Probes and prompts are integral to successful interviews. Probes help motivate informants, facilitate the flow of an interview, and elicit information, but not neces-.
FIELD 10.1177/1525822X05274733 De Leon, METHODS Cohen / PROBES IN ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWING
SHORT TAKES
Object and Walking Probes in Ethnographic Interviewing JASON PATRICK DE LEON JEFFREY H. COHEN Pennsylvania State University
Probes and prompts are integral to successful interviews. Probes help motivate informants, facilitate the flow of an interview, and elicit information, but not necessarily in the form of a question. In this article, the authors describe a method they call the “material probe.” Material probes are nonverbal and include objects and places that prompt and motivate informants. The goal is not to learn about the object or place but instead to learn about the informant through the object or place. In essence, the “material probe” triggers a response or memory and can be used in specific and or general ways. Keywords:
probes, interviewing, material culture
PROBING One of the most important aspects of ethnographic interviewing is learning how to probe effectively for information. The most valuable probing techniques are those that stimulate or encourage an informant to provide data on specific topics with minimal influence from the interviewer (Brenner 1985b:151; McCracken 1988:21; Stewart and Shamdasani 1990:96; Gillham 2000:47). Some of the most common techniques, described by Bernard (2002:211–213), are called the silent probe, the echo probe, the uh-huh probe, the tell-me-more probe, and the long question probe. (See Brenner [1985a], Stewart and Shamdasani [1990], and Gillham [2000] for other recent discussions of probes.) The usefulness of each of these probes depends on context, and it is common to combine several different probes in the course of an interview. Using multiple probing techniques lets our informants lead us through materials and create what Levy and Hollan (1998) call Field Methods, Vol. 17, No. 2, May 2005 200–204 DOI: 10.1177/1525822X05274733 © 2005 Sage Publications
200
De Leon, Cohen / PROBES IN ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWING
201
a person-centered interview. Most of the probes described in the literature on interviewing are verbal. To extend the repertoire of probes, we describe here two nonverbal probing techniques that we call, collectively, “material probes.” (See Stewart and Shamdasani [1990:46] and Holstein and Gubrium [1995] for discussions of other nonverbal probes.) Material Probes An old photograph, an acoustic guitar, a burned-down liquor store in South Central Los Angeles, an outdoor market in Oaxaca, Mexico—these objects and places evoke important moments, people, places, things, and events in our informants’ lives. (See McCracken [1987] for an excellent discussion of this phenomenon.) We can use these places and things to prompt our informants and elicit responses or memories during interviews. We label probes that are things (from photographs to keepsakes) “object probes.” The natural or built environments that we use to prompt informants we label “walking probes.” Object Probes In an object probe, we use artifacts explicitly to generate verbal responses. McCracken (1988:36) describes a similar probe that he calls “auto-driving.” Auto-driving asks the informant to respond to images (driving the direction of the interview) that are prepared by the investigator. Photographs and images have long been used for this purpose (Mead 1956; Collier and Collier 1986). They help informants recall events and people from the past, even from childhood. Our object probe differs from McCracken’s auto-driving probe and the historical use of prepared photographs in two ways. First, we ask informants to select objects and images to which they can respond. Second, we have found that objects beyond the photograph, like keepsakes, awards, trophies, and collectibles, can serve to prompt informants, triggering events and helping people place their memories of events in historical context (El Guindi 2000:476). The date of a photograph (whether stamped on the photographic paper or inferred from objects in the scene, like cars and clothing) can help confirm dates recalled during an interview. A trophy or award is typically dated and helps people place an event into a timeline. Depending on the circumstance, the ethnographer can suggest objects to discuss (McCracken’s concept of auto-driving [1988]) or let the informant choose them. Sometimes, in addition to events and people associated with an artifact, informants will discuss the importance of an artifact itself in his or her culture.
