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How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~ Annie Dillard

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Analyze an Interview How should I get started? The first think to do is listen to your tape at least twice. The first time, just listen. The second time, start taking notes. Always listen for parts of the interview that grab your attention and make you think. These are parts of the interview that you know you will want to focus on because they tell you about something that matters to you. They may address your original "burning question", or they may open up an entirely new set of questions for you. Always start with what catches your attention right away and ask yourself, "What is she saying here? What's really going on here?" Transcribe (write down word-for-word) the parts of the tape that really grip you so that you can look at them while you are analyzing them. Scan the "Options For Analysis" handout and see if these parts of the transcript fit any of the possibilities for analysis listed. If they do, then focus your work on analyzing the options that they seem to fit (WARNING: do not choose more than 2 options, total, to analyze in your paper. Three is almost always too much! One option, analyzed in detail, may be your best strategy after all. One good, detailed and in-depth analysis is better than two quick, vague analyses). If the sections that you care about most fit none of the options, consider striking out on your own way. Be sure that you are doing analysis and not writing narrative, however, if you choose to do this! Use the "What is Analysis?" and "Your Interview: Analysis vs. Narration" handouts to guide your work. How do I look for a cultural theme or a cognitive principle? Listen to your tape several times. Look for points or ideas or opinions that echo each other. Make a note every time your subject says something that sounds a little like something she said before. Ask yourself, "What do these similar-sounding statements have in common?nbsp; Why do they seem to be alike?" When you think you see a common thread running through them, listen to the

tape again and check your suspicions against the whole interview. Can you use direct quotes to support your interpretation? If so, you may have discovered a cultural theme or cognitive principle. How can I tell the difference between a cultural theme and a cognitive principle? The two are similar. The difference is that cultural themes are beliefs that affect several parts of a person's life, while cognitive principles are beliefs that are only relevant to one or two closely related areas within a person's life. For example, the belief that "nothing comes easy in this life-everything is hard, and you must work for every advantage or gain you ever make" can and often does apply to career, relationships, fitness, parenting and any number of other parts of a person's life. But the belief that "women naturally store lots of fat so any fitness gains they make can only come if they work really hard in the gym," apply only to one or two areas of a person's life. The first belief might be a cultural theme (similar to the infamous "Protestant Work Ethic") while the second seems to be a cognitive principle about women's bodies. As you listen to your tape, ask yourself if the recurring idea(s) that you have identified are more generally applicable within your subject's life or whether it/they seem to be limited to one part of your informant's experience. How should I treat contradiction between what my subject says she believes and what she seems to do? Try to understand what your subject is struggling with when she seems to be contradicting herself. If you can, try asking clarification questions about the issue later. Remember to stay non-judgmental! You are not trying to decide whether she is a good person or a bad person or whether she is weak or strong (notice the binary oppositions here?). You are trying to enter her world and identify what areas she may be struggling with in her life and what that might mean. Refer to "What is Analysis?". As it suggests, begin your analysis by breaking down the issue(s) that she is struggling with and look at the relationship of the individual parts of the problem to each other. Then look at how the parts fit together with the whole issue. Finally, ask yourself what this pattern might mean to her and what insights you have about it. How do I start looking for some of the suggested areas for further analysis (social conflict, cultural contradiction, informal techniques of social control, techniques of acquiring and maintaining social status, examples of problem solving and use of language)? Begin in the same way as you would for identifying a cultural theme or cognitive principle. Read the description of each area in "Options For Analysis". Listen to your tape several times. Stop the tape and take notes (transcribing relevant sections) whenever you think that you've found an example of social conflict, a cultural contradiction, informal techniques of social control, techniques for acquiring and maintaining social status, examples of problem solving or an example of interesting and unusual use of language. Test your suspicions by listening to the whole tape again. Ask yourself if you can make a case for your interpretation by using direct quotes from the interview.

If so, go back to the "Options For Analysis" handout. Look under the section for the area you will be analyzing. Ask yourself the questions listed under the section (for example, if you are working on social conflict, start your analysis by asking yourself: "Is it gendered conflict? How? Racial conflict? How? Class conflict? How? What does this conflict mean to her?"). After you've written up your answers (supporting them with direct quotes from your subject) try to break the experience down further into its component parts and extend your analysis as described in the "What is Analysis?" handout. If you have already broken the conflict down into parts while answering the questions, you may not have to do this. Be sure to spend some time exploring what you think this pattern of social conflict means to her, and to you. How can I tell if theme, principle, contradiction, or technique is implied or explicit? If your subject doesn't seem to be consciously aware of the theme, belief, principle, etc. that you have identified, it is probably implied. If she talks about it directly and seems to understand that she is using this belief or technique, then it is probably explicit. Use direct quotes from your subject to support your assertion. Return to the Critical Biography Overview

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