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The process of this assignment is as follows:
You will choose the person you interview. Be intentional in your choice. This assignment works best when you interview someone whom you don’t know too well. You are required to choose someone who is not a close friend or family member. You should aim to have your interview completed by March 20 so that you have time to write up your data, transforming it into information.
Though you will have some class time to conduct the interview, you must plan for additional interview time before your Part One paper is due. The interview will likely need a minimum of one hour. Interview context is very important. We recommend a place or video conferencing software that allows you to observe nonverbal communication. Take care to find an interview location where you can minimize distractions
Conduct the interview using the shortened LSI protocol linked below. Daniel McAdams and colleagues developed the protocol, which is now used for many life history narratives. Even with the shortened protocol, you may not get to all the questions and narrators may choose to skip any question they would like to. Choose the prompts that you think are most vital to get to before your interview and be prepared to ask probing, open-ended questions to clarify if needed,
Record answers to the interview questions as well as any follow-up questions. Write or type field notes to capture responses. With permission, audio record the interview. Be sure to also make note of nonverbal cues and behaviors.
Transform your written notes into an edited, manageable document. You need not and should not produce a complete transcript of the interview. Instead, select the key moments from your interview that illuminate the important aspects of your subject’s life. Place this in narrative form with some direct quotations and descriptions of nonverbal behavior. This document is Part One (LSI Data) of the LSI assignment. (More information below.)
In Part Two of the LSI assignment (LSI Reflection, in separate document in Brightspace), you will critically reflect on your interview in light of course material to better understand your subject’s development and lifespan. Additionally, you will reflect on your own growth and learning over the course of the semester.
LSI Part One (Data Collection)
The first part of the LSI assignment is a document that presents your LSI data. This should not be a complete transcript of everything that you and your interviewee said (as your interview should be about an hour, that would be quite lengthy; this document should be between six and eight double-spaced pages, excluding title page and any references. Instead, this document highlights the most important aspects of your conversation, written in such a way as to aid your future use of the interview. Structure the document using the order of the interview questions. As you summarize, present the most important quotations and nonverbal behaviors.
Follow APA style guidelines and use appropriate level headings. You must include:
A brief introduction of the interview and your subject. Provide a clear description of your subject including age, gender, race, relationship status, place of residence, and other pertinent or interesting background details. Include how you gathered your information. Refer to your interview partner by their first initial. If you connect to any course concepts, be sure to cite them in text and in a references page.
The edited data from your interview. This should not be a complete transcript but should instead select the most important quotations and nonverbal elements of your conversation.
Use the headings provided in the LSI protocol to make this more user-friendly for you and your discussion lab instructor. Clearly indicate that you have asked and are providing responses for each sub-question under the heading, but make sure that you write this as a narrative account of your experience.
Ensure that you are quoting directly when appropriate (about 40–50% of the total document). The remaining portion should be your narrative experience, summaries of your subject’s responses, nonverbal behaviors, and section summaries.
Be sure to capture descriptions of nonverbal behaviors. This not only demonstrates the closeness with which you listened to your subject, but it also provides rich context and meaningful details. Include enough detail that the reader has a sense of how your subject acted over the course of the interview and flag any major shifts in demeanor or behavior. Nonverbal cues should be reported non-judgmentally; although you may make inferences about what a particular cue might mean, you should be careful not to ascribe definitive meaning to it. Use language like “this may indicate” or “this could mean that.”
Document any follow-up questions that you asked, as well as the responses.
An example of how you might write up a single question follows: When asked about the low point in her life, C related the story of the passing of her father. She said, “I wasn’t really expecting it to be as hard on me as it was, and even though it happened 5 years ago, I still think about it all the time.” She paused for a moment, and then continued: “It wasn’t sudden, but it was still shocking, if that makes sense. He was diagnosed with cancer and died about 10 months after the diagnosis, and it just felt like everything in my life got sad after that for a little while.”
Section summary statements that offer a 2–3 sentence wrap-up or summary of each of the major sections (i.e., the lettered sections) of the LSI. These statements should give a brief synopsis of what your participant said, as well as any meaningful insights you gleaned from the conversation (e.g., When she was asked to consider the major events of her life, C focused mainly on her family, marking each new phase of her life around a milestone, be it marriage, birth of niece, or leaving for college. It seems clear that she views family as an important anchor and guidepost, and her strongest reactions—both laughter and tears—came when speaking about the members of her immediate family.)
An interview summary statement that offers a brief (a few sentences) wrap-up of the entire interview, providing insight into how the entire process went (e.g., C seemed ready to speak about all aspects of her life and did not need to spend any considerable amount of time thinking about her answers, potentially indicating that she had reflected on her life many times before this interview. She seemed generally quite happy to speak about the past and was forthcoming with details as needed, and she was a very pleasant person to speak with. The interview lasted approximately 58 minutes, and C spent most of that time discussing her siblings and adult relationships, with less emphasis placed on early life.)
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