help avoid monosyllabic-responses. The interviewer should ask open-ended questions and probe when simple answers are given. The interview should be conversation like, however, emotional questions are discouraged, it is important to not cause any harm to the respondent. Once all question are asked the interview should be ended politely, and the interviewee should be thanked.  The following step would be to transcribe interview recordings, when transcribing the interview should be transcribed verbatim, not edits or revisions should be made. (Warren & Karen, 2015).

Qualitative researchers also use the media to gather data that is relevant to their study.  Sources such as printed public local and federal documents, magazines, newspapers, videos, films, historical documents, internet pages, such as websites, blogs, and social media pages can be used to study culture.  Magazines are useful when trying to study culture, because they depict the cultural ideals that media and marketplace want us to aspire to. Magazines reflect the changing views of gender and age, each magazine is designed for a specific audience, and the content in it will say much about that audiences culture and lifestyle.  When using media to gather data it is important to be aware of what you are looking for, this will provide a time frame to use and an idea of what documents may provide useful data. Primary historical documents may also be used, however, these documents may require more effort to locate, as historical documents will most likely be found in books or printed, not online like recent documents.  Images can also be used as data, however, like with other sources, it is important to only use images that pertain to the topic/group being studied. The internet contains a lot of information that can be used as data, blogs and websites are often used as data sources, however, it is important to remember that not everything on the internet is true. Social media pages, where comments are made by the public are useful because they provide insight into what the public thinks and how they interact with each other.  Like with all other data, when analyzing it is important to always keep in mind the themes/theories that were being looked for while collecting the data (Warren & Karner, 2015).

Observation Methods

In order to determine how this organization functions, I had to become involved in the group and observe them from the inside.  The first step in getting involved was finding out the hours during which this organization operates. I went in during operation hours and introduced myself, and explained that I was interested in performing a research project on United Fighting Hunger, they kindly welcomed me in, and gave their permission for me to begin my observation.

I split my observation hours between two days, during which observations periods amounted to four hours.  One hour consisted of participant observation, during which I volunteered and shadowed the coordinator, which helped me get an idea of roles and statuses that existed in the group.  The three remaining hours consisted of martian observation, during which I was able to play close attention to the interaction between volunteers, employees, and recipients.

During my four hours of observation, I collected fieldnotes by stepping aside every 10-15 minutes and recording a summary of what I had observed during that time frame.  I then transcribed my recordings. I used Nvivo analyze my data, first I ran a word frequency which provided me with the following word cloud; the words size determines the frequency with which the word was used, the bigger words were used with more frequency.

I was able to use the word frequency to determine the most commonly used words and ran a text search query to help me locate where the words were used and how they were used.  I used both those queries to create the following nodes: Status, Roles, Definition of the Situation, Encounters, and Thick description. .

Interview Methods

During my interview, I focused my questions around theories that were discussed in class, specifically the ones that I had looked for during my hours of observation, for example, questions on statuses, roles, and definition of the situation.  I was able to perform a total of five interviews, four of whom were female interviewees and one male. I interviewed the coordinator and four volunteers. The people who were interviewed were chosen because I believed them to be some of the most actively involved in the organization, the ones with the most years of experience, and the ones who I had interacted with the most.

To help guide me through the interview, and to make sure I stayed on topic, I had an interview guide with me.  I recorded all the interviews and used the loop function in transcriptone.tk to transcribe my recording. I performed two of my interviews in Spanish because these two volunteers were not English speakers.  I considered these good interview candidates and choose not to exclude them because they are really involved in the organization, and they were the ones with the most years of experience as volunteers in this location.  I recorded their interview, then transcribed in Spanish, and used Google translator to translate it, I went back and fixed phrases Google translator did not translate correctly. I used NVivo to run a word frequency. Below is the word cloud NVivo produced for the word frequency query.

The most commonly used in the transcript, were: help, people, and volunteer.  Each with a weighted percentage of 2.83%, 2.13%, and 2.03% respectively. I was able to use this to decide what words to run a text search query on, and to get a better idea of what nodes would be best to use in my analysis. I ended up creating the following nodes: status/roles, the definition of the situation, emotion rules, impression management, and role taking/role making.

Content Analysis Methods

I was able to locate a total of thirty-seven documents for my content analysis.  The documents used are the following: One twitter page, six youtube videos and comments for each video, two Facebook pages, two United Fighting Hunger websites, one national and one for the area where the research was performed, six blog posts, and an article by the Encyclopedia Britannica,  two websites that provided the history of the organization, and seventeen newspaper articles that were provided by ProQuest. I was specifically aiming at finding documents that explained the organization's mission, portrayed any stereotypes about the organization or documents where the public was asked to join or support United Fighting Hunger's cause.

I uploaded all document to Nvivo and used the word frequency query to begin analyzing and getting an idea of what content I had gathered. The word frequency query provided the following word cloud.

The word frequency query summary depicted that the most commonly used words were people, help, and donations, each with a weighted percentage of 1.18%, 1.08%, and 0.67% respectively.  I was not surprised with the results as this is an organization that aims at helping people, and much of this is accomplished by gathering and giving out donations, and this was mentioned in various sources.  I ran text search queries on other words that were in the word frequency summary to get a feel of the context in which they were used, and I read through some articles and hand-coded to create the nodes. I was able to create the following nodes: typifications, ruling texts, controlling images, claims (grounds/warrants/conclusions), and collective action framing (diagnostic/motivational/prognosis).

Analysis:

Observation Analysis:

Statuses:

During all my hours of observation, I was curious to discover what statuses were present in this organization.  I was attentive to any titles used during conversations that took place, and who everyone reported too because this would denote a form of status belonging to the individual.  One of the first things I noticed was that there was only one office in the whole building.

When observing today, I realized that the lady who had her own office (the only private in the building), also it was in this office where one could find the only computer in the building.

This office was occupied by the lady who gave me permission to do my research at this location, she was also the one who answered phone calls when the phone rang.  Not far into my observation, I realized that she was the one who held the status of leader/manager. During the time I was shadowing her, I noticed individuals inside the building would report to her anytime someone came in for an emergency food box, this reassured me that she held the status of leader.  Her status as leader was also evident as, during times when things got a little out of control, she was the one to keep order.

