Conversational Interviews Research Articles

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invisibilized Challenges of Black Girlhood in Elite Independent Schools

Background/Context: The experiences of Black girls navigating elite, predominantly white independent schools remain underresearched in the academy despite this issue being integral in disciplines such as sociology, education, and African American studies. Within such institutions, Black girls must navigate the duality of their privilege in having access to the highest quality and resourced education with the marginality of being a demographic minority within a space controlled by cultural elites. Purpose: This study investigates the experiences of Black girls in independent schools via the accounts of Black-woman-identifying alumni of such institutions. This study utilizes a Black feminist framework for understanding the often overlooked excess challenges that Black girls are forced to face. Research Design: Through qualitative semi-structured, conversational interviews with 13 Black women graduates of 10 Mid-Atlantic and New England boarding and day schools, this study explores how the graduates reflect on their experiences navigating elite schooling during formative adolescent years, decision-making processes, and management of Black girl identities within the exceedingly white and wealthy context of independent schools. Conclusions: Significant themes that emerged from the qualitative data generated by this study include feelings of rootlessness from Black and white communities, difficulty navigating a racialized and gendered social hierarchy, and heightened levels of social anxiety and self-consciousness about physical and ideological selves. Through a thematic retelling from those who have lived through the challenges and understand how they are presented in these contexts, the significance of this study’s exploration of Black girls in independent school is the (1) liberation of these historically marginalized voices and (2) potential to provide current school leaders a framework for how best to support their students.

Pushing and shoving: Tales of contestation at selected satellite schools in Zimbabwe

Satellite schools are a relatively new phenomenon within the context of education in Zimbabwe. At the turn of the century, Zimbabwe dominated media headlines because of the land reform. Land reform saw the redistribution of land from commercial farms owned by a minority of white commercial farmers. Resultantly, the land reform created a demand for schools in the former commercial farms that led to the establishment of satellite schools. The researchers drew from the Social Identity Theory of leadership to unpack the contestations faced by administrators at the selected satellite schools. Data for this study were generated using conversational interviews that were triangulated with focus group discussions. The researchers made use of mini-focus group discussions. A purposive sample of six mother school heads and six satellite school heads was selected for this study. The researchers utilised thematic analysis to analyse data from the conversational interviews and focus group discussions. The researchers established that there were contestations between the mother school head and the acting head of the satellite school. Further contestations were evident between the satellite school acting head and the traditional leadership. Additionally, there was contestation between political parties for influence at satellite schools. The researchers contend that some of the sources of the contestations at the selected satellite schools were attributable to the social identities of the acting heads of the satellite schools. From the study findings, the researchers recommend the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education must adopt a clearer organogram concerning the supervision of satellite schools.

Complexities of sustainable palm oil production by smallholders in sub‐Saharan Africa

AbstractSub‐Saharan Africa is increasingly viewed as an important area for oil palm cultivation and expansion. Palm oil is a commodity that can help developing countries like Cameroon attain their sustainable development goals (SDGs) targets through poverty alleviation (SDG 1) and by providing revenue to smallholder farmers to buy a variety of food thereby reducing hunger. However, due to the many negative environmental and social consequences, the sector needs to be made more sustainable. In this study, we set out to unpack the complexities including costs and benefits for smallholder farmers to practice sustainable palm oil production. We use both gray and peer‐reviewed literature, conversational interviews with smallholder farmers and managers of certified palm oil mills, and a workshop with smallholders in Cameroon. We found that smallholders face several challenges including weak land tenure rights, the use of poor‐quality seeds and low‐yielding oil palms, and a lack of skills, expertise, and access to financing. Certification could help alleviate some of the challenges by providing access to financing, training to improve yields, access to better seedlings, and increased access to higher value markets. However, the certification cost is very high compared to the income from oil palm cultivation for most farmers. Farmers will therefore need considerable assistance from organizations and brokers to remain financially viable. Our study provides important insights to countries such as the EU, United Kingdom, and United States that are in the process of adopting legislation to regulate deforestation associated with imports of key commodities such as palm oil.

