Life History: A History

Florian Znaniecki Ann M. Glass & Susan L. Minobe 30 April 2008

IS 280 Soc Sci Res Meth Prof. J.V. Richardson, Jr.

Life History
an intensive account of a life, usually gathered through unstructured interviewing the analysis of personal documents such as letters, photographs, and diaries
(Scott & Marshall, 2005).

Used in many fields: Anthropology, History, Literature, Psychology, Social Welfare, Sociology Called by different names: Autobiography, Biography, Case Study, Oral History, Life History

Birth Pangs: pre-1900

Travel writing

http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/wildershores/index.htm

Biographies of American Indians

Barrett (1906)

Radin (1920)

Birth Pangs: early 1900s

The Social Reform Movement

(1916)

Department of Sociology & Anthropology

The Chicago School

Birth

1918-1920: William I. Thomas & Florian Znanieckis seminal 5-volume work, The Polish Peasant in Europe & America

The Polish Peasant

Thomas & Znaniecki used hundreds of personal letters, newspaper articles, court records, and social work and immigration documents. One volume (300+ pp) is the autobiography of a single individual

Breathing Life into Life History

So, what was the big deal?

Subjectivity matters

And lots and lots and lots of documents!

A Whole Lotta Life

1923: Anderson The Hobo Thomas The Unadjusted Girl 1928: Cavan Suicide Thrasher The Gang Wirth The Ghetto 1929: Donovan The Saleslady Zorbaugh The Gold Coast & the Slum 1930: Shaw The Jack Roller 1931: Shaw The Natural History of a Delinquent Career 1932: Cressey The Taxi-Dance Hall Frazier The Negro Family in Chicago 1937: Cornwell & Sutherland The Professional Thief

1920s-1930s

Ordinary People

Extraordinary Lives

[FWP] Life histories were described as life sketches, living lore, industrial lore, and occupational lore

The quality of collecting and writing lore varies from state to state, reflecting the skills of the interviewer-writers and the supervision they received.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/question2.html

The following two interviews with the same person, one conducted by an African-American interviewer, one by a white interviewer, present a stark example of the way the narrator's response to the social identity of the interviewer shapes the interview. Both interviewers worked from a common set of questions Read the two interviews, paying close attention to the interaction between Hamlin/ Hamilton and each interviewer and to the way she recounted her memories of slavery to each of them.

Death: 1940s-1960s

Well, not truly death as such, per se

(but it did cast rather a gloom over the evening )

FYI: for a good time, read:

Author/Name: Blumer, Herbert, 1900-1987. Title: An appraisal of Thomas and Znaniecki's The Polish peasant in Europe and America, by Herbert Blumer, with statements by William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, a panel discussion, and summary and analysis by Read Bain. Published/distributed: NY: Social science research council, [1939] Physical description: 210 p. 23 cm. Series: Critiques of research in the social sciences: I Subject(s): Sociology--Methodology. Record ID: 613182 Location: Call Number: College Library DK411 .T36Z

Blumers Appraisal of T&Z 1939

1)
2)

3)
4)

Social action springs from subjective disposition & must be factored in any analysis T&Zs proposed laws of social change/ becoming had no substance due to deficiencies in their concepts of attitude & value Human documents used in PP did not prove/disprove validity of their theories/ generalizations & failed to meet test of scientific criteria Even so, the docs clarified & supported theoretical assertions & vice versa!

Kinda Dead: 1940s-1960s

Rise of the P-O method Broader social survey method (national instead of just local, probability sampling, prediction) Attitude Scales (Stouffer, 1930) Interviews with narrower focus Analytic Induction, Grounded Theory, Symbolic Interactionism

Its Getting Better

1970s -

1972: Chambliss Box Man 1974: Bogdan Being Different 1975: Klockars The Professional Fence

Still, it was a slow process. Meanwhile

in other news

http://www.studsterkel.org/galleries.php

 1967: Division Street 1970: Hard Times: an oral history of the great depression 1974: Working: people talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do 1980: American dreams, lost and found 1984: "The Good War" : an oral history of WWII 1992: Race : how blacks and whites think and feel about the American obsession 2003: Hope dies last : keeping the faith in difficult times

Re-envisioning: Travel writing!

