The purpose of our duoethnology study is to use a phenomenology approach with a methodology that includes a series of online interviews between the participants to explore how the participants' personal histories and motivations intersect and overlap in their adult learning and careers.
According to Sawyer and Norris (2012), "Duoethnography is a conversation – not only between people but also between people and their perceptions of cultural artifacts (such as photos) – that generates new meanings" (p. 2). It also represents a way of walking in another person's shoes and seeing the other subject's perspective of life with the hope of understanding more about the researcher's own experiences.
This can be seen in how "Some duoethnographers have sought to gain a critical awareness of their own narratives of experience through a Dialogic process, thereby leading to a change in perspective or a restorying of a narrative" (Sawyer & Norris, 2012, p. 3). The conversations that were a part of this duoethnography project were designed to determine the similarities and differences between the two participants, Dick Hannah and Tramaine Jones, who are in the same class at Kansas State University (KSU).
To meet the purpose of this project we, the participants, developed two research questions that guided our interviews and provided the basis for our interview questions. These research questions were:
- How have the participants' lives reflected the work and education they are working toward and doing now?
- In what ways do the participants describe their lived experiences and how those experiences have led them to their current desire to work in and succeed in their adult learning careers?
To facilitate this conversation for the duoethnography project, we first held an informal introduction where we discussed and proposed draft research questions and affirmed the research purpose. We also agreed on times, techniques, the duration of, and the form that the conversations and interviews would take place. The discussions were hosted on a Zoom online meeting platform for three one-hour-long meetings. We gave each other the opportunity to question and respond for thirty minutes during each interview session. We also agreed that the interviews should be open-ended and relaxing. Other than prompts or questions, the majority of the discussion should be provided by the respondent, not the interviewer. All conversations were recorded via the Zoom application and saved on a KSU OneDrive folder; a link to the folder can be found in the References section of this paper.
Representation of Data
Following the interviews, we shared the video recordings via the OneDrive folder so that we could each independently analyze the interviews for data. To collect and analyze data, I transcribed the videos and reviewed both the videos and the transcriptions. Following this, I plotted the data on a four-quadrant concept map to determine areas of similarity and difference. Lastly, I developed a final concept map with distinct intersections and analyzed this to help complete the research purpose.
The concept map is divided into four quadrants. Data points were subjectively gauged as smaller or larger based on my own subjective belief of the amount of time, emphasis, and strength of the discussions between Tramaine and me, as determined by the transcription and video interview data. The data points were also placed on the concept map closest to the most representative quadrant. Data that crossed between quadrants were those that had elements of both quadrant characteristics. Finally, data plotted closest to the center of the concept map were those that I felt were shared by both participants. Data plotted furthest away represented areas where the participants had less similarity. The concept map formulation without data is illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 2 shows the concept map with all associated data collected, plotted, and represented in the quadrants of Family, Career, Country, and Cultural Identity. When analyzing the data from the video interviews and transcripts, these four aspects of life history and characteristics seemed to be the most relevant for cataloging the data and finding similarities between the participants. The data points I plotted included (a) microagressions, (b) roots in society, (c) army, (d) education, (e) siblings, (f) homeownership, (g) fell into career, (h) KSU, (i) training, (j) patriotism, (k) salary, (l) class representation. Although we discussed other subjects other than the ones plotted, these were the most notable and allowed for the best representation of similarities and differences.
When analyzing the concept map with plotted data points, it is easy to see four areas where Tramaine and I intersect in terms of similarities and total amount discussed. These four areas of intersecting aspects between us are (a) KSU, (b) training, (c) patriotism (and country), and (d) education.
Many of our discussions focused on family, and by looking at the concept map, all four intersecting characteristics touch on or closely touch and/or overlap with the family quadrant. Tramaine mentioned education throughout our discussions as much or more than I did. This was also mentioned in our inside-out projects. Both of us referenced our love of training in general and how we progressed through our training careers to the point where we are administrators of training programs now. Throughout all of our conversations, Tramaine discussed the pride she has in working for the executive branch of the government and how substantial she thinks her and her sister's work are. Her sister is also a civil servant who inspired Tramaine to become one herself. With this influence, as well as her father's example as an Army non-commissioned officer (NCO), it's easy to understand how Tramaine began her career supporting the government. For this reason, not just the number of times that these aspects of her life were mentioned, but also the strength with which she discussed them, led me to believe these four areas were essential aspects of Tramaine's life and the ones that most intersected with my own.
