METHODOLOGY

We should state outright that cross-cultural and cross-lingual interviewing is the Achilles heel of oral history methodology. There is no catch-all solution to a project of such linguistic, cultural, and sociological complexity. For this reason, our guidelines are strictly provisional. They will be constantly reviewed and re-assessed in the course the project. A thorough account of our successes and failures will be written and published at a more advanced stage.

1. INTERVIEWS

  • The interviews are in-depth, longitudinal interviews: they involve repeated interviews over long periods of time.
  • They begin with a simple question: ‘tell us about your life story’.
  • We will allow the interviewee to speak for as long as possible without asking questions.
  • Our aim is to elicit introspection, and allow the narrator to decide where she creates meaning, and the relationship between different life experiences or different times in her life.
  • All interviews will be recorded on a digital video camera.
  • The translator watches footage of the interview and translates the story.
  • We use what the translator has given us to ask questions at a later interview.
  • The second interview follows the same procedures.
  • We may request the interviewee to return for a third, or even fourth, session.
  • An interpreter will be present during the interviews.
  • Her role will be to take down short notes in English of what the interviewee says.
  • If questions must be asked—for example, if the interviewee really needs prompting—they will be based on these notes.
  • Longitudinal interviews over time and using different methods may produce a range of data that could be considered to have less translator and interviewer interference or agency.

2. TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION

  • Volunteers with native fluency in the language will transcribe and translate the interviews.
  • The transcription is a ‘complete verbatim’ transcription: literally word for word; this includes repetitions, grammatical errors, every 'um', 'er', verbal habits such as 'you know' etc -- as well as laughter, coughs, issues relating to accents, speech patterns, and colloquialisms, plus all abbreviations, ‘false starts’ to sentences, and introductory and closing remarks.
  • An hour-long interview will take 5 to 7 hours to transcribe.
  • The transcripts will be reviewed and corrected for error by another volunteer/transcriber.
  • The reviewed transcripts will then be passed on to a translator who will produce a full translation in English.
  • The identities and signatures of all transcribers and translators will be included in the interviewee’s data form.
  • Volunteers will be briefed comprehensively on the transcription guidelines, the characteristics of good transcribers, and ethical standards to observe, particularly the commitment to not discuss the contents of the interview.
  • All transcripts and video footage are placed in the Migrant Voices Oral History Archive.
  • Depending upon the interviewee's wishes, not all completed transcripts are released immediately for public research.

 

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