Youve come a long way, baby

Specifically women travel writers

Hearing voices
1989: PNG Interpreting Womens Lives 1993: Behar Translated woman: crossing the border with Esperanza's story McLaughlin & Tierney Naming Silent Lives Middleton Educating Feminists 1994: Sparks Self, Silence & Invisibility (journal article) 1995: Plummer Telling Sexual Stories 1998: Munro Subject to Fiction: Women teachers life history

 1999: Robinson Gay lives: homosexual autobiography from John Addington Symonds to Paul Monette 2000: Howard & Stevens Out & about campus 2003: Faderman Naked in the promised land 2004: Galliher Laud Humphreys : prophet of homosexuality and sociology 2007: Cruz Queer Latino testimonio, Keith Haring, and Juanito Xtravaganza

Oh, and we have a few in our field, too

Beck, Clare. 2006. The new woman as librarian: the career of Adelaide Hasse. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press Borchert, Don. 2007. Free for all : oddballs, geeks, and gangstas in the public library. NY: Virgin Books Dodge, Chris and Jan DeSirey. 1995. Everything you always wanted to know about Sandy Berman but were afraid to ask. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Ellsworth, Ralph Eugene. 1980. Ellsworth on Ellsworth. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press Gaver, Mary Virginia. 1988. A braided cord: memoirs of a school librarian. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press Horn, Zoia. 1995. Zoia! : memoirs of Zoia Horn, battler for people's right to know. Jefferson, NC: McFarland

 McPheeters, Annie L. 1988. Library service in black and white. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press Powell, Lawrence Clark. 1988. An orange grove boyhood: growing up in southern California, 1910-1928 . Santa Barbara: Capra Press Richardson, John V. 1992. The gospel of scholarship: Pierce Butler and a critique of American librarianship. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press Sayers, Frances Clarke. 1972. Anne Carroll Moore: a biography. NY: Atheneum Sinnette, Elinor Des Verney. 1989. Arthur Alfonso Schomburg, black bibliophile & collector. NY: NYPL Vosper, Robert. 1989. International library horizons. Washington : Library of Congress Wiegand, Wayne A. 1996. Irrepressible reformer : a biography of Melvil Dewey. Chicago : ALA

Would you call it LH Methodology just done really poorly?

Selected Bibliography
Barrett, Stephan M. 1906. Geronimos story of his life. NY: Duffield Becker, Howard Saul. 1970. Sociological work; method and substance. Chicago: Aldine Pub Co Behar, Ruth. 1993. Translated woman : crossing the border with Esperanza's story. Boston: Beacon Press Blumer, Herbert (1939) An appraisal of Thomas and Znaniecki's The Polish peasant in Europe and America, by Herbert Blumer, with statements by William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, a panel discussion, and summary and analysis by Read Bain. NY: Social Science Research Council Cruz, Arnaldo. 2007. Queer Latino testimonio, Keith Haring, and Juanito Xtravaganza. NY: Palgrave Macmillan DeVault, Marjorie. 1997. Personal Writing in Social Research. In Reflexivity & voice, ed. Rosanna Hertz, 216-28. Thousand Oaks: Sage

Selected Bibliography (cont.)

DeVault, Marjorie L. 2007. Knowledge from the Field. In Sociology in America: a history, ed. Craig Calhoun, 155-182. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Faderman, Lillian. 2003. Naked in the promised land. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co Galliher, John F. 2004. Laud Humphreys: prophet of homosexuality and sociology. Madison: U of WI Press Goodson, Ivor. 1980. Life History & the Study of Schooling. Interchange 11 no.4: 62-76 Goodson, Ivor. 2001. The Story of Life History: Origins of the Life History Method in Sociology. Identity 1 no.2: 129-142 Harvey, Lee (1987) Myths of the Chicago school of sociology. Brookfield, VT: Gower Howard, Kim & Annie Stevens. 2000. Out & about campus. LA: Alyson Books

Selected Bibliography (cont.)

Phelan, Thomas J. 1989. From the Attic of the "American Journal of Sociology": Unusual Contributions to American Sociology, 1895-1935. Sociological Forum 4, no.1 : 71-86 Radin, Paul. 1920. Crashing Thunder: the autobiography of an American Indian. University of California series in American archaeology and ethnology 16, no.7 Robinson, Paul A. 1999. Gay lives : homosexual autobiography from John Addington Symonds to Paul Monette. Chicago: U of Chicago Press Scott, John and Gordon Marshall. 2005. Dictionary of Sociology. OUP. http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry =t88.e1269&authstatuscode=200 Siegel, Kristi. 2004. Gender, Genre, & Identity in Womens Travel Writing. NY: Peter Lang Sparks, A. 1994. Self, silence and invisibility as a beginning teacher. British Journal of Sociology of Education 15 no.1: 93-118

To Be Continued

The Life of Life History

a.k.a.

Methodology

Isms.
Realism Idealism Naturalism Culturalism Humanism Pragmatism Antipositivism Constructivism

And a Schism. (?!)