Some of the people in line seemed upset, some got upset and demanded to know why they could no longer sign up for the Thanksgiving box, and the manager again had to explain to them that she couldn't do anything about it, they only had a certain number of boxes available to give out.

I was observing during the Thanksgiving Box box signups, after about an hour of signups, the manager stepped out to announce that they had run out of boxes, the recipients were upset.  The manager calmly explained that they had a limited supply, eventually she was able to calm the recipients down. She expressed she was sorry but there was nothing she could do. Her status as leader was evident as she explained the situation and maintained order, as a leader should. During my time shadowing the leader she let me know there were some volunteers in the back that I could possible talk to, she allowed me to go to the back and introduce myself.   Once I was with the volunteers for a few minutes I noticed some informal statuses between them.

The elder lady was the one who showed me how to pack the boxes...Then they began to tell me how they had been volunteering for years, one of them had been a volunteer for 8 years, she said her husband used to volunteer with her

I held a conversation with this volunteer, and she told me she had been volunteering for eight years, and that her husband often volunteered with her.  During the time in which I was helping prepare boxes, she was the one who pointed out what items to place in the box; other volunteers also asked her what items to place inside the box.  Between the volunteers, she seemed to hold the status of leader, since she was the one with most experience. During my second day of observation, I noticed another status between one of the volunteers.

Once inside the manager introduced me to a volunteer, she was the one in the front, in a small table, she was the one who signed up every individual who would receive a food bag.  She had a log sheet where she wrote down the individuals, name, address, and their household size  

This volunteer was the only one who had a desk, and she was the one who recipients would give their personal information too, I, therefore, concluded she held the status of secretary.  All the recipients coming in walked to her, and they all seemed to be aware that she was the one who they were to provide their information too.

The people who came in seeking donations, held the status of recipients. . While conversing with one of the recipients,

She mentioned to me that in the past they would receive more food from donation centers, she said we used to give a bag full and sometimes water bottles, juice, and even milk  

She said that's the reason why a lot see the need to go to various places, in order to gather a decent amount of food that will last them the week, and give them a variety of items

The organization that I was observing is not the only one working to help those in need, and I realized that the recipients in line in this locations also held the status of recipients in all the other locations where they went to get donations. They held the status of recipients because they were individuals struggling with providing their families with meals, and they came to these donation centers to receive the help they offered.

Roles:

During my hours of observations, I realized that this organization was organized, everyone held roles that helped keep things running smoothly.  The role of the leader was to keep the organization running and keep track of everything that came in and came out. I was able to witness some of this while I shadowed her.

She is on her desk and she seems to be inputting data into her computer. She tells me she is inputting the information of the applicants for the Thanksgiving food boxes.  She showed me the calendar on her desk and it is where she keeps all the dates written down on when food will be dropped off by volunteers who go to Walmart to pick it up,  She has written down all the dates when volunteers would go in, and what their duties are.

From shadowing her I realized that she had the role as manager included her keeping track of when donations were coming in, when volunteers were available, and to keep count of all the donations that were given out.  Her role as manager included a lot of tasks that helped maintain this center organized. It was also her role to keep the information on the computers updated, and her duty to pick up donations from stores when no one else was available.  All of the volunteer's present had roles that came with being volunteers, and the roles were distributed between them.

There was one volunteer that would always greet the people that came in, and there were two other volunteers who always remained in the back preparing the food boxes. It seemed that one volunteer had the role to greet and acquire information from recipients who came in, while the role of the other two volunteers was to organize donations and prepare boxes.  

It seemed that everyone was aware of what their role was.  Some were responsible for gathering personal information, others for preparing the food that would be handed out, and another one had the role of carrying the bags out to recipients. However, during all of these interactions I noticed that they were all friendly with each other, so I determined they have an informal role of keeping a friendly environment and to work with each other as team members.   While observing I also noticed another volunteer,

This volunteer was handing out the tickets and let people in in pairs

After he was done handing out the tickets, I asked him if I could step inside, he asked the manager, and she allowed me to do so.

The role of this volunteer was to not let anyone into the building until opening time and also to let them in in an orderly fashion. This was evident by him letting them in pairs, and by how he did not let me in until he got the managers approval.  His role is significant because if they were to let everyone in at the same time, the place would become overcrowded and chaotic. This same volunteer along with his wife had another role,

She also pointed out the couple, who usually picked up donations from stores, and brought them to the Salvation Army (it was the male volunteer passing out the tickets, and the female preparing the piles of food that were going to be given out the morning)

This couple had a significant role in the organization because they were responsible for picking up donations from stores, they had to be punctual and had to drop off donations in the donation center on time in order for them to distribute the food. During my observation hours they told me they had just picked up the produce that morning, if they had not picked up the produce the recipients would have left pretty much empty handed since most of the items being given out that day was fresh produce.  The couple performed various tasks during their volunteer hours, making their role as a volunteer more significant and contributing more to the organization.  A role that all volunteers had was a role as informants.

The volunteers knew their role was to help those in need, they were kind and offered them information on how to get the Thanksgiving food box. Also, they were always really nice and patient when explaining things, even though they got asked the same questions about the Thanksgiving boxes by different recipients they never seemed annoyed.

It was the role of all volunteers to provide the recipients with information and answers when they asked questions.  They seemed to perform this role well, as even though various recipients asked the same question multiple times, each time hey answered politely. They all shared the role of being polite to recipients, I considered this to be one of the most important roles.  Also, I noticed that on the Friday that I was observing most of the volunteers spoke only English, here was only one Spanish speaking volunteer.

Every time a Spanish speaking comes in, and a translator is needed, the same volunteer comes in from the back and translates.  They only call her name and she quickly comes to the front, she seems to know they need a translator

Part of this individuals role as a volunteer includes a role as translator. She seems to be aware of this, as everytime a translator was needed she would go to the front and being translating. In various instances, her name would be called, and she would simply come to the front and ask the recipient what her question was.

Definition of the Situation:

During my observation hours, I was able to notice how the significance of the organization and the organization's mission differed between employees, volunteers, and recipients.   For the manager, the act of maintaining things organized in the organization was part of her job.