'By identifying myself as Métis, I didn't feel safe…': Experiences of navigating racism and discrimination among Métis women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse community members in Victoria, Canada.

Racism acts as a major barrier to accessing health services for Indigenous communities in Canada, often leading to delayed, avoided or lack of treatment altogether. The Métis population is uniquely positioned in urban settings, as they experience discrimination from both Indigenous and mainstream health and social services due to Canada's long colonial history that is ongoing. Yet, Métis are often left out of discussions regarding racism and health service access. This study explores the experiences of racism and health service access among Métis peoples in Victoria, British Columbia. We allied a conversational interview method to explore and understand experiences of self-identifying Métis women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people (n = 24) who access health and social services in Victoria. Data analysis followed Flicker and Nixon's six-stage DEPICT model. In this paper, we share the experiences of racism and discrimination of those who accessed health and social services in Victoria, British Columbia Such experiences include passing as White, experiencing racism following Métis identity disclosure and witnessing racism. Passing as White was viewed as a protective factor against discrimination as well as harming participants' sense of identity. Experiences of racism took the form of discriminatory comments, harassment and mistreatment, which influenced the willingness of disclosing Métis identity. Witnessing racism occurred in participants, personal and professional lives, negatively impacting them in indirect ways. Each experience of racism had a negative influence on participants' wellbeing and shaped their experience of accessing health and social services. Métis people confront racism and discrimination when attempting to access health and social services through first-hand experiences, witnessing and/or avoidance. While this study contributes to the all too often unacknowledged voices of Métis in Canada, there is a continued need for Métis-specific research to accurately inform policy and practice.

Disrupting delayed matching-to-sample performance with varied distractor tasks

ABSTRACT Explanations of delayed stimulus control (e.g., delayed matching-to-sample, sequencing stimuli under the control of spoken instructions) and other instances of joint control often rely on “mediating” behavior, typically echoic responses occurring throughout the delay, to explain how stimuli no longer present can control behavior. While covert mediation itself cannot be observed, several researchers have looked at different procedures that disrupt potential performance by “blocking” presumed covert mediation by engaging in unrelated overt verbal behavior to tell us more about the nature of this putative mediation. In this study, preschool-aged children were taught to tact pictures of familiar objects and select them from an array of eight. During delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) trials, participants were required to either talk to the experimenter, look at distractor pictures, or match figures using a tangram toy. The type of “blocking” activity during the delay was manipulated in a test-retest multiple treatment design, and the resulting DMTS performance was compared. With some individual differences, the distractor task assumedly most incompatible with covert verbal rehearsal, a conversational interview, was the least disruptive to performance. These data suggest refraining from assuming performance reductions during “blocking” are caused by incompatibility with covert mediation.

Learner Diversity in Higher Education: Articulations of Diverse Subjectivities Through Everyday Life Experiences

This paper explores how articulations of diverse learners’ identities and subjectivities emerge through everyday life experiences within a modern public university in India. The study adopts a constructivist grounded theory approach and, through in-depth conversational interviews, focuses on the voices of 35 learners belonging to diverse marginalised communities. Massification and the shifting demographics of learners in higher education have made university spaces a composite of heterogeneous identities. As learners belonging to diverse marginalised social groups began to increasingly navigate campus life, contestations emerged, due to the lack of recognition of these unfamiliar socio-political sensibilities and the emerging alternate discourses within these elite corridors of knowledge. Further, inherent elitism and meritocracy saliently dominating the normative cultural behaviour within the institutions, hindered the participation and inclusion of these learners, resulting in exclusivity and marginalisation in everyday life. As a result, the articulation and voice of learners emerged as acts of resistance and their agency freedom, leading to the emergence of a learner’s identity, an agential and assertive reflection of how learners articulate their self, succumb to or resist marginalisation, get excluded or participate and make choices for their future. Everyday life experiences, determined by learners’ situated articulations of their life course, became a framework explicating and articulating their distinct subjectivities, negotiations, challenges and aspirations. Therefore, learners’ capacity and will to negotiate, resist and persist, against the normativity in practice and processes in higher education, leads to cultivation of their agency freedom.