Analytical Induction v. Grounded Theory

Oral History is
The systematic collection of living people's testimony about their own experiences.
Judith Moyer, Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History Judith Moyer 1993, Revised 1999, http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.htm

Oral History is not

Folklore Gossip Hearsay Rumor

*Moyer, 1993

 Oral historians attempt to verify their findings, analyze them, and place them in an accurate historical context. (We're looking for validity and reliability here!!!) Oral historians are also concerned with storage of their findings for use by later scholars.

Qual or Quan?
In comparison to traditional standardized questionlist (Q-list) interviews, paper and pencil Event History Calendars (EHCs) have been shown to provide better quality retrospective reports on social and labor histories for a two-year reference period.
Agrawal, Sangeeta., Andreski, Patricia. and Belli, Robert. "CATI Event History Calendar and QuestionList Methods: Accuracy of Life Course Retrospective Reports" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs, Phoenix, Arizona, May 11, 2004. http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p115882_index.html

 Oral history depends upon human memory and the spoken word. The means of collection can vary from taking notes by hand to elaborate electronic aural and video recordings. Either way, prepare for...

Oral Historian's Anxiety Syndrome

"That panicky realization that irretrievable information is slipping away from us with every moment.*

*Moyer, 1993

 "The importance of oral testimony may often lie not in its adherence to acts but rather in its divergence from them, where imagination, symbolism, desire break in. Therefore there are no 'false' oral sources. Once we have checked their factual credibility with all the established criteria of historical philogocial criticism that apply to every document, the diversity of oral history consists in the fact that 'untrue' statements are still psychologically 'true', and that these previous 'errors' sometimes reveal more than factually accurate accounts.
Portelli, A. (1981) The peculiarities of oral history, as quoted in Plummer, 1983.

Plummers Paradigm of Methodological Problems

1. Sociological/epistemological. The "Why 2. Technical -- the nuts and bolts of gathering info. ("How"?) 3. Ethical and political - justification for doing the work, before, during and after. 4. Personal: the dual impact of the research on the researcher's personal life and of the researcher's personal life upon the research. These have to be confronted at every stage of the work.

Sequence for Oral History Research

1.Formulate a central question or issue. 2.Plan the project. Consider such things as end products, budget, publicity, evaluation, personnel, equipment, and time frames. 3.Conduct background research..

Sequence for Oral History Research cond

4.Interview. 5.Process the interviews. 6.Evaluate research and interviews and 7. Cycle back if necessary.

Sequence for Oral History Research cond

8.Organize and present results. 9.Store materials archivally.

Oral History Reminder List:

Preparation
1.Decide your research goals and determine if oral history will help you reach them. You may find that your goals change. 2.Conduct preliminary research using non-oral sources. 3.Define your population sample. How will you select the people you will interview? Contact potential interviewees, explain your project, and ask for help.

Oral History Reminder List:

Preparation
4.Assemble your equipment to fit your purposes. Research and choose the kind of recording that you need to produce and then choose your equipment. For example, does it need to be broadcast quality? Does it need a long life? What can you afford?

Oral History Reminder List:

Preparation
5.Use an external microphone for better sound quality. This also applies to video. 6.Test your equipment beforehand and get to know how it works under various conditions. Practice using your equipment before you go to the real interview. 7.If audio casssette taping, use sixty-minute tapes that screw together.

Oral History Reminder List:

Preparation
8.Compile a list of topics or questions. 9.Practice interviewing. 10.Make a personalized checklist of things you must remember to do before, during, and after the interview.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
1.Verify your appointment a day or two before the interview. 2.On the day of the interview, give yourself extra time to get there. 3.Interview and record in a quiet place. When setting up, listen for a moment. Make adjustments, such as stopping the pendulum on the tick-tock clock, putting out the dog thats chewing noisily on the recorder cord, and closing the door on the noisy traffic.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
4.Make sure the interviewee understands the purpose of the interview and how you intend to use it. This is not a private conversation.
5.Start each recording with a statement of who, what, when, and where you are interviewing.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
6.Listen actively and intently.

7.Speak one at a time.

8.Allow silence. Give the interviewee time to think. Silence will work for you.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
9.Ask one question at a time.

10.Follow up your current question thoroughly before moving to the next.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
Usually ask questions open enough to get "essay" answers unless you are looking for specific short-answer "facts." Start with less probing questions. Ask more probing questions later in the interview.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
4.Wrap up the interview with lighter talk. Do not drop the interviewee abruptly after an intense interview. 5.Be aware of and sensitive to the psychological forces at work during the interview.

