Knowledge of how to apply theatreform to chosen research context

Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry

I first begin exploring and writing about Grupo Sotz’il and Ajchowen in Dr. Beth Norman’s Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry class in the spring of 2014. I wrote my final paper for her class as a speculative proposal for conducting a narrative inquiry on Ajchowen’s founder, Alicia Sen. While this original conceptualization of my dissertation has evolved, I have included this paper to demonstrate my first exploration of Ajchowen as a research subject.

Listening Guide Analysis- The Resilient Voice

In further preparation to explore the experiences of Alicia Sen through narrative inquiry, I took Dr. Carol Gilligan’s Listening Guide Method of Psychological Inquiry class. I was interested in this form of research as it derived from feminist theories, and focused on the voice, which has been a main focus of my work in Guatemala. Gilligan originated this method and it seemed only appropriate to study the form with her deeply if I was going to apply it.  In that course, I was able to explore possible research questions and I discovered that a main area of inquiry I wanted to investigate was the concept of “resilience.” In examining this concept, I conducted an interview with a Guatemalan colleague and listened for her “Resilient Voice.” I followed the listening guide method and conducted a full analysis. In the listening guide method, an analysis consists of four steps: Listening for Plot, Listening for the I Poem, Listening for Contrapuntal Voices, and a final write up. I have included the final write up to demonstrate my ability to conduct an interview and complete a qualitative coding procedure.