A wellbeing perspective of Indigenous tourism in Sri Lanka

COVID-19 has impacted severely on all sectors of the tourism industry. However, only a handful of studies have investigated how Indigenous communities and their tourism operations have coped during the pandemic. We offer a Spaces of Wellbeing perspective that is novel in the context of Indigenous tourism research and addresses alternative frameworks that consider the wellbeing of Indigenous communities. This should be central to our understanding of sustainable tourism development and the building of resilient tourism operations. Through a collaborative research partnership built on trust, and respect for traditional social ranks, explored this framework in conversational walk-along interviews to raise how the wellbeing spaces of the Vedda people in Sri Lanka were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A qualitative study examining newly diagnosed breast cancer patients’ experiences of participating in the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer (AMBER) prospective cohort study

BackgroundDecisions to participate in cancer trials are associated with uncertainty, distress, wanting to help find a cure, the hope for benefit, and altruism. There is a gap in the literature regarding research examining participation in prospective cohort studies. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of newly diagnosed women with breast cancer participating in the AMBER Study to identify potential strategies to support patients’ recruitment, retention, and motivation.MethodsNewly diagnosed breast cancer patients were recruited from the Alberta Moving Beyond Breast Cancer (AMBER) cohort study. Data were collected using semi-structured conversational interviews with 21 participants from February to May 2020. Transcripts were imported into NVivo software for management, organization, and coding. Inductive content analysis was undertaken.ResultsFive main concepts associated with recruitment, retention, and motivation to participate were identified. These main concepts included: (1) personal interest in exercise and nutrition; (2) investment in individual results; (3) personal and professional interest in research; (4) burden of assessments; (5) importance of research staff.ConclusionsBreast cancer survivors participating in this prospective cohort study had numerous reasons for participating and these reasons could be considered in future studies to enhance participant recruitment and retention. Improving recruitment and retention in prospective cancer cohort studies could result in more valid and generalizable study findings that could improve the care of cancer survivors.

Migration and meaning: an exploration of elite refugee athletes’ transitions into the Canadian sports system

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to explore 14 elite refugee athletes’ experiences of transitioning to the Canadian sports system and to examine the social contexts that enabled and constrained meaning, a psychological mechanism that facilitates adaptive cultural transitions. Framed within critical realism, arts-based conversational interviews were undertaken with the elite refugee athletes. Through a reflexive thematic analysis and Viktor Frankl’s theory of meaning, four themes (feelings of hope and empowerment, environmental challenges and adaptations, despair, and social support) were created to trace the fluctuations of meaning throughout the refugee athletes’ transitions into their new sports systems. The results are presented through a single polyphonic vignette to highlight and contrast the how interacting contextual factors of time within a new sport system, support, and structure of the receiving sport system, enabled athletes to find meaning within their experiences. The manuscript provides an initial immersion into elite refugee athletes’ experiences which may be used by sports psychology practitioners (SPPs) to inform meaning-based interventions that encourages such athletes to connect with values present in their lives.

Climate Justice Communication: Strategies from U.S. Climate Activists

ABSTRACT Despite the rise of climate justice movements worldwide, climate justice concerns are insufficiently addressed in recent U.S. policy, and public understanding is not yet widespread. To explore possible avenues for climate justice communication, this analysis examines U.S. climate activists’ recommended target audiences and communication strategies. Drawing on 67 conversational interviews and 112 online surveys with activists, the analysis discusses strategies for engaging two high-priority audiences: (1) social justice advocates who do not see the climate crisis as a justice issue and (2) climate action advocates who do not view climate justice as integral to climate solutions. The analysis also identifies a low-priority audience category of climate justice deniers, or people who—independent of their views on the climate crisis itself—are apathetic to its social justice implications. These results propose a novel audience segmentation for climate justice communication and consolidate activists’ recommendations for engaging each audience, thus providing a grounding for further experimental work.

