JunJun10

Hello all,

As I mentioned in my introduction, I am a PhD student studying Deaf culture in a global context. For my research, I have begun conducting interviews with d/Deaf and HOH individuals to learn their stories.

While I am still building my signing skills, I am beginning my interviews with d/Deaf and HOH people who are lipreaders. However, I will be interviewing sign language users soon, too.

As a researcher, whether I am interviewing someone who is hearing, d/Deaf, HOH, etc, I do my best to put the interviewee at ease and to be culturally sensitive.

I would like to humbly ask for advice on DOS and DON'TS for interviewing d/Deaf and HOH people. Could anyone please help? What would you like someone to do or not do in an interview?

I know it is important to be in a well-lit place where we can sit face-to-face. If we are at a cafe or public place, I never behave patronizing and offer so-called "help" with ordering unless someone explicitly asks.

Any other suggestions on dos and don't would be sooo greatly appreciated!!

Deafness

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dereksbicycles

It would help to be fluent in sign language. The rest will take care of itself. Try to be a friend first and talk about different topics instead of having questions listed and then leave when the questions are answered.

Also, volunteer to talk about yourself, not just shoot questions all over places.

JunJun10

Thank you for your feedback!

Right now my interviewees are people who don't use sign language, but you are definitely right that fluency is going to be very helpful. I enjoy studying foreign languages, so I'm excited to improve.

That's a good point about talking about myself, too. Sometimes researchers just take, take, take (info) without sharing. It makes people uncomfortable. I have to remember that!

Lau2046

I'd say don't make assumptions. I don't sign and I recall talking with a hearing guy who did and he insisted on signing to me the whole time we "talked." Sometimes he'd ask me, "What's the sign for this...." I'd reply, "I don't know, I don't sign....." I may be wearing the HAs but he was clearly deaf. He ignored me each time and kept talking in sign language even though I didn't know what the Hell he was talking about. The fact that I wear HAs doesn't mean I identify myself by my disability. My disability doesn't define me - my ability to accomplish goals despite my limitations, defines me. I HATE when people think they know all about me because they took a class about LD or special education and they think they know all about me. Let me tell you who I am without you planning your response before I talk.....I like that attitude in an interview....


Laura

MissLady

I would also say let them finish. I just witnessed an interview where the hearing person hired a terp, but before the Deaf person could even finish answering their questions (were still signing), the hearing person was breezing on with the next question. Be conscientious when using a terp; allow them to voice for the Deaf person fully before you ask another question.

JunJun10

Thank you for your reply! I'm sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience. It is unfair to make assumptions about someone and to refuse to LISTEN.

Assumptions... Sigh... It is not the same thing (at all), but I also hate when someone thinks that they know all about me because of one aspect. I am in a same-sex marriage, and people seem to think that they know my "life story" because they have an LGBT cousin or have taken a college course on minorities. Frustrating...

This is excellent advice for me to keep in mind! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts

JunJun10

Thank you, Miss Lady I am not using interpreters at this point, but I know there will be a time when it is necessary. I will make sure not to let the interpreter voice everything first (I'm surprised the interviewer did that, doesn't he/she want the COMPLETE answer?!).

Any other advice on working with interpreters?

I only had one experience in which I had a casual conversation and a friend interpreted. I made sure to focus my attention on the Deaf woman and not the interpreter, but I'm sure I committed some other faux pas

Grummer

you need to think about what specifics you actually want to ask
opened ended questions dont work well in online forums...and you will find 'sheeps' in online forum as well, interpreters arent free, and that you have to figure out around it, or pay, and same goes for 'learning to sign' Deaf people are all the same time wary, welcomeing, suspicious. I mean each and every deaf person does not share the same opinions or the same levels of approvals for hearing person(s) to learn sign, as does the associated professional status of this hearing person in question, there is Always will be and it will never go away, the shades of doubts surrounding people like you. And it is not surprising, given the history of oppression, and to which it come and came in many different forms, attacking trust in various ways. it is not like jail culture whereas you'd met prisoners talking candidly , clearly and frankly about their crimes, victim mentality is far far far more difficult penetrate for 'the real deal' that might enable actual sharing of their opinions on mainstreaming. So, good luck.
and then you'd get even more confused when you met 'older' or they happily mainstreamed, with bewildering variety of audiological deafness, along with a mish mash of fragmented ideations of Deaf cultures, and what is thought of deaf education' World view Varies not just in culture but also in actual person's views (now this is not to be confused with psychology - not even going there)...so, just be prepared to be surprised yourself is all i can say.

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JunJun10

Thank you for the open and honest feedback, Grummer! I appreciate where you are coming from.

I am certainly ready to be surprised, and I certainly have been already!

I have learned that there is not one way to be d/Deaf/Hoh or along the audiological spectrum. So, I suppose that is why I made my questions open-ended. But I shall rethink them.

Very fortunately, my research is funded, so I am able to hire interpreters and a sign language teacher. And I am also fortunate to have several d/Deaf friends from different societies to help guide me along the way.

But I still have a lot to learn!!

I can completely understand that. I think that doubts are unavoidable given the oppression you spoke about. As a social scientist, I study groups of people. In every case, I try to be as culturally sensitive as possible.

However, I know that groups contain diverse members and in this case, some people may not even identify as members of the "group"!

In every case, I need to gain trust. It must be earned, and I have not earned it yet.

Jiro

Rule #1 - the most important rule. RELAX! no need to go overboard to make sure we're ok, comfortable, or whatever. just treat us like everybody else. coffee and cookie would be nice
2. Don't apologize too much. We get it. We understand. We know. RELAX!
3. Paper/Pen in case there's miscommunication. Laptop is preferable since it's faster to type than to write.
4. Make sure your questionings are easy to understand. Don't make it too verbose or "NY Times style". Speak plainly and simple.
5. Since you'll have a series of established questions, best to write it down on your note cards and give it to them one by one after they answer your question.
6. Conducting your interview. Location and position will be important so make sure the room is bright and spacey with enough space for paper/pen/etc. and sit face to face, not side-way. Doing it at your office or a meeting/interview room would be ideal. Best to do it where it's more private and quiet (less people) because some strangers staring in can make it bit uncomfortable or making both of you feel rushed.
7. If your fingerspelling is pretty bad and painfully slow, just write it down. You don't need to impress us that you know ASL

and lastly... for HOH (most likely do not know ASL), #6 is very important. bright and quiet room. it will be very hard for both of you to understand each others if it's at Starbuck which is the worst place to be. and don't enunciate too much or speak slowly unless otherwise instructed. We're not trained to lipread people that way. We're trained to read people who speak normally.

one question - not gonna get a terp?

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Lau2046

I love languages and study Cantonese. I recently picked up studying Spanish again until my teacher got sick and had to discontinue. The one thing that NEVER works for me is a place in public, very crowded. Try renting a room in a library. I've had Cantonese in Starbucks and trust me, it doesn't work.

JunJun10

Thank you, Jiro! Your message was very positive, encouraging, and informative
All of your tips are useful! I will RELAX

#4 is especially important for researchers--we tend to make those verbose "NY Times style" questions.
I will also always keep #6 in mind. I once conducted an interview in Starbucks...that was not a good idea

I am definitely going to get a terp for interviews in which one is necessary. I think I have a whole other set of advice-eliciting questions regarding that...

Thanks again!

JunJun10

Yeah, as I mentioned above, my interview in Starbucks did not go well!
I've also found with foreign languages/different modes of communication, I need quiet spaces without distractions--visual or auditory.