While the time I was there she only stepped out of her office about 3 or 4 times, and the times she did, she was overseeing that everything was running smoothly.  When the volunteer forgot to tell a lady asking about the Thanksgiving food box, she quickly came out of her office, and told her to remember to tell them to bring their ID's.

During most of the time while donations were handed out, the manager remained in her office, however, the door was always half open, and she stepped outside to ask how everything was going and stepped back inside if everything was fine.  In an occasion where a recipient was given correct information she quickly stepped out of her office. She as an employee is alert and constantly making sure that things are running smoothly, because doing so is part of her job. The definition of the situation for the volunteers was different than for the manager.

I noticed that everytime one came in, they conversed a little, they seemed happy, and they would sometimes mention someone who came in, or they would mention something of the recipients would say...one of the recipients had said that this was a good bag because it was heavy.

While observing this taking place I noticed how joyful the volunteers were, their definition of this situation was volunteering, and knowing that in a way they were giving back to the community.  They seemed happy to know that the recipients were happy with what they were receiving. The volunteers might have been struggling to get everything to fit into the bag, but the bag being full was good for the recipients because they were receiving a lot of food.  This situation was an act of giving for volunteers, and it was an act of receiving for the recipients. During my observation hours, it was not all easy going for me though, as there was an instance when one of the recipients got a little upset with me.

One of the ladies who was first in line questioned me as to if I was going to get food too, I explained to her that I was not, but she seemed to not believe me. She told me to get in line that it was not fair that I had gotten there after her, and that I was trying to cut, I again told her I was there just to observe.

During this instance in my observation, there was some confusion as to why I was there.  One of the ladies in line thought that I was cutting in front of her. She possibly could have gotten upset since things in the center are given out in a first come first serve basis, and she did not know what she could possibly be missing out on if I went in front of her.  However, for me, the definition was me simply waiting for the doors to the center to open, so that I could continue completing my hours of observation.

Emotion Rules:

While I was observing I was looking for how the interaction between the group members and recipients was.  The encounters between individuals were pleasing to watch, as they all were friendly and respectful to each other.  

They would work together to place the items inside the bag, one volunteer would hold the bag open, while the other placed the items in the bag.  Sometimes they would struggle to put big items in the bag or to get everything to fit, and they would make small jokes, like "get in there" and "don't you fall out now" and they would both laugh a bit.

I witnessed friendly encounters between volunteers, they laughed and joked with each other a lot.  The above quotation depicts a time frame in my observation during which two volunteers were working together to place items into one of the food bags, they were struggling to put the food inside, but instead of being frustrated or annoyed they joked about it and laughed.  The volunteers were not only friendly to each other but to recipients as well.

Another recipient conversed for a while with the volunteer signing her up, she was talking about some sort of artwork she had done, she took out her phone and showed her, another volunteer approached them and said I want to see. They both congratulated her and told her it was beautiful.

The interaction between the recipient and volunteer described above demonstrates that the volunteers were patient with recipients.  The volunteers did not rush the recipients in the time I was there, on the contrary, they took the time to ask about their day and even converse with them a bit. In the above scenario, I witnessed a recipient sharing with a volunteer pictures of a work of art they had created.  Perhaps if volunteers were rude, recipients would not bother interacting with them. One of the most significant encounters I witnessed between two volunteers was the following.

Meanwhile a conversation began between two of the volunteers, they were discussing the need for a homeless shelter in Selma, they discussed various locations where they could possibly place this shelter...He seemed to be concerned, that the city is more willing to spend millions on a new police station but they don't seem to feel the need to help the homeless.

This encounter between two volunteers was significant to me because it gave me an idea of why they were volunteers at this center, I realized that these two individuals really were concerned and interested in helping those in need.  The two volunteers discussed possible locations for a homeless shelter in town, they discussed that the homeless population in their town was increasing. They expressed that there was a greater need to help the homeless than there was to build a multi-million dollar police station in town. Since all the interactions between group members were friendly and they were polite with each other, it can be suggested that one of the groups emotion rules is for them to be courteous and friendly with each other.

Thick Description:

During my hours of martian observation I was focusing on the environment and what was inside and outside the building in order to envision what volunteers and recipients felt when walking into the building.  One of the first places I observed was the manager's office.

It was really bright in her office, the walls were painted a light peach color, there's a big window, which allows for a lot of natural light to go in, the floors were tile.  I noticed she had a lot of flyers on the wall, more than 20. I noticed that Lot of them were phone numbers to different offices.

The manager's office was really bright, and if felt comfortable almost homey.  One of the first things I noticed was that it was much brighter in her office than at the main entrance, and also, her desk was really close to the door.  When people knocked the door to her office they had fast access to her. Also, all around her walls she had flyers, and when she noticed I was observing them she explained to me that she kept them all hung on her wall, so that when recipients would walk in she would be able to guide them to centers where they could be assisted in areas that this center did not cover.   The waiting room was also an area where I played close attention to details.

First, I noted a bookshelf, on top it had a frame, with a picture, and a quotation reading, "You are valuable. Don't let anyone make you believe differently." It had two vertical arms, each facing in opposite directions (one down, one up). The one on top was aiming at a star, and the one aiming down was holding a flower.  

Above I described a picture frame I noticed hanging on one of the walls in the waiting room.  It caught my attention because it was big, and when I read it I noticed it was a quote of self-worth and positivism.  I then began looking around searching for other pictures, I quickly found two more, one was a bible verse and the other was another motivational quote.  I supposed those were there to encourage and motivate recipients who came in since some of them were probably going through hard times. When observing I also noticed the location of the center.

It was chilly outside, but the sun was shining bright, it was nice weather,  The building is one block away from downtown, it is a little to the side, and in front of the building are the railroad tracks, The center is down town, however, it is not in the center it is in the outskirts of downtown,  the there are two empty building on each side one has a for lease sign, and in front of the building is the railroad tracks.

