This week, Dani and I have finalized our interview schedule. Our finalized questions are as follows:
- Background questions: Do you consider yourself FGLI?
- Do you consider yourself healthy?
- Do you take care of yourself? What does taking care of yourself look like?
- How have you confronted health differently when/since coming to Bowdoin? (implying a classed understanding of health/healthiness)
- How do these approaches help us understand what we consider healthy?
- How do you navigate/what are your strategies for maintaining health at Bowdoin?
- What health-related practices, if any, do you keep from home?
- Do you go to the gym?
- What is your thought process regarding food when in the dining hall?
- Do you feel comfortable going to the doctor? Has that changed since coming to Bowdoin?
- Does the way you approach health here differ from when at home?
We specifically intend to focus on questions 1-4 and 11. Additional questions asked will be dependent on the respondents’ answers and may differ from the questions listed. However, these are intended to serve as a general starting point.
Dani and I have also questioned the number of interviews we hope to conduct. Given the discretion people often maintain regarding their socioeconomic status (in addition to the relatively low number of first-generation, low-income college students at Bowdoin), we have recognized how difficult it may be to interview students. We have decided to try to do four interviews total. We are also open to the possibility of a case study if we conduct a particularly detailed interview.
Sarah,
You and Dani have selected a great topic, and the questions you raise here about the questions on health and its relationship with socioeconomic status seem relevant and pertinent. Something for you and Dani to think about as well is the motivation behind “health” choices. Do people pursue healthy options (e.g., going to the gym) as a byproduct of doing sports (which in certain communities seems a source of getting out of poverty?). To what extent are healthy lifestyles a leisure activity for the wealthy (e.g., the pressure to stay fit as an indicator of one’s access to diverse activities like mountain climbing, white water rafting, etc.). Understanding how people might construct their sense of health can reveal quite a bit about class location and class perspective.
I look forward to learning more about this exciting project.