Cultural Identities Interview Preparation

Cultural Identities Interview Preparation

Part 1

In preparation for the final assignment, you will create 10 possible interview questions to ask your interviewee. Review the prompts for the M7: Final Assignment–Understanding and Exploring Diverse Cultural Identities to ensure that your questions will allow you to write a comprehensive work.

This assignment allows you to explore another individual’s cultural identities that may differ from yours and may be unfamiliar to you.

Step 1: Select an Interviewee
Identify a person to interview with at least three different identities from you.

The identity categories include:

Ability status
Age (early adulthood: 21-34, early middle-age: 35-44, late middle-age: 45-64, late adulthood: 65-84, very late adulthood: 85 and older)
Ethnicity
Gender identity
Race
Religion (different denominations within the same religion do not count)
Sex
Sexual orientation
Step 2: Create 10 Interview Questions
Develop 10 possible interview questions that you could use in your interview.

Cultural Identities Interview Preparation

Try to create open-ended questions; they will better stimulate discussion.
e.g., What part of your identity is most important to you? Why?
Avoid using the words “culture” or “cultural identity” in your questions. Try to use the person’s identities.
Instead of: What traditions are most important to your culture?
Be Specific: As an Asian American, what traditions are most meaningful to you?
Remember, you are trying to learn information about the interviewee’s identities. Your questions should not be probing their political opinions, life philosophies, or general impressions. This is also not a timeline of events that transpired in their life.
Research, in advance, some general information concerning the background of the person to be interviewed. This will assist you in developing some background knowledge about this person’s cultural identities. This can be the person’s race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, etc. Remember – the interviewee will be the expert, not you; however, having some basis of understanding is important and helpful.
You should read at least three different and credible readings to prepare for your interview.
Your instructor will review your interview questions and provide feedback to refine your questions if needed.

Step 3: Fill out the Identities Chart
Along with your 10 interview questions, please submit the completed chart below.

Identity Chart Identity Categories Self Identities Interviewee Identities Type of identity #1 Identity #1 Type of identity #2Identity #2Type of identity #3Identity #3

Requirements
Submit the assignment by the posted due date.
Include:
The interviewee and their relationship to you
Ten interview questions
Filled in Identity chart Culturally diverse social work practice recognizes and respects the importance of differences in people and the critical role of culture in the helping profession. This assignment allows you to explore an individual with identities different from your own that may be unfamiliar to you.

Cultural Identities Interview Preparation
part 2

Step 1: Contact Your Interviewee
As a reminder, the person you interview should have at least three different identities from you.

The identity categories include:

Ability status
Age (early adulthood: 21-34, early middle-age: 35-44, late middle-age: 45-64, late adulthood: 65-84, very late adulthood: 85 and older)
Ethnicity
Gender identity
Race
Religion (different denominations within the same religion do not count)
Sex
Sexual orientation
Step 2: Conduct the Interview
You should spend at least 90 minutes speaking with your interview subject. Remember to use the interview questions you created as a guide in M3: Assignment–Interview Preparation.

Step 3: Analyze Interview Content
Analyze your interview information. The work cannot include everything you learned from the interview, so you must select the ideas, information, and quotations to make an interesting and coherent work.

Note: Do not provide a transcript of the interview, just an analysis. Your work should be comprehensive and not in question/answer format. Like any work, you should have an introduction/overview, a descriptive narrative, and a summary that includes a personal reflection.

Check tips on how to do your Psychology Assignment. 

Cultural Identities Interview Preparation

Step 4: Write the Final Work
Your final work should include the following sections:

Introduction/Overview
Introduce your reader to the person you interviewed and provide your reader with a general overview of what you did to prepare for the interview. Some questions to consider are:

Who did you select for your interview?
Why did you choose this person?
How are your identities different?
Elaborate enough to show the contrast.
How did you prepare for your interview?
Where did the interview take place?
How long did it last?
How did you create a safe space? What made it so, or what didn’t?
What did you already know about this person’s identities?
How easy or difficult was it to ask the questions and have a conversation about their identities? Why?
Did you feel comfortable or uncomfortable during your interview? Why?
How do you think the other person felt? What gave you that impression?
What were verbal and nonverbal cues present?
Be specific in your work. Include examples as needed to illustrate your points.

Descriptive Analysis
Write an analysis about what you learned as a visitor to the other person’s identities. In talking to your interviewee, you may ask them to consider some of these questions in addition to those you prepared (remembering to tailor the question(s) to their specific intersecting identities):

What part of your identity do you think most people notice first about you?
What part of your identity are you most/least comfortable sharing with others?
What part of your identity are you most proud of?
What part of your identity is most important to you?
Based on your research and your interview, what were some things you learned about the other person’s identities that surprised you or you found fascinating?
What did you learn about your interviewee’s worldview?
How did this compare to some of the concepts learned in class?
How did this interview help you become aware of your worldview?
Did you find some similarities or sharp contrasts?
For example, did you notice that your worldview began to expand as you learned about another person’s identities?
Here’s your opportunity to share what you learned about the other person’s identities. Does it differ from what you read in your references?

Cultural Identities Interview Preparation

Summary and Personal Reflection
This last part of your work is a chance for you to reflect on the whole experience. Explain what you learned about yourself, your biases, assumptions, and limitations as a person with different identities than your interviewee. The following are some questions for you to consider assisting you with your self-reflection.

What were the most important things you learned from this interview about identities?
What surprised you, challenged you, or will stay with you as an important lesson learned?
What changed in you as a result of this interview/conversation?
What about your openness to differences?
Did you notice any personal biases/assumptions that got in your way?
How did you overcome them to stay nonjudgmental to your interviewee and maintain a safe space? Consider the applicability of some of the concepts you are learning in class. Use your textbook and additional readings as a guide.
In considering the best practices for working with clients, were there communication practices (asking open questions, not interrupting, staying silent but present, etc.) that you wished you had used or done better? Please use your textbooks as a guide.
How did this experience help you understand the challenges and complexities experienced by others with different identities than your own?
What is your major takeaway from this assignment?
Most importantly, how will this experience help to prepare you to be a more culturally competent social worker?
Requirements
To successfully complete this assignment, you need to meet the following requirements:

Your work should be at least six and, at most, eight written pages, plus a reference page.
You must use at least two references, which may include the text, readings, and/or additional scholarly articles.
Your work must be in APA 7 format.
Your work must be a comprehensive work and not written in question/answer format.
Include at the end of your work the list of the questions you planned to ask in the interview, noting which ones you actually ended up asking (and adding in any others that you included impromptu during the interview).