Interviews

Qualitative Research Method

I conducted a sample semi-structure interview in order to learn about how Hobart and William Smith students experience different spices based on their cultural upbringing, geographical origins and ethnic/racial identity. For this interview the interviewee was selected based on convenience sampling. The interviewer-interviewee relationship can be categorized as two college friends. The interviewee is a Caucasian male in his early twenties who attends Hobart College. Both students have been friends for roughly over a year. Both are from suburban areas outside of Boston. The interviewee was willing to do the interview and understood the interview was voluntary and confidential.

Research Question

(How) does cultural upbringing, geographic origin and ethnic/racial identity of Hobart and William Smith students influence their visceral experiences of different spices?

Exert from Interview Transcript

Exert from interview transcript with discourse analysis codes embedded in transcript as hashtag format

Researcher= R

Interviewee= I

R: What memories influence your decision making for both of these activities?

I: I mean at the end of the day what you consider to be your favorite food is what your past experiences have entailed with it. So if I had the world’s best cook make a meal with the primary spice being onion and that is what I ate throughout my childhood, then that spice would be my number one. If I had really poorly cooked Indian food all my life, I would probably hate curry. #past_experience #childhood #upbringing #Indian_cuisine #favorable #quality_of_cooking #emotion

...

R:For the spice you ranked favorite, what memories do you have of this spice?

I: Curry…being a six year old kid and having my mom take me out to get Indian food and having people look at me like ‘what the hell is this kid doing eating Indian food and enjoying it’…kind of a momma’s boy. #upbringing #parents #childhood #memories #Indian_cuisine #high_quality

R: Okay, what bodily sensations and emotions does curry produce for you?

I: Just mouth watering really. I mean more recently especially as I moved into athletics more, I stopped eating food for the sake of taste and I really started eating for the sake of nutrition more often. So I actually stopped paying attention to spices recently. So I really didn’t have too many knee jerk emotional responses, I guess, just because this is all nutrition to me. #mouth_watering #bodily_sensations #nutrition #flavor #life_style #athletics #culture

Photography from flickr.com.

Credit for the photography on the first and third slides goes to these flickr accounts:

Hanne Johansen (second slide background)

Stephan (third slide background)

The photo on the top left corner of page and the first slide background are photos from wix.