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Hemmed in and Hacking it - Methodologies, References and Appendices
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Text: Ruth Moore and Marie Smyth ... Page Design: Fionnuala McKenna
Methodologies and Techniques
These interviews were conducted at an early stage of the research, and
the themes emerging from them were used to inform our design of a questionnaire,
which was then used in a field survey in both areas. The findings of this
survey are documented in a separate publication.
The technique used to arrive at the texts published here was developed
from the work of Richardson, who interviewed, transcribed the interview
and then condensed the text of the transcript, - using the interviewees
own words and phasing - into a "poem" or condensed text. As such,
the "poem" is a time-ordered display of data. Of time-ordered
displays, and specifically of the transcript as a poem, Miles and Huberman
(1994) say:
The display is striking. It brings the reader very close to a condensed
set of data, has a compelling flow, and forbids superficial attention by
the analyst. You have to treat the data set-and the person it came from-seriously
because a "poem" is something you engage with at a deep level.
It is not just a figurative transposition, but an emotional statement as
well.
As Richardson notes, such a display "breaches sociological norms"
by ignoring defined variables, by emphasising the "lived experience,"
illuminating the "core" of the case involved, engaging the reader
(and the researcher) emotionally, and shifting the concept of authorship.
The time taken was substantial...Two points: (a) the selection, organization,
and presentation of data in a display are decisive analytic actions, and
(as in this case) they need to be done in a thoughtful, lucid way; (b)
displays owe as much to art and craft as they do to "science".
Richardson wrote very little separate "analytic text" in our
terms, but there is nothing in the method to discourage that. p110.
This technique allowed us to present our "findings' in the two
communities, using the words which people themselves had used to us in
interviews. After transcription, the full transcript was shown to interviewees
and agreed. After this, the transcript was condensed, and the "poem"
was shown to the interviewee, alterations agreed and the "poem"
finalised. Like Richardson, very little analytic text will be presented
here. Some of the themes that emerged will be drawn together , and then
the people we interviewed can speak - and have spoken here - for themselves
Reading and rereading the text reproduced here, and the full transcripts
of the interviews on which these texts are based, a number of themes emerge.
The main themes which we identified were those of the experience of violence
and threat, of danger and fear, of anxiety for children, especially boys,
of anger at injustice, at misrepresentation, of the felt need to "manage"
the identity that living in the area gives residents, of being surrounded,
isolated and being different from one's own community outside the area.
The significance of killings of people from the area to the residents in
both areas is clear, and the tight-knit nature of the community, which
can mean conflict within the community as well as cooperation. The importance
of the bonds within the community for the community's survival, and the
decision to stay or go, the importance of economic as well as safety factors
in that decision, the social problems and lack of amenities in both areas
are all issues which were explored further in the survey of both areas.
Yet, it is in these interviews, not in the survey results, that the message
comes across most forcefully and movingly.
Bibliography/references
Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An
Expanded Sourcebook. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.(see Chapter 5: Within-Case
Displays: Exploring and Describing: see pp102-110 on partially ordered
displays.)
Richardson, L. (1992) The consequences of poetic representation: Writing
the other, rewriting the self. In C. Ellis and M.G. Flaherty (eds.), Investigating
subjectivity: Research on lived experience. pp 125-140). Newbury Park,
CA: Sage.
Appendix 1 - Glossary
DMSUs: Divisional Mobile Support Units, uniformed special units
of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (first Fountain man interviewed)
Gowling: Shouting (Third Gobnascale man interviewed)
Appendix 2 - List of other publications
produced by the project
Sectarian Division and Area Planning: a commentary on "The Derry
Area Plan 2011: Preliminary Proposals." prepared by Marie Smyth. Derry
Londonderry, Templegrove Action Research Limited, May, 1995.
A Report of a Public Hearing on the Experiences of Minorities in Derry
Londonderry. Marie Smyth, (ed). Derry Londonderry, Templegrove Action Research
Limited, April, 1996.
A Report of a Series of Public Discussions on Aspects of Sectarian Division
in Derry Londonderry held in the period December 1994 - June 1995. Marie
Smyth (ed) Derry Londonderry, Templegrove Action Research Limited. March
1996.
Two Policy Papers: Policing and Sectarian Division, and Urban Regeneration
and Sectarian Division, Ruth Moore and Marie Smyth. April 1996.
Three Conference Papers on Aspects of Segregation and Sectarian Division:
Researching Sectarianism (Ruth Moore and Marie Smyth); Borders Within Borders:
material and idoleogical aspects of segregation (Marie Smyth); and Limitations
on the Capacity for Citizenship in Post-Cease-fires Northern Ireland (Marie
Smyth). Derry Londonderry, Templegrove Action Research, May 1996.
Life in Two Enclave Areas in Northern Ireland. A Field Survey in Derry
Londonderry after the Ceasefires. Marie Smyth. Derry Londonderry, Templegrove
Action Research Limited, June 1996.
First published 1996 by Guildhall Press Ltd,
Great James Street,
Derry Londonderrry, Northern Ireland.
© Templegrove Action Research Limited
Printed by Coleraine Printing Company
All Rights Reserved
ISBN 0 946451 33 8
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