A bit of housekeeping!

I am sat in a coffee shop with my lap top and a latte…I have had to come here as I am either too distracted at home or work or might fall asleep, so being in a public place means I have to get on with it or else!

Having had a tutorial on Tuesday my supervisors have given me a few jobs to tidy up and catch up.  I also have a number of my own to get on with so I will have to update when I’ve completed.

First thing is to write 500 words as to how I go about picking my sample of people to interview.  To be honest, its generally by artistic interpretation of the story, if I think I can become a translator of that emotion and am moved by the narration then I try to work with it.  I wish in a way I had done it a bit more systematically….as in taken one story, transcribed it, processed it and made the item and moved on to the next.  I am kind of doing that now, but just a bit stuck on the making side.  I’ll get the hang of it soon I hope.  I have a few ideas to work on.

I have also been updating my ‘list’ of participants, looking at patterns or things like age, socio-economic background type of relationship.  The majority are familial relationships and romantic.  The romantic are more ‘sad’ in a sense rather than a celebration of the relationship as what i’m finding is the familial loves are ones that have passed away rather than ‘ended’ through choice.  This is something to consider in the making process.

I now need to also update my time line and add in another strand.  I’ll post this when I have.  It’s a job I have been meaning to do since the progression panel.  Also updating my progress report and adding to it.  I think I will do this in a different colour so I can keep it as a working document….again when I find time….So that’s what I’m hoping to do soon!

 

 

Popped tyres and podcasts!

So I managed to hit the curb and rip my tyre open meaning I didn’t have my car this week! I didn’t realise the bus left from directly outside my house at 7.55am and returned for 4.45pm which was a great revelation!  It was also a great time to sit and read or listen to a podcast or two on route!  I am particularly enjoying the TED radio hour, which is like a summary of TED talks on any given subject.  I listened to one about Love quite aptly.  It discussed the love between siblings being an unreadable bond but also which I found quite interesting parental love but also how your parents never see you in your ‘real life’ and like what you do as your job etc.

I listened to one about listening “The Act of Listening !  There was some really interesting ideas around recording interviews, one of the talks by Dave Isay discussed ‘Ghetto Life 101’ where two children in the 1990s were given tape recorders to record their everyday lives.  He also talked about ‘Story Corps’ where booths were set up to record peoples conversations with each other.  I love the idea of all these oral histories being collected and it made me value the interviews I’ve collected as these are stories that might have disappeared with the people and the generations.  It has made me realise that actually my PhD does contribute to new knowledge in this way as preserving past relationships.

I also listened to a radio 4 ‘Four Thought’ podcast entitled ‘other people’s stories’.  Anna Derrig was discussing different issues around telling other peoples stories, from ethical issues  and also people who are featured by association.  Also about how even if you have ethical consent, you need to maybe show that person ‘how’ you have translated or told their story as it might not be what they expected!

I enjoyed my bus journey, but also found that I can listen to podcasts in my car (hurrah)….Going on the bus means you get really cold feet!!!!!!

 

Protected: Interview 5.

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