A qualitative study exploring access barriers to abortion services among Indigenous Peoples in Canada

ObjectiveThis paper reports on findings from our exploratory qualitative study that aims to advance knowledge around access to and experiences with abortion services among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Study designWe applied an Indigenous methodology to engage with 15 Indigenous Peoples across Canada utilizing a conversational interview method. Our study was informed by an Indigenous Advisory Committee consisting of front-line service providers working in the area of abortion service access and/ or support across Canada. ResultsWe conducted conversations from September and November 2021. Participants identified with Métis, Cree, Dene, Inuit, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Mi'kmaq nations, across nine provinces and territories. Participants spoke to six themes encompassing challenges and potential solutions around abortion access experiences among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These included (1) logistical barriers, (2) poor treatment, (3) stigma, (4) impacts of colonialism on attitudes towards abortion, (5) traditional knowledge, and (6) follow-up care and support. ConclusionsOur study demonstrates that Indigenous Peoples experience abortion access barriers that are different than non-Indigenous Canadians, and that these barriers are closely linked to colonialism. ImplicationsIndigenous knowledges and practices that honor reproductive choice that pre-dates settler colonialism, must be brought forward into today to enhance the quality of abortion care.

Slowing it Down: Towards Facilitating Interpersonal Mindfulness in Online Polarizing Conversations Over Social Media

Discussions about polarizing topics are essential to have, yet they can easily become hostile, aggressive, or distressing on current social media platforms. Content moderation interventions aim to mitigate this issue, though such approaches are reactionary, removing harmful content only after it has been posted. We conducted a mixed-methods experiment with 40 participants to investigate how a design friction that manipulates the temporal flow during a contentious conversation can foster interpersonal mindfulness, a trait critical for productive communication. Dyads were randomly assigned into the Control Group which received no intervention, and the Experiment Group where participants were limited to sending one message per two-minute interval. Triangulating quantitative and qualitative data from conversation logs, questionnaires, interviews, and computational text analysis, our findings revealed a two-fold effect: Experiment Group participants felt simultaneously frustrated by the intervention as it disrupted the pacing of their conversation and interfered with rapport-building, and appreciative of the intervention as it nudged them towards writing thoughtful and task-focused messages. We discuss implications of these findings for future investigation into the design of temporal interventions to influence interpersonal mindfulness during polarizing online conversations.

Health-care providers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons for leaders

PurposeThe purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore health-care providers’ perspectives and experiences with a specific focus on supports reported to be effective during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overarching goal of this study is to inform leaders and leadership regarding provision of supports that could be implemented during times of crisis and in the future beyond the pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData were collected by semi-structured, conversational interviews with a sample of 33 health-care professionals, including Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Psychologists, Registered Dieticians and an Occupational Therapist.FindingsThree major themes emerged from the interview data: (1) professional and personal challenges for health-care providers, (2) physical and mental health impacts on health-care providers and (3) providing supports for health-care providers. The third theme was further delineated into three sub-theses: formal resources and supports, informal resources and supports and leadership strategies.Originality/valueHealth-care leaders are advised to pay attention to the voices of the people they are leading. It is important to know what supports health-care providers need in times of crisis. Situating the needs of health-care providers in the Carter and Bogue Model of Leadership Influence for Health Professional Wellbeing (2022) can assist leaders to deliberately focus on aspects of providers’ wellbeing and remain cognizant of the supports needed both during a crisis and when circumstances are unremarkable.

The Meaning of the Word Makan in the Banjarese Language as a Treasure of Language Culture

The diversity of meanings of a word indicates the treasure of people's knowledge system in the language. This research is to reveal the meaning of one of the words in question, namely, makan, in the Banjar language. The research problem is the meaning of the makan word as a language and cultural treasure in the Banjar people. The study objective is to describe the form of the word makan as a language and cultural wealth in the Banjar people. This research applies qualitative descriptive research methods with observation, note-taking, and documentation techniques. Data collection techniques are uninvolved conversation observation techniques and interviews. The research steps are observation, data collection, sorting, presentation, analysis, and conclusion. The theory related to this research is a semantic, pragmatic, anthropolinguistic approach. The data source is the speech of the Banjar people, who use the word makan. Data collection was in Banjar and Hulu Sungai Selatan Regencies. The collection of data was from June 2021—April 2022. Triangulation of data applies several sources and theories. The data analysis uses miles and Huberman models. The study results show 11 forms of the meaning of eating, swallowing, requiring, utilizing, functioning, damaging, eroding, hurting feelings, spending time, being deceived, and many experiences. The 11 meanings consist of denotations and connotations. The connotation consists of the synecdoche totum pro parte, metaphor, and personification. In conclusion, the results will provide the referral educational material on scientifically documented regional language cultures amid the influence of national and international language dominance.

