Communication
Introduction
Oral history interview encompasses records of an individual’s experiences and recollection of thoughts and feelings about a specific period of time. Traditionally, an oral interview provides how individuals were affected by certain events in history in which the personal perspective adds a personal dimension in examining the past. Through oral interviews that discovery of primary resources can be obtained and most of the time, family members or members of the community can be a surprising source of information about certain events in history. Social research employs oral history as valid methodology for collecting data particularly in biographical studies. Primarily, the role of biographical research is to provide an interpretative way of understanding contemporary cultural and social settings through individual accounts of life experiences (Batty, 2009). The field of communication also view oral history interview as a methodological approach to understanding how communication evolve and information transfer from one individual to another. In this oral history interview, my wife Jaclyn will be the respondent. The interview will focus on her life experiences and the events leading to her success.
Thesis Statement
The interview with Jaclyn demonstrates informative biographical accounts necessary for examining an individual’s life experiences, which is also key in finding patterns that are relative to other individuals in a society in which they are associated.
Information provided in the interview
The information obtained from the interview follows the recommended line of questioning prescribed to assess communication and significant life experiences adopted from Dogan (2015). Part of the important questions to ask at the onset of the interview includes personal details such as name, date of birth, relationship to the interviewer, and other personal background information. In this area, the person interviewed was my wife Jacklyn. We have been married for 10 years and she is a mother of three. She was chosen because she is the most fascinating person I know and also a person with a lot to share when it comes to her life experiences. In terms of historical background, Jaclyn was a college cheerleader with subcultural backgrounds and affiliation with organizations such as UCLA Cheerleading Alumni, Physicians Mothers group, American College of Surgeons and Disney Magic Kingdom game players. Jacklyn was born and raised in a small rural town of Bakersfield in California and currently engage medical practice being a General Surgeon.
The extensiveness of a typical oral history interview was narrowed down to specific questions intended to focus gathering information about the participant’s (Jaclyn) life experiences. According to Harkness (2004), story telling is a natural human activity that serves several functions including describing personal details and elaborating on the wisdom of life experiences. These factors can be disclosed during the oral history interview, which also encompass opportunity to assess how the subject communicates. In the conducted interview, it is important to note the prominent characteristic of the respondent; in this case Jaclyn is a wife, a mother, and a career woman. In this sense, people would be most interested to know how she was able to balance her time between family and career and what significant efforts she made in order to succeed in life. This is when the shared life experiences are important in the process of collecting information through the oral history interview. There are seven questions selected for the short oral interview with Jaclyn and the responses provides the needed data to conclude the earlier assumption.
When asked how Jaclyn was able to find balance between home and work, her response is that balance can be found by setting up priorities and efficiently manage time in order to adequately provide attention to each of the set priorities. In terms of how her background influence who she is today, Jaclyn responded that growing up in a small town, you feel certain limitations in terms of what you can accomplish within your environment. She has to dream the life beyond what her small town can offer and use every opportunity possible in order to get as far in your life as possible. Jaclyn was also asked about the greatest challenge in her life. In her responses, Jaclyn pointed out that every step of the way towards where is right now is a challenge, but the biggest one yet is to become the best she could become in both worlds, one being a wife and a mother and second is to become the best in her chosen field. There is a lot to consider and sacrifices to be made in order to make sure that she gets to where she wanted to be.
In terms of identifying her greatest success in life, Jaclyn highlighted her career as a General Surgeon to be an ultimate success. She grew up in a small town and not too many had the chance of becoming a professional in the medical field. On the other hand, Jaclyn pointed out that her success would not happen without the support of her family, the community, and the amount of inspiration that her kids and husband has given her throughout her career. Failure is another typical experience in one’s life and Jaclyn is no stranger in such experiences. Jaclyn at first had a hard time in medical school because of the pressure and the stress of personal and academic life. From such struggle that Jaclyn had to take a break from the pressure and she considers it as a failure because it almost felt she is about to lose her dream. On a positive note, Jaclyn was asked what would she like to change in her life if given the chance. She responded that everything in her life is a gift and an opportunity to better. Regardless if it is a struggle or a success, they all made a difference and everything have contributed to what she has become today and that there is nothing that should be changed because it all mad a huge difference in her life. The last question asked of Jaclyn is would she encourage her children to follow the same path. Jaclyn responded that her children are individuals and they have a choice to become what they want all they need is support.
References
Batty, E. (2009). Reflections on the use of oral history techniques in social research. People, Place & Policy Online, 3(2), 109-121. Retrieved from http://extra.shu.ac.uk/ppp-online/issue_2_290709/documents/reflections_oral_history_techniques_social_research.pdf
Dogan, Y. (2015). How should an efficient oral history interview process be conducted according to the views of pre-service teachers? Education Research and Reviews, 10(8), 1097-1108. Retrieved from http://www.academicjournals.org/journal/ERR/article-full-text-pdf/039AB7D52392
Harkness, D. J. (2004). Use of the oral history interview to assess communication and marital satisfaction in later-life couples (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1783&context=rtd