Findings and Narrative
In my spare time, I like to write novels. Many different themes are used as paradigms for novels; among one the most popular is the comparison of opposites. I could easily write a novel with two protagonists, a rich, white child who grows up surrounded by wealth and advantages and then eschews those benefits as he grows older. The other protagonist would be a poor African-American girl from the Virgin Islands who immigrates to the United States. I would then write about how she would overcome challenges to meet her career goals. The juxtaposition of the two protagonists' lives might seem farfetched, absurd, or even impossible to believe to many readers. Still, the novel I've just outlined is what Tramaine and I discovered was a reality through our conversations as a part of this duoethnography experience.
Two more disparate people might be partnered for this assignment, but they would be hard to find. While Tramaine is black, with an ancestry that includes the Caribbean, and grew up in poor circumstances, I have been provided with many luxuries, both in lifestyle, ancestral roots in society, and education. In addition, I have enjoyed the benefits of being not just in an upper-crust family with a long, storied history in our community and city, but also having the inherent social benefits of being white and male in our culture, which historically has led, designed, and developed by more white and male influence and in some opinions has slanted benefits toward this portion of society. Thus, in terms of appearance, gender, background, influence, and ancestry, Tramaine and I have the exact opposite experiences. Yet, despite the differences between us and because of the project purpose, we were able to find significant similarities in our lives and in our histories that help explain how we ended up at KSU together at this time.
Tramaine is a civil servant working for the federal government, specifically for the executive branch, in a training and training administrator role. There were many family influences that led her to this career including her father, mother, and siblings. Her father was an enlisted NCO in the Army, which led to her love of country, and her desire to be a part of the government. Her sister who is also a civil servant, was also a primary motivator for this career choice since Tramaine saw her sisters success and wanted to find something similar. Finally, Tramaine's mother is the inspiration behind her desire to train. Of her mother, Tramaine said, "I would not be where I'm at today; I'll tell you that right now, I believe that she is definitely what drove my teaching and instruction style. It's driven me in my drive and my career . . . I've always found a way to connect whatever I'm doing, whether it be work or education, to my lived experiences and the things that motivate me" (Jones, 2021, p. 2). Tramaine mentioned that these inspirations, her father, her mother, and her sister, led her to want to follow this career path.
In contrast, although my own family is influential in the community, I do not allow my family to influence my life. Tramaine and I discovered during our conversations that I go out of my way to hide the presence of my family in my life and their influence in the community. I work directly against my family's designs and aspirations for me in terms of my education, relationships, and business. Joining the military was an act of rebellion, and making my career in a non-profit required leaving my family's business. Despite certain acceptance to one school with ties to my family, I went to the university of my choosing. Although I fell into my role and career in training much like Tramaine, there was no influence by my family to bolster or facilitate this career choice. In my case, there were many other opportunities offered to me by my family, all of which I eschewed. In both Tramaine's case, out of necessity, and in my case, out of desire, we have had to make our own way through life, and family was either an inspiration in her case or a distraction in mine.
In terms of the similarity around KSU, both Tramaine and I have aspirations to be better trainers and administrators and value education as a way of doing that. We both see education as an avenue by which we can attain a greater standing in our organziations and look forward to the deference matriculating with a Ph.D. or Ed.D. might provide. However, there are areas where even this aspect is entirely at odds between the two of us. At one point, Tramaine discussed how earning her Ed.D. will allow her to get beyond a six-figure salary and perhaps achieve seven figures (Hannah & Jones, 2021). In my case, I sacrificed a higher paying job with a contracting company for the opportunity to work with a non-profit organization and see earning my Ph.D. as freedom from the day-to-day management duties that are a part of the job and an entry into the world of consulting. Again, while Tramaine's thoughts are on her salary, mine is on freedom. There could be an aspect of our backgrounds in this; mine being relatively well off for most of my life, while Tramaine's has been one of being less well off. Regardless, we both see KSU as a portal to providing a better life for ourselves and our families.