I noticed that this donation center is the only one located downtown, but I did not think much of it at the time.  However, upon further analyzing, I realized that the location of the center made it more accessible to people since it was located in the center of the town.  Location is important for the success of the center, because if it was too far out of town it would be less accessible to people without transportation. Also, having two empty buildings on both sides allows for the lines to be long, without interfering another business.

Interview Analysis:

Statuses and Roles:

In order to determine the status (titles) and roles (responsibilities/duties) that were present in the group, I decided to combine statuses and roles into one single node because in the group there were only two titles used in the group, which are coordinator and volunteer.   Below I attached the word cloud for the word frequency query I ran on this node.  

The word summary of this node depicted that the most frequently used words were: help, people and volunteers; with a weighted percentage of 2.83, 2.13, and 2.03 respectively.  It was no surprise that the word help was among the most commonly used words, as many of the volunteers viewed helping as part of their role.  Also, the word volunteer was used with frequency since there is only one coordinator, and all the other group members are volunteers. interviewed the coordinator this United Fighting Hunger locations, and when asked what she considered her status in the organization she answered,

"I'm the coordinator for a small service extension here in Selma, and I've been working here for 8 and half years, so right now that's what it is… and actually, I think to help out the community, face of the United Fighting Hunger."

In this quote, she expresses how she has been the coordinator for this location for more than eight years, and how she views herself as having the status of being the face of this  United Fighting Hunger location. During the interview she also mentioned that she was the only employee in this location, leading me to determine this was also a status that applied to her.  I also asked her questions about her role in the organization,

"I have the responsibility for my volunteers to be safe, I have the responsibility of running all the programs the way that they are supposed to be, be the best that I can, be respectful to people...So my role is just to keep this office running how God wants it to be run, with honesty, with kindness, with love and understanding of people in the community."

The coordinator stated her role was to keep volunteers safe and to run the office as God would want it to be run.  This stood out because this is a Christian non-profit organization, and she mentioned God prior to mentioning other tasks such as making schedules, keep track of what is in the storage room,  and making phone calls. She also mentioned honesty, kindness, and love, words that are frequently used when discussing religious matters, as being part of her role as coordinator.

The status of the volunteer was held by all other interviewees, however, their roles as volunteers were not all the same.

"Well, here I'm responsible for picking up donations from stores, mostly donations from local grocery stores. I have to be on time, I drop them off here and I stay and help organize and put away the produce since it has to be put in the fridge.  I also sometimes come in and help organize the storage room since there's a lot of heavy boxes and most of the volunteers are women."

In this quote, the male volunteer who was interviewed described how his role as a volunteer made him responsible for picking up donations from stores, he stated he had to be on time to pick up donations, and he was also responsible for making sure produce would be.  He also mentioned how he was the one who did most of the heavy lifting since most of the other volunteers in the group were females.

The roles of the other volunteers were different.

"I'm usually the one packing, preparing the boxes, giving them out and I'm distributing the boxes to the individuals, and just helping clean and organizing the events…. I would say its expected for me to be friendly to everyone, I feel it's up to my duty to treat everyone with respect and to always be friendly to people who come in"

Most of the other volunteers stated that their role as a volunteer was to pack and prepare boxes, and also to help distribute boxes during their volunteer hours. They are also responsible for keeping things organized and for keeping the center clean. It was also mentioned that it was their role to be friendly and respectful to recipients who came in to the location.  

Definition of the Situation:

I wanted to know what being a member of this group meant to the individuals, so I decided to create a node for the definition of the situation. The definition of the situations is what is going on in the group, and I wanted to know what they considered to be the group's mission and why they were a member of the group.  To begin analyzing this node I ran a word frequency query for it and attached the word cloud below.

The word summary depicted the most commonly used words as being: help, feel, and need, with a weighted percentage of 5.07%, 3.14%, and 2.90% respectively.  Running this query made me realize that for many of the interviewees being a member of this group was their way of helping the community. When asked about what working for United Fighting Hunger meant to her the coordinator answered,

"Let's say a family that their house burned down, that you are able to put them in a hotel for a couple of days or a week, to help them find food and clothing, things like that are important in my position, as the coordinator of United Fighting Hunger or as a person, just being able to help them without wanting anything back or getting paid for it, your heart is out there to do it, that's how I feel about it, there is a passion for doing it, when I do it it just feels good to be able to do that."

The goal of United Fighting Hunger is to help those in need.  The coordinator expressed that sometimes she pondered around the idea of retiring, but that she didn't because she was really passionate about her job.  For her the act of working for a nonprofit organization is not just working any job, but rather she feels she is fulfilling the plan God had planned for her.  She expressed that she has found a passion in what she does as coordinator and that she wouldn't mind being able to help those in need regardless if she got paid or not.  This was relevant because to her being able to help people goes beyond the salary that she gets for fulfilling her tasks as coordinator, and she is emotionally invested in her participation in the group, something that doesn't necessarily have to be true for all other members of the group.   Others described volunteering in this group as an act of providing,

 "I feel like a provider, someone who helps people when they need help the most, in this case, the homeless who need food, who need a meal, to keep themselves going. I've always felt that a meal always helps motivate me helps give me strength, and that's what the homeless need nowadays they need strength, and we're here to provide food give them strength and well yeah hopefully this will help them in trying to better themselves."  

This volunteer implied that his hours of volunteering allowed him to be a provider to those in need.  He described how he didn't feel that he was simply giving out food boxes, but rather he believed the food that they provided the homeless and needy would strengthen and motivate them.  He justified this belief by explaining that a meal strengthens and motivates him. Many might look at the act of handing out food boxes as something straightforward and meaningless, but this individual picks up donations from local stores, helps organize and prepare boxes because he believes that these boxes contain the strength and motivation that homeless people are in need of.

When asked about the motive for her volunteering for this organization one of the volunteers stated,

"Why, why because I suffered a lot, because as other people helped me here, my goal is to help other people who are in need, and this is my way of helping those who come here and help others in need. I think back to when I would receive donations, and there was one person here fixing up the boxes that I was going to be taking home, and now I am able to do that for other people."