Teaching Online during Covid-19 crisis:  Lived Experience of Faculty Members of Nepali Business Schools

COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the teaching-learning activities of almost all universities across the globe. To continue the teaching-learning activities, most of the universities switched to online mode of teaching. Using hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, this study explored the lived experiences of the faculty members of business schools who began teaching online during this pandemic. The data were collected through conversational interviews with seven faculty members who were teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in various business schools in Nepal. The analysis of data revealed six themes: (1) Faculty members were caught off guard, (2) Sneaking a peek by students, (3) Building a bridge by the faculty members, (4) Faculty members were holding on the past, (5) Students were dragging their feet, and (6) Faculty members were trying to climb a mountain without a rope. The findings suggest that the faculty members felt that they were not prepared to teach online and did not receive enough logistical support from their institutions. They also showed their skepticism regarding the effectiveness of online teaching. The implications of the study have been highlighted and some of the limitations have been indicated.

A case study of alcohol use among male university rugby players

ABSTRACT In the UK, research has established that student athletes consume greater quantities of alcohol than their non-athlete peers. The published literature suggests the drinking culture in sport is a social phenomenon. At present, however, the evidence does not tell us what the precise mechanisms involved in the production and reproduction of the drinking culture are. To gain a deeper understanding of these mechanisms a case study methodology was used, where a researcher was heavily immersed within a male university rugby environment for a season. Data sources included observation, field-note taking, documentation, conversational interviews, and formal semi-structured interviews. These athletes faced a multitude of pressures encouraging them to drink, and often. Firstly, alcohol use was embedded within athletes’ weekly routine. Over time, drinking became a taken-for-granted ritual of sport. Secondly, specific roles and responsibilities, punishments, and events, were used to ensure athletes complied with the drinking ethos. Thirdly, athletes used alcohol to gain status and reputation. This, however, led to a culture where no behaviours were off limits and led to potentially harmful consequences. Fourthly, institutional factors (such as alcohol price, availability and sponsorship) may have normalised and legitimised a heavy drinking culture. There is a need to confront and challenge the alcohol ethos at this and other similar institutions with a pervasive drinking culture to reduce the potential harm to individual athletes.

‘When the Sun Gets Very Hot’: Young Children’s Perceptions of Climate Change

Climate change is a major environmental challenge society is facing. While young children will experience the impacts of climate change for longer, research into their perceptions of climate change is scant. To address this gap, this qualitative case study presents the perceptions of climate change of 10 young Maltese children (4–7 years). Data were collected through semi-structured conversational interviews and photograph interpretation. Results revealed that children held some understanding of the scientific concept of climate change. Nevertheless, misconceptions about climate change were more common. The findings also revealed a lack of application of any such knowledge to new situations. Finally, this study offers research and pedagogical implications, noting the need for educators, researchers and policymakers to consider the educational frameworks that help successfully shape climate change learning in early childhood.