Finally, there is patriotism. One of the first aspects of her life that Tramaine mentioned was her father and his being in the military. It was easy to hear in her voice her pride in her father's role and the patriotism and love of country that he embedded within her. I, too, having served in the U.S. Army as an NCO, have felt that same degree of patriotism and love of country. It was in this area that I felt the strongest connection with Tramaine. Her time as an Army brat and my time living on Army bases became one area of connection that will serve as a common thread between us in the novel I could write about opposite protagonists. Despite other areas of society finding the disparity between black and white children growing up in the eighties challenging, when discussing life in the Army, Tramaine mentioned the reality that the Army's work to integrate early and her father's advancement was more secure than they might have been in other areas of the United States (Hannah & Jones, 2021). Like Tramaine, this was a factor I noticed during my time in the military as well.
While the above aspect might be the area where there was the greatest commonality, the area with the least had to have been the racial divide between Tramaine and myself. Tramaine, from the first conversation, described herself as having grown up poor, a part of an underrepresented class, and has been the victim of microaggressions and prejudice (Hannah & Jones, 2021). Needless to say, this portion of our conversation was difficult for Tramaine to express and challenging to traverse without tears. Equally challenging was my ability to relate to this side of her American experience. My history has been one that has not included being a victim of racial bias, and microaggressions are little more than an imaginary bogeyman rather than an actual offense. Regardless, this duoethongrapy project helped me see the world through her perspective and understand the challenges and difficulties that she experienced in her journey. It helped me empathize with this side of life. I hope, too, that by listening to my struggles to find independence from my family and the confinement of their expectations for me, Tramaine realized that there are challenges for all people that might not be seen or addressed by society. While my questions hit a nerve with Tramaine on day one, I could feel that by our final conversation, she started to understand the obstacles and challenges I might face despite the perceived luxuries that come with social status, class, and the majority skin color.
Convention verse rebellion; change verse tradition; rich verse poor; ease verse struggle; the theme of opposites in literature is compelling and illustrative that not all things must be alike to be the same or to be successful. Tramaine and I might have completely different life stories with challenges that are entirely different and in some ways unrelatable to the other, but that doesn't mean they aren't major contributing factors in our own success stories. Much like the old archetype between the "city mouse" and the "country mouse" and both characters finding ways to value the other, I hope that Tramaine found as much to appreciate in me as I did in her. As many differences that there might be in our life stories and journeys, it is a testament to our society and culture that both Tramaine and I are in this class together as equals and working toward common goals.
Reflections
When considering how this project has changed my views of qualitative studies in general and helped me develop a greater understanding of duoethnography, I can say that this project has had overwhelmingly positive effects in both areas. Qualitative studies are a new area of research for me and are outside of what I am comfortable presenting. I am most comfortable and confident when I have verifiable and data-driven information to deliver and analyze. This project, based primarily on conversations and discussions, is not something I have experienced before. Creating the concept map based on our conversations is not as illustrative as I would like. Still, the four-quadrant concept map I developed does represent the data that is a blend of both the qualitative and quantitative, even if the quantitative information is nothing more than quadrant titles and data points. The strength of the discussion, represented by the size of the data points, the classification of the data on the concept map, and the degree of blending between the data, is all subjective. This mixture of subjective and objective information is what I think is a strength of qualitative research. Qualitative research doesn't mean just a free discussion that must be filtered and reprocessed; methodologies, perspectives, and philosophies must be understood and utilized. This duoethnography project wasn't just a series of conversations that might or might not yield similarities. Instead, there was structure and framework that led to the results we found.
References
Hannah, D., & Jones, T. (2021). Duethnography Interviews. email for link
Jones, T. (2021). Tramaine Interview Transcription 2. email for link
Sawyer, R. D., & Norris, J. (2012). Introduction. In Duoethnography (pp. 1–28). Oxford University Press.
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