This response made me realize that being a volunteer was emotionally significant for this individual. For some packing and preparing boxes is a miscellaneous duty, but to her, it is an act of helping those in need.  To her, being a volunteer is significant because she had struggled in some point in her life, and she is now able to do for others what was done for her in the past. During the interview, she mentioned that she could not give to them economically, but that her service as a volunteer was her way of helping.  

Emotion Rules:

Emotion rules is a theory that suggests that groups have emotion rules that have to be followed, a certain type of behavior that is expected of them as group members. I created a node for emotion rules because when reading through the interview transcripts I noticed that a lot of the respondents expressed that there was a certain kind of behavior that was expected from them as being a group member.  My first step in analyzing the data for this node was creating a word frequency query for it. Below I have attached the word could for this query.

The word summary query indicated that the words used with the most frequency were people, want, and know, with a weighted percentage of 4.46%, 4.09%, and 2.97% respectively.  Even though they were not among the most commonly used words friendly and like we're still used with decent frequency, which indicated some of the behavior that might be expected from group members.  This was, in fact, true, when I asked a volunteer what behavior was expected of her she answered,

"A friendly greeting, welcoming people with a smile, receiving them with joy so that if they have a problem or something they feel that there is someone in the world who greets them well...We are all equal, not because he has more and I do not have as much I am less,  we are all equal, so therefore we all have to be treated with equality. "

This volunteer expressed how it was expected of her to greet everyone politely and friendly.  She also felt that because she was a volunteer with an organization that served the needy it was expected of her to treat everyone with equality, regardless of their social status.  She believed that it was expected for her to be friendly because being rude could add on to the bad day a recipient was having. When asked what behavior was expected of her and her volunteers, the coordinator responded,

"Well, there are guidelines, there are rules, part of our rules is just to be kind and loving to the people,...we are the face of this organization and we have to act a certain way. If we don't we're not representing the organization as we should, so mostly its being kind, loving and understanding to the people who come in through the door, and hopefully we are that."

The coordinator expressed that in order for them to adequately accomplish the goal of the organization they have to be kind and loving to the recipients who come in.  She expressed how she feels this is especially important since a lot of people know what the organization's mission is, and being anything but understanding, kind and loving would depict the organization in the wrong way.  During the interview, she did admit that there are times when she has to be a little stern with recipients,

"I'm not saying it's always all easy, there are times when we have to get a little rough, because if someone gets rude with one of my volunteers I do have to come out and raise my voice a little bit, but in a way that I try to be firm and just say, you don't talk like that, don't talk to my volunteers  like that because sometimes they do get yelled at by clients, but you know that's when I step out and say we don't do that if you have an issue come to me, but you do not talk down or yell at my volunteers."

In this quote, she expressed how even though it is expected of her to be friendly and nice to the recipients, there are times when it is necessary for her to be raise her voice a bit because it is also her responsibility to make sure her volunteers are being respected.  She has to deal with situations that might become rowdy in a manner that is still respectful to the people creating the chaos because the coordinator going out and yelling at the recipients would not depict the organization in a favorable manner.

Impression Management:

Impression management is the belief that individuals are conscious of their behavior because they are always trying to leave a good impression. I created a node for impression management and ran a word frequency query on it, which provided me with the following word cloud.  

The word frequency query summary showed that the words used with most frequency in this node were as follows: feel, good, and impression each with a weighted percentage of 4.20%.  This led me to believe that most of the group members aimed at leaving a positive impression. When asked about impression management the group's coordinator stated,

"Yes, and not try because if you're trying too hard, you're not being yourself, you're not being honest about it. I wanna leave a good impression because I want people to feel comfortable when they come in here. They don't have to feel embarrassed because I'm pretty sure it's a situation that is hard for them, you know coming in here asking for food or help or something."

Here the coordinator expressed that she feels that an individual should not be putting too much effort into leaving a good impression, because if they do they are not being true to themselves.  She mentioned that she tries to be true to who she is, and at the same time she tries to leave a good impression with recipients because she wants them to continue returning. For her, being cautious of how she handles herself allows recipients to feel comfortable around here, and therefore make their experience at this center more enjoyable.  

"Yes, I think it's the most beautiful thing for someone to  take with them a beautiful image of you, one that does not say oh I and went and they made me an ugly face or that I was not polite, I like to be nice and polite and for people to take a nice image of this place with them."

This was the response a volunteer gave when asked if she was cautious of her behavior because she was trying to leave a good impression.  She stated that for her it was important to leave a good impression because she knew that the impression that the recipients took with them would be the image that they would take of not only her but of the organization as well. However, some volunteers had other reasons for leaving a good impression.

"Yes, its always, I feel like when I'm here I'm umm yeah I want to leave a good impression just in case I need a reference or something."

For this volunteer it is important to leave a good impression, not because of the image recipients or other group members might take of her, but rather because she might need a reference in the future. Someone who has a bad impression of you is not a good person to use as a reference.  

"Yeah, I can say that because I think its important, you have to be careful to not make a fool out of yourself or others might not respect you I volunteer here but I try to take it as a job and I try to always be on my toes... If not people might think that I don't really want to be here or that I just don't care."

The quote above was the response of a volunteer when asked if he considered it important to leave a good impression.  He expressed that it was important to have a good stance with the members of the group and with recipients who came in, otherwise they might lose respect for him.  He also stated that he took his service as volunteer seriously, because he did not want people to think that, because he went there voluntarily and there is no salary involved, he did not take his duties seriously.  

Role Taking and Role Making

The theory of role taking and role making suggests that an individual takes a role and makes it unique to themselves by adjusting themselves to the role.  My first step in analyzing this last node was to create a word frequency query, like for all other nodes, I have attached the word cloud for this node below.

The summary for this word query showed that the most commonly used words were:  want, give, know, and happy, with a weighted percentage of 3.74, 2.67, 2.67, and 2.14 respectively.  This led me to believe that group members were taking on their roles in a positive manner.

"If I have 2 tortillas it does not cost me anything to give one to the other person. Even though there are some people who answer badly or something, we do not know what problems they have, and we should ask God to help him and give them strength her because we do not know if their anger is because of the problems they have, ... so we always have to treat everyone politely."