THE MAIN PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PANTOMIMIC MARKERS OF INFORMATION CONCEALMENT (LIE) IN INVOLVED PERSONS AND MALINGERERS

Lying is a bio-psycho-social phenomenon of the human psyche with primatological and zoological studies determining deceiving characteristic of not just humans, but also mammals and even plants. The study of deliberate concealment of the truth is topical when there is a threat to the life and health of an individual or there is misleading of an official. The article deals with physiological and pantomimic markers when hiding the truth from the persons involved. In instrumentless lie detection (verification), a special role is given to the body movements of the subject (gestures), since motor production is an important correlator of human neuropsychic activity. The evolutionary, biopsychosocial origin of markers of non-verbal behaviour during deception is analysed. The paper provides a complete classification of the reactions of the autonomic nervous system and the limbic part of the brain when information is concealed. The pilot study involved 95 people aged 16 to 55 as respondents; in the course of a survey conversation (interview) on control and verification questions, physiological reactions and pantomime to the fear of possible exposure were recorded and differentiated. Gestures during deception were of an adaptive, resourceful unconscious nature, the genesis of physiological reactions was associated with an evolutionary pattern and a stressful response to a negative stimulus. The relevance of verification in investigative, law enforcement and medical practice is discussed.

“Walking the Journey Together”: Creating a unique learning module in provider-patient communication for the care of epilepsy in Uganda

ObjectiveThis report documents the creation of a practical communication skills module about epilepsy care, specifically targeted at first-line care providers who treat patients with epilepsy in Uganda. MethodsOur team conducted semi-structured interviews, utilizing Zoom video conferencing, with Ugandan physicians specializing in epilepsy care. Our interview guide promoted a semi-structured conversational interview that explored aspects related to developing a patient-provider relationship, how epilepsy is described in a culturally appropriate manner, exploration of alternative treatments, the impact of the stigma of epilepsy, and facilitators and barriers to antiepileptic drug treatment adherence. Each interview was then transcribed, and an inductive thematic content analysis approach was utilized to facilitate the development of thematic communication and care subcategories. The resulting PowerPoint presentation included numerous short audio clips of our Ugandan experts suggesting effective ways of communicating with patients and their families. ResultsOur interviews with experts yielded valuable results to customize the WHO mhGAP v2.0 training program to be culturally relevant and effective in Uganda. The educational content consisted of topic summaries integrated with audio clips taken directly from our interviews with the Ugandan providers. Six themes emerged that would serve as the outline for the communication module we co-created with our Ugandan colleagues: The six major themes of the module included: (1) Greeting the patient, (2) Getting the story, (3) Traditional healers, (4) Stigma of epilepsy, (5) Explaining epilepsy, and (6) Treatment adherence. ConclusionsThe communications skills teaching module addresses the most critical aspects of communicating with patients and families living with epilepsy. The format of the presentation, which includes the written and spoken words of experts in epilepsy care, provides a practical approach to the provider-patient interaction, and confronts the stigma associated with this disease. This formatting highlights an effective way for international groups to co-create content in a culturally effective manner.

Curating conversations in times of transformation: Convergence in how public relations and journalism are “Doing” communication

Purpose: In an era of networked production of the public sphere and with the arrival of new communicator roles such as citizen journalists, influencers and bloggers, the “old” roles and professions of “the journalist” and “public relations professional” are challenged. In this paper, avoiding the familiar debate about antagonisms between journalism and public relations, we provide empirical insights that identify specific characteristics of a convergence in the “doing” of public relations and journalism. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper presents recent data from a series of comparative interviews, conducted in Central Europe (Austria, n = 10, Germany, n = 25), New Zealand ( n = 7), Australia ( n = 25), and the Pacific Islands ( n = 5). The conversational narrative interviews bring in self-reflections on skillsets, professions, normative frameworks and the doing of professional communication from a range of communicators, primarily public relations practitioners and journalists, but also activist campaigners, science communicators, bloggers, and social influencers. Findings: The findings show that while interviewees were likely to represent their roles as related to a singular, across those roles they presented what they did – the “doing” – as akin to that of an authorial “curator” of communication in the context of societal transformations and constantly changing and converging media environments. Across different communicator roles professional communication is increasingly perceived as a co-creational process of entering, initiating, sometimes managing, and, thus, driving public discourses and conversations. Originality/Value: The paper complements the debate around skills and professionalization in public relations and adds to broader discussions about role responsibility, agency, and authorship related to public conversations in an age of digital transformation and social change by bringing in the concept of curating as the co-operative ‘management of stories’ between, and across, professional roles.