202
FIELD METHODS
While conducting life history interviews in State College, Pennsylvania, De Leon used songs written by his informant to construct a timeline of events. During one interview, the informant played songs on a guitar and then discussed the meaning and context of each composition. The lyrics of many of the songs were influenced by important events in the informant’s life. De Leon was able to order these songs chronologically and compare their content and meaning to specific events discussed during other interview sessions. The data from the discussion of each song augmented previously recorded data. Even the guitar itself was an important topic of discussion, as it symbolized the informant’s sole creative outlet during times of personal and family crises. Through discussions of the informant’s music and guitar, De Leon learned things about the informant’s life that would not have come up using verbal probes alone. Objects can be of particular help when interviews are stressful, as is the case when sensitive topics are involved. Cohen noticed in Mexico that returned migrants from the United States had placed dollar bills on home altars. These bills, often some of the first dollars carried home from the United States, evoked stories of adventure and success as well as memories of stress and danger on the border. In stressful interview situations, we can ask people to talk about photographs and things rather than about themselves. The musician whom De Leon interviewed found it stressful to talk about his upbringing by a parent who continues to suffer from mental illness and alcoholism. The informant was more comfortable discussing these issues when his guitar was present and when he was able to perform and discuss songs inspired by childhood experiences. Using objects can also bring order to a semistructured interview by keeping the informant focused on a topic and providing a trigger for memories that might otherwise remain buried or actively excluded. Asking the informant to provide the artifacts lets him or her choose what items are important or pertinent to the discussion and to share control of the interview with the researcher. Giving the informant control and allowing him or her to guide the interview through objects creates an environment of trust and equality that is important to successful ethnography (Spradley 1979; McCracken 1988). Walking Probes Walking probes involve visiting a location that has meaning to an informant and discussing the place and the built environment that the informant associates with the locale. Both built and natural environments can be imbued with as much meaning as any portable object. Locations can be awe inspiring (Mount Rushmore) or heart wrenching (Ground Zero in New York
De Leon, Cohen / PROBES IN ETHNOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWING
203
City), but they need not be monumental or the site of a traumatic event. Some of the most mundane locations and the events that occur at them can elicit rich responses. Depending on the circumstance, ethnographers can suggest to informants that they visit a particular place, or they can ask people to suggest a place of interest. In both cases, the idea is simply to walk around and encourage the informant to talk about past and current associations with the physical surroundings. In a village in Oaxaca, Mexico, Cohen was asked to hike the boundaries of the community by a key informant (Don Domingo) who had revealed information about the village’s past. In the late 1800s, a small mining concern had opened three mines on village lands. However, the mines closed just before the start of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. While collecting historical information on the village, Don Domingo asked Cohen if perhaps he would want to see the mines. During the hike, Don Domingo recounted village history and talked about how the environment of the area had shifted across the years. Finally, there was plenty of personal information included in this narrated tour—where he and his friends played as youngsters, good places to pasture animals, and so forth.
WHAT IS THE USEFULNESS OF THE MATERIAL PROBE? Material probes are easy to learn and can be used in conjunction with verbal probes. They can stimulate informant response with minimal influence from the interviewer, especially if the informant chooses the materials or the location to discuss or visit. It is, of course, possible for the interviewer to manipulate the order of the materials or locations viewed. The extent to which this produces response effects needs to be tested experimentally in the field.
REFERENCES Bernard, H. R. 2002. Research methods in anthropology: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. 3rd ed. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. Brenner, M. 1985a. Survey interviewing. In The research interview: Uses and approaches, edited by M. Brenner, J. Brown, and D. Canter, 9–36. London: Academic Press. ———.1985b. Intensive interviewing. In The research interview: Uses and approaches, edited by M. Brenner, J. Brown, and D. Canter, 147–62. London: Academic Press. Collier, J., and M. Collier. 1986. Visual anthropology. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
204
FIELD METHODS
El Guindi, F. 2000. From pictorializing to visual anthropology. In Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology, edited by H. R. Bernard, 459–511. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. Gillham, B. 2000. The research interview. London: Continuum. Holstein, J. A., and J. F. Gubrium. 1995. The active interview. Qualitative Research Methods Series, Vol. 37. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Levy, R. I., and D. W. Holland. 1998. Person-centered interviewing and observation. In Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology, edited by H. R. Bernard, 333–64. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira. McCracken, G. 1987. Culture and consumption among the elderly: Three research objectives in an emerging field. Aging and Society 7 (2): 203–24. ———.1988. The long interview. Qualitative Research Methods Series, Vol. 13. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Mead, M. 1956. Some uses of still photography in cultural and personality studies. In Personal character and cultural milieu, edited by D. G. Haring, 79–105. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. Spradley, J. P. 1979. The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Stewart, D. W., and P. N. Shamdasani. 1990. Focus groups: Theory and practice. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol. 20. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. JASON PATRICK DE LEON is a doctoral candidate in anthropology at the Pennsylvania State University and a National Science Foundation fellow. His interests include economic anthropology, the archaeology of Mesoamerica, and craft specialization. He is currently conducting research on formative-period obsidian exchange networks in central Mexico. In addition to his archaeological research, he is also conducting ethnographic research on the gay and lesbian community in State College, Pennsylvania. JEFFREY H. COHEN received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Indiana University in 1994. He teaches in Pennsylvanie State University’s department of anthropology and program in demography. His work focuses on migration between Mexico and the United States. He is a fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology and a board member of the Society for Economic Anthropology. His publications include Cooperation and Community: Economy and Society in Oaxaca 1999 and The Culture of Migration in Southern Mexico, 2004 (both with University of Texas Press). His article “Understanding Transnational Processes: Modeling Migration Outcomes in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca” appeared in volume 14 of Field Methods. His latest book, The Culture of Migration in Oaxaca, Mexico, was published in the fall of 2004 by the University of Texas Press.