One of the volunteers interviewed stated this when asked how her interaction was with other recipients, and it stood out because she was a volunteer who previously stated that she had struggled in her past and still to this day had rough days. Even though she does not have much she does not mind sharing the little that she has with others.  While others in the group stated that they sometimes have to be serious or stern with recipients when they are rude, she said she is always patient and instead of getting upset with them she asks God to help them, something that not all group members might do. The coordinator also mentioned something she does that is not required of her as part of her job as coordinator.  

"I ask them the situation, and what's going on, and they start telling me everything, and at the end they say you know I've never said anything to anybody about that, you made me feel so at ease and it's like I don't know I told you everything. I don't either but I'm hoping the reason why they did tell me that is because they felt comfortable and welcomed ...then when they leave here I pray with them."

The coordinator described how some recipients go into the center asking for assistance, and she does not know why but they end up opening up to her and letting their emotions out.  The coordinator is not required to sit down and have deep emotional talks with people who go in, but she chooses to do it because, as she mentioned previously, she is passionate about her job.  Even though United Fighting Hunger is a Christian-non profit organization they do not require employees to discuss religious matters or pray with recipients, however, this coordinator does, because it is her way of making recipients feel at ease during hard times.

"Sometimes take a little food that is given to me home, or the food that  I take from here that they give me, and a homeless or alcoholic passes by my house and I tell him, "do you want a taco and he says yes", and I tell them to wait, I'll go and I warm them a little food in the microwave and I take it to them in a napkin, and a give them a water bottle or soda if I have any, and I feel very happy because I know they are going to eat…"

The seventy-four-year-old volunteer stated the above quote.  She is an elder woman who volunteers and also receives donations from United Fighting Hunger, she is not only fulfilling her role as a volunteer by helping prepare boxes, but she also gives to the needy outside the center.  She is someone in need herself, but she doesn't mind sharing the little she has with someone who she feels might need it more than her. During the interview she also mentioned that sometimes she'll come across someone in need and she'll tell them to go to the donation center to seek help.  Both of the previously mentioned actions are not required of her, but she does them because she is invested in her role as a volunteer.

Content Analysis:

Typifications:

As mentioned above I created a node for typifications.  Typifications are the manner in which individuals use general knowledge about people and the social world to construct ideas about things and people, an example of typifications would be the typical goals and motivations an individual has, such as getting a college education or purchasing a home.  Using typifications as a node is acceptable because United Fighting Hunger is a worldwide organization, it is popular, and therefore a lot of people have a general idea and set of expectations about its mission. My first step in analyzing this node was to run a word frequency query in order to get a better idea of what I would find when further analyzing.  The word frequency query provided the following word cloud.

The word summary for this query depicted that the most commonly used words were: people, help, and give; each with a weighted percentage of 2.75, 2.41, and 1.72 respectively.  Most people view United Fighting Hunger as an organization that helps people by giving to them, so the results were not surprising.

"I remembered when I was ringing for these Kettles, a guy came up to me, all emotional, and said that he had hitchhiked from California to New York, and he was able to survive through the dinners and the homeless shelters that the United Fighting Hunger provided for him throughout his journey. When you give to United Fighting Hunger, we give to those people. Straight through. They come to us, and we give what we've got. We may not have much, but we try to help our best. "

This was an individual's comment on a YouTube video asking people to not donate to United Fighting Hunger anymore. This individual argues that the organization helps as much as they can, he mentions that the organization sometimes does not have a lot but they still try their best to help the people.  The individual says to have been a volunteer for the organization, in his opinion the organization is helping with all that is possible. This is the perception that many of the volunteers and even individuals outside the organization have.

"I  have one message to all those that speak evil about United Fighting Hunger, whether we like United Fighting Hunger or not the organization is still moving forward. They have been helping countless thousands in many countries in the World. The poor is been fed, and souls are been saved through them and your ranting against them will not stop their work for the Lord."

In the above quote, an individual shows his or her support for this organization. We do not know whether this individual has been a member of United Fighting Hunger or he has just head about their mission, but he seems to know a lot about what they have done and what they do.  He mentions that the organization has helped many around the world, that it helps feed the poor and that the organization works for God.

"United Fighting Hunger took me off the streets I was homeless and on drugs after going though there program I now have a good job. My own place and everything I could have ever wanted and that would not have been possible without the help of the United Fighting Hunger. It says in their mission statement to help people in need without discrimination and they don't discriminate."

The above is a comment left on a YouTube video, it was left by someone who was benefited by United FIghting Hunger, he is an example of what this organization can typically help an individual with, food, shelter, and a program to help them become employed.  This individual seems grateful for what organization did for him or her and states that this organization does not discriminate, that everyone is helped equally, just as they state in the organizations mission statement. His referral to the organization's mission statement is relevant because anyone who reads it will expect the organization to fulfill their promises, thus viewing United Fighting Hunger as an organization that does not discriminate.  

"United Fighting Hunger helps everyone to get to know God. I think you are just hating because you're probably was a part of the skeleton army .. But I believe there you should give some money to United Fighting Hunger because it helps people who don't have a home, food, family, and a job. It also gives hope to kids who don't get Christmas."

The above quote is relevant because it depicts one of the main typifications that people have of United Fighting Hunger. Since it is a non-profit Christian organization many believe that this organization's mission is centered around religious beliefs and that they are working for God.  In the quote above it was stated that this organization helps individuals to have a connection with God, and that they help feed the poor, and they also help give some sort of hope to children during holidays.

Ruling Texts:

United Fighting Hunger is a non-profit Christian organization, therefore in a lot of the documents, there was some reference to God and the Bible, and how these were motivators in helping the organization accomplish its mission.  I decided to create a mode for ruling texts. Ruling texts are the documents or texts that set the rules for society, such as the bible. My first step in analyzing this node was to run a word frequency query which provided the following word cloud for this node.

The words used with most frequency were people, God, and love, each with a weighted percentage of 2.83, 2.42, and 2.42 respectively. As expected with this node, some reference to the bible or religious matters, such as the word God, appeared with frequency.  When hand coding for this node I came across a mission statement in the United Fighting Hunger web page, it stated the following,

"United Fighting Hunger, an international movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian Church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in His name without discrimination."