Oral History Reminder List:

The Interview
6.Limit interviews to about one to two hours in length, depending on the fatigue levels of you and your interviewee. 7.In general, don't count on photos to structure your interview, but you can use them as initial prompts. Carry large envelopes for borrowed and labeled artifacts such as photos.

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

1.How did I choose the person to be interviewed? Were the people I interviewed the right ones for my research? 2.How did I prepare for the interview? Did I prepare enough? 3.What did I use for equipment? Did it work satisfactorily? What changes should I make?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

4.What kinds of questions did I ask? What kinds of questions worked well? Not so well? 5.Where did I conduct the interview? What in the environment affected my interview? How?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

6.Did my subject want to talk? How did I encourage my subject to talk? What "masks" did my subject wear? Did my subject drop the masks? 7.When did I tell my subject the purpose of the interview and how it would be used? Did my plans to use the interview seem to matter to the subject?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

8.How accurate were my subject's memories? 9.How accurate was my subject's reporting of her memories? How do I know? Does it matter? 10.Who controlled the interview? How? 11.How did I feel while interviewing?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

12.How did my subject feel while being interviewed? 13.Would it be useful and possible to return for another interview? 14.How do these results affect my original goals? Do I need to adjust my research design?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

15.When I transcribe, will I write exactly what was said or will I begin light editing right from the start? How will I decide what to write and what not to write? 16.How can I ensure that the transcription is accurate? How can I ensure that the transcription reports what the subject wanted to say?

Questions For Thinking About Your Interview

17.Who owns the interview and has the right to decide how the completed interview and transcription will be used? 18.Next time, what would I do the same? What would I do differently?

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up
1.Label and number all recordings immediately. 2.Have the interviewee sign the release form before you leave or send a transcript to the interviewee for correction before the release form is signed. 3.After the interview, make field notes about the interview.

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up

4.Write a thank-you note.

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up
5.Have a system to label and file everything. Do it. 6.Copy borrowed photos immediately and return the originals. Handle all photos by the edges and transport them protected by stiff cardboard in envelopes. Make photocopies for an interim record.

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up
7.Copy each interview tape. Store the original in a separate place and use only the duplicate. 8.Transcribe or index the recordings. Assign accession numbers to recordings and transcripts. Make copies of all work. Store separately.

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up
9.Analyze the interview. Verify facts. Compare your results with your research design. Did you get what you need? What further questions do the interview results suggest? What improvements in your method do the interview results suggest?

Oral History Reminder List:

Wrapping Up
10.Go back for another interview if necessary. 11.If you decide to, give the interviewee a copy of the recording or transcript. Ask for transcript corrections and a release form. 12.Make provisions for long-term storage.
*All numbered lists on these slides derived from Moyer, 1993

Anns Three Keys to Interviewing

1. Rehearse

Three keys to Interviewing

2. Relate = Respect, not (necessarily) Rapport

Three keys to Interviewing

Reassess

Selected Bibliography
Agrawal, Sangeeta., Andreski, Patricia. and Belli, Robert. "CATI Event History Calendar and Question-List Methods: Accuracy of Life Course Retrospective Reports" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs, Phoenix, Arizona, May 11, 2004
Author Unknown. History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. Accessed 4/24/08. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/oral/online.html Fry, A.R. 1975. Reflections on Ethics. The Oral History Review, Vol. 3: 16-28. Retrieved 4/23/08 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3674971

Jones, L.A. 2004. Review of The Oral History Manual " by Barbara W. Sommer and Mary Kay Quinlan, in The Oral History Review, Vol. 31, No. 2: 98-100. Accessed 4/24/08. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/3675382.pdf.

Selected Bibliography
Kerr, D. 2003. "We Know What the Problem Is": Using Oral History to Develop a Collaborative Analysis of Homelessness from the Bottom Up. The Oral History Review, Vol. 30, No. 1: 27-45. Retrieved 04/23/08 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3675350 Menninger, R. 1975. Some Psychological Factors Involved in Oral History Interviewing, The Oral History Review, Vol. 3: pp. 68-75. Retrieved 4/23/08 13:21 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3674974 . Moyer, Judith 1999. Step-by-Step Guide to Oral History. Retrieved 4/20/08 from http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.htm

Selected Bibliography
Plummer, Ken 1983. Documents of Life. London: George Allen & Unwin. Roberts, Brian 2002. Biographical Research. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Yow, V. 2004. Review of Key Themes in Qualitative Research: Continuities and Change by Paul Atkinson, Amanda Coffey, and Sara Delamont, in The Oral History Review, Vol. 31, No. 1: 104-106 .Retrieved 4/23/08 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3675545