About The Interview Process

      My first interview with Andrea started out at Mojo Cafe on Bramble ton Avenue on a Sunday morning at eleven o'clock. Upon doing a test with the voice recording equipment it was apparent that the noise level  exceeded expectations and there was also a gentleman that looked a bit too interested in what we were doing. So we decided to go to Fishburn Park as it was a nice enough day. Fishburn Park is a dog park, the only one in the city and was a perfect place for us to both feel comfortable. For me being in nature and for her nature  and the bonus of doge nearby. It helped cut the tension of this new experience for us both. The interview lasted a good three hours. Out second interview was held at my home at the dining room table and lasted a little over an hour. Andrea made the gracious gesture of coming to me as she lives over an hour from Salem on Bent Mountain. Illness and her busy life had intruded on our second interview and she had had to cancel several times. I had wanted her to meet my husband by this point anyway so it worked out perfectly.

     The Life Narrative class taught by Professor Costa is an anthropology class. It is also part of the Women's Studies curriculum. Our studies prior to the actual interview was on how various scholars have used the process of interviewing for life narratives, especially through the feminist lens, and what the positives and negatives there might be in the use of this process. We looked closely at how the interviewer might have more power in the process than the person being interviewed. Also the power balance in that the interviewer is the ones that poses the questions and interprets them in a final paper. We attempted to learn ways which could bring more of a balance to this process. The most insightful thing that I became aware of is that everyone comes from a place of bias depending on one's experiences and that includes researchers. It is our duty and job as researchers to acknowledge this and work towards balance as best we can. 

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