This quote is relevant because in the official United Fighting Hunger website it is stated that they are a Christian organization. They state that this organization was founded on religious beliefs and that members of the organization are motivated by the bible and the love of God.  It is indicated that United Fighting Hunger's mission is based off the desire to preach about Jesus Christ and to help those in need, as God would have wanted, without discriminating anyone. The members of the organization have to view this mission statement as the guidelines and ruling text by which they work.

"United Fighting Hunger maintains Christian belief and the code of The Bible. First and foremost to Love one another as Jesus loved us and lay down our lives for each other in service….The thing about True Christians that you don't seem to realize is that we live by scripture whether we like it or not. Which tells us to Love and respect all of God's creations, but not the sin. It is the sin we protest against and protect ourselves from"

The quote above is a comment in response to someone criticizing United Fighting Hunger, in it, the author states that members of the organization live and participate in the organization by the will and guidelines set up by God and The Bible.  The author declares that members of the organization are obligated by the Bible to love and respect everybody. For United Fighting Hunger, the bible sets the rules and guidelines by which they are to work. However, they do make it clear that The Bible allows them to stand up and defend the organization and its mission when they are criticized and attacked.  Below is an example of how the organization is defended.

"You need to understand that Christians do not hate gays, we believe homosexuality is a sin but it is against our faith to hate anybody.  Yes there are always a few bad apples in the bunch who claim to be Christian yet they say and do terrible things but I noticed there are some comments here I could point to and say that some of you people hate Christians."

In this quote, an individual is defending United Fighting Hunger from the common belief that they will not help homosexuals, and that they hate them.  The author of the comment explains that the Bible does not allow them to hate anybody, however, as Christians, they are prohibited from engaging in a homosexual relationship.  The Bible sets guidelines and rules for Christians, and homosexuality is considered a sin, but that does not mean that United Fighting Hunger discriminates or hates homosexuals.

Controlling Images:

` When looking for data for this content analysis section I came upon sources that discussed common stereotypes about United Fighting Hunger, therefore I decided to create a node regarding this.  Controlling images are stereotypes that have been creating regarding a group, negative beliefs that become ingrained in people until the stereotyping is justified. My first step in analyzing this node was running a word frequency query for it, below is the word cloud provided by the query:

The words used with most frequency in this query were: people, gay, help, and donations, each with a weighted percentage of 2.37, 1.61, 1.52, and 1.33 respectively.   Because the word gay was the second most used word in this node, I expected to find some stereotypes regarding homosexuals in the data. As mentioned earlier, because United Fighting Hunger is a Christian organization, therefore there is a belief that they discriminate against homosexuals, and that they do not accept homosexuals as members. Below is an excerpt from a blog,

"A viral post on Tumblr has recently sparked debate about the ethics of United Fighting Hunger and their dealings with members of the LGBTQA+ community. The post claimed, among other things, that the Army has continued to discriminate against LGBTQA+ people by refusing to house to a homeless gay couple unless they separated, referring people to conversion therapy, and upholding a policy of not helping transgender people."

The blog above was explained how United Fighting Hunger has been criticized for supposedly discriminating against members of the LGBTQ community. This organization has been repeatedly accused of this, however, members and clients of the organization have defended them. They have stated that there are homosexuals in the organization and they are not discriminated against.  However, because articles are written accusing the organization of discrimination in continuous occasions, it makes the public believe some of what is being said. The quote below depicts another stereotype about United Fighting Hunger,

"It is really a kind of army". No, it really isn't. When it was founded in France, anything to do with the military was fashionable. So they mimicked the look of an army, with military-style uniforms and fake military ranks - with their preachers being called lieutenants and captains etc., and their church-going members being soldiers...t is really just a church, founded on Methodist theology with a heavy emphasis on providing practical social welfare."

Discrimination is not the only thing United Fighting Hunger is accused of, there are also some that portray this organization as being some sort of army.  Some believe this because of the uniforms that are sometimes worn by members during events. However, the above quote explains that the outfits look like military uniforms because this look was fashionable when the organization was first founded.  The organization does not consider itself an army, and they do not have strict rules like those of the army. United Fighting Hunger is often criticized and accused of keeping a big percentage of donations.

"Only small amount goes to the homeless people ...I worked for United Fighting Hunger and did the accounting its mind blogging how Majors get everything paid for such as phone bills restaurant bills .. Have you ever been to a salvation office it's usually really nice they have elevators most of the majors and others in charge drive Cadillacs. There is hardly any talk about God during work."

Like in the quote above many have accused this organization of lying to the public when they state that all donations go to the needy.  They argue that a bigger percentage than necessary goes to employees and higher ranked members. In this quote, an individual testifies that he worked for this organization, and he witnessed how employees and higher ranked members of the organization benefit from donations.  He also adds that even though United Fighting Hunger claims to be Christian there is hardly ever any religious matters discussed inside the centers. Many believe these negative connotations of this organization, and because of this many choose to not donate to it.

Grounds/Warrants/Conclusions:

When people are trying to convince someone of something they use claims to get their point across and these claims usually follow the structure of grounds, warrants, and conclusions.  Grounds are where the individual will state a name, statistic, or numbers and state that there is something that requires attention. Warrants are the actions that need to be done over a period of time, and it may take into consideration values and emotions.  Conclusions are where the end result that they hope to see is explained, and what can be done to achieve this.

Since United Fighting Hunger is an organization that seeks donations from people, I thought it would be appropriate to use grounds, warrants, and conclusions as a node. My first step in analyzing this node was to run a word frequency query, and the results provided me with the following word cloud.

In this node, the most commonly used words were support, food, and team, each with a weighted percentage of 3.77, 2.52, and 2.52 respectively.  The word community was not in the top three, but it did fall in eighth place and had a weighted percentage of 1.89%. Since support, team, and community were among the most commonly used words I was expecting to find some sort of claim asking for people to contribute to the United Fighting Hunger mission, and that was the case.  

"With three weeks remaining in this year's United Fighting Hunger Make A Difference Campaign, the number of volunteer bell ringers and total donations are down compared to previous years. This year's campaign currently is at $225,000 toward a goal is $825,000, and 850 volunteer hours toward a goal of 2,500 hours."

