Anth Post 2

The first step in my ethics plan for my interviewing will be, to be honest, and open regarding my work. As I go about finding somebody who is open to being interviewed, I’ll need to explain that this work is for me to understand their political beliefs, and write a blog about it. I’ll also fully explain the book we are using(Strangers in Our Own Land), the class, the expectations of my interviews, and that I will not reveal his/her identity. As the interviews progress, I will make sure to write down what was said, protecting and preserving those records for further use. Then when it comes time to publish my finding on my blog, I’d have previously asked permission to publish what they said and make the results fully accessible. Making sure to preserve their opinions, beliefs, and words without changing them in any way by my own opinion. The reason that I will hide the identity of my source is to protect their identity and reputation, and I will try to keep their integrity(not saying anything that will degrade them). Throughout this whole process, I will maintain a respectful and ethical/professional relationship with my interviewee. I will not insult them, argue, or treat them disrespectfully, first off, they probably wouldn’t even let me interview them if I was behaving in such a way. Secondly, by maintaining a respectful and professional relationship, the source is more likely to share information, feel respected, and work with me through the whole process.

To continue our example of a process to use to run our own interview from Hochschild’s book, I chose the last chapter in Part 1 of Strangers in Their Own Land to summarize. Her 1st point was the logic of the people in Louisiana for bringing in oil companies to the state, that more oil means more jobs, and more jobs mean less need for government aid, and less dependence on the government the better off we will be(Hochschild, page #73). Hochschild finds that these oil companies actually brought very little jobs or benefits to the state. The oil company will bring in about 10% of the jobs, but only for the period required to build it, afterward, it only takes a small group to maintain it. Seven out of ten of this 10% of jobs in the state, however, are being filled with Mexicans outside of the area. Bringing very little benefit to the people, and the foreign workers were not spending their money in town, but sending it away. This was her 2nd point, and probably the most important because it raised questions in her mind as to how any of it made sense. Why bring in oil companies if they barely benefit you, and they cause pollution? As her 3rd point, Hochschild looked into how such an oil company can get a community to accept it. She found a report by J. Stephen Powell of the Los Angeles based consulting firm Cerrell Associates. That reported that such companies did not try to change the minds of residents predisposed to resist but to find citizenry unlikely to resist, like Louisiana. Powell made a list of characteristics companies look for to find least resistant citizenry, longtime residents of small towns in the South or Midwest, high school education only, Catholic, uninvolved in social issues, involved in “nature exploitative occupations, conservative, republican, and advocates of the free market. Hochschild found that the area of Louisiana that accepted the oil company had many of these characteristics(Hochschild, page #81). But this only brought more questions to her mind. How do these characteristics cause this? What about their beliefs cause these decisions? Hochschild concluded that the “empathy wall was much higher than she’d imagined and that she could see what they didn’t, but she couldn’t see what they saw.

This chapter’s three points can also be questions I can ask the person I will be observing and interviewing for my fieldwork. The first point about jobs and government aid, I’ll ask what their opinion is of bringing in oil companies for an increase in jobs. And what their beliefs are on government aid pertaining to government power or overreaching. The second point about the increase in jobs by oil companies and foreigners taking the oil company jobs, I can ask, “What do you think of foreigners taking American jobs,” And, “Do you think the benefit of oil companies are worth their impact?” Thirdly, the idea that companies target certain groups, pointing at Republicans and Conservatives over Democrats. Since I will be interviewing a Democrat, I will ask whether they believe Republicans/Conservatives are more likely to accept oil companies. And, especially if they say yes, if they think Republicans/Conservatives care less about the environment. I’ll ask them what their opinion is of the political groups, do they have pre-assumed ideas of what their beliefs are? This particular question I need to ask in a more polite way, with curiosity, not as though I’m asking her what she hates about me. I am of the Conservative view over other political views, but I disagree with oil companies. This question will provide insight of what a Democrat thinks of Republicans/Conservatives, which will give me a better understanding to how the groups disagree, and what different beliefs and conditions caused those differing opinions in the political groups, or as Hochschild said, to see what they see that I can’t see yet. These three questions I will make sure to ask the person I interview. And when the time comes, reveal my findings on my future blog posts.