The quotation above is from an article that I came across when collecting data, the article discussed how this year United Fighting Hunger was having trouble collecting donations.  They stated that the organization was seeing a decrease in donations when compared to previous years. They used numbers to make the point more credible. The grounds here is that United Fighting Hunger has a goal they have to meet, and they only have a limited time to meet this goal.  In that same article, I was able to find an example of a warrant.

"'The donations from the Make A Difference Campaign account for more than half of our annual budget,'" said United Fighting Hunger Quad Cities Coordinator, Maj. Scott Shelbourn. 'This provides shelter, food, and other basic needs to individuals and families in need. "United Fighting Hunger has provided more than 2,300 nights of shelter since the beginning of, October," he said. "'The need is urgent and real.'"

In this section of the same article, it was explained why this campaign is so important to United Fighting Hunger since this campaign makes up over half their budget for the year.  The amount they are able to collect through donations will determine how much they will be able to help those in need. Mentioning their mention in the article, helping those in need by providing them with food and shelter, is relevant because it makes people more people to do what is humanly right and help the needy.  So it can be said that by doing this they are bringing emotions and values into the subject, they go as far as stating, "The need is urgent and real."

"The United Fighting Hunger serves individuals and families throughout the year. Continued public support through the Make A Difference Campaign is needed to ensure the continuation of these essential programs. To donate or volunteer to ring bells, contact Tom Scott at 599-123-4567 or visit unitedfighitng.org."

The quote above is the last section of the article previously discussed.  Here they state that they hope to meet the goal set for the campaign. They state that if the goal is not met they will have difficulty ensuring that those in need receive the assistance they need.  They ask people to help and contribute to the cause, by donating or volunteering. The conclusion of this claim is that they need people to contribute to the organization.

Framing:

The last node created for content analysis was framing.  Framing is similar to claims, but it is different in that many of the times framing is used to appeal to a certain audience, so as the name says it, they frame their idea/claim around the audience they are targeting.  Like claims, framing has three parts: diagnostic frame, where the nature of the problem is identified, motivational frame, where it is explained why action needs to be taken, and prognostic frame, where the action needed will be specified.  The first step in analyzing this frame was running a word frequency query, and doing so provided the following word cloud.

The words that were most commonly used in this node were family, need, and help, each with a weighted percentage of 2.21, 1.54, 1.44 respectively.  These words are all words that appeared with frequency in my other nodes too, and I suspected it was because United Fighting Hunger helps families in need.  I began looking through documents while hand coding and found a newspaper article that was a perfect example of how framing is used by organizations seeking new volunteers.  

"Are you willing to ring a bell? Then United Fighting Hunger needs you. The internationally known nonprofit is seeking volunteer bell ringers to participate in the annual Blue Kettle campaign. For many, it's a sound that signals fundraising to help the neediest in this county. "I hear the hope for one of our families staying in our homeless shelter," Irvin said in a news release."

This article starts off by asking who is willing to join the cause.  They make the point that volunteers are needed, but the manner they go about asking for volunteers and donations is different than in other volunteers.  In this diagnostic frame, the author is quick to mention that there are families in hopes of receiving donations during holiday times. Doing so may make this article and donating more appealing who views Christmas as a time of joy and as an opportunity to give to the less fortunate.  

"There's a lot of folks in need in our area and we also have a larger homeless population. The need is always pretty great when it comes time to help us out at Christmas. We see this collaboration to highlight the need of children in our area to provide them with toys and other things at Christmas."

The above quote is from the same article, this section uses the motivational frame to appeal to possible donators or volunteers.  They mention that this area has a large population of homeless individuals and that they too deserve happiness during this holiday season. Children are mentioned in this section, and this is significant because many's hearts, will be touched with the idea that a donation may be able to provide a gift for a child that may otherwise not receive anything for Christmas. The motivation to donate for the organization would be making a child happy.   The following quote is also from this article and it is an example of a prognostic frame.

"Everybody who collects toys for us is important because if we didn't have the community to support us with helping 450 kids, there would be no way we could do it ourselves. The toys that they give goes a long way in providing kids with a happy Christmas. Contact Margaret Simon at Margaret@gmail.edu. The 26 families on the list below are just a few who could benefit from your generosity. There are many more on the waiting list this Christmas."

Here the author states that the community needs to participate in the organization and that they need to donate if not there will be children who will not receive a present on Christmas.  They mention numerous times that donating is a way of helping to make children happy. It is mentioned that there are numerous ways to help, either by volunteering, donating money or toys.  They provide various places where they can get more information, and various emails and phone numbers so that people have more than one method to contact the organization.

Conclusion:

All the data collecting process went smoothly, and upon analyzing it all I was able to determine that United Fighting Hunger is successfully accomplishing their mission.  During observation hours I was able to witness the amicable manner in which members work with each other, and courteousness with which they help recipients. During observation hours not once were members rude to recipients, they were patient and helpful at all times.  Even though this location counts with only one employee, the coordinator, it is well organized and is run in an efficient manner. When interviewing I realized that the group members are devoted to this organization's cause. Many expressed the joy that helping those in need gives them.  As one interviewee stated, a simple smile and thank you are enough to make them want to keep volunteering for this organization. The group members at this location expressed they had religious affiliations, and that they asked God to guide them while carrying out their roles for this group.  When analyzing the data that was gathered in the content analysis section, I came across various articles that asked the public to not donate to United Fighting Hunger, because they claimed that the majority of donations were not going to those in need. However, the majority of people seem to disregard such claims, and they continue to support United Fighting Hunger because they realize that this organization provides food and shelter for thousands of individuals in need around the world.  



References

Dillon, Michele. 2013. Introduction to Sociological Theory : Theorists, Concepts, and Their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century.  John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Fine, Gary A., Daniel D. Martin, and Kent L. Sandstorm. 2006. Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality: A Symbolic Interactionist Approach to Social Psychology and Sociology. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press.

Warren, Carol A.B, & Karner, Tracy X. 2014. Discovering Qualitative Methods: Ethnography, Interviews, Documents, and Images. 3rd ed.Oxford University Press.