To answer my initial research question, “How do black students at PWIs cope with and resist the micro-aggressions found within the structure of new racism,” I conducted 12
qualitative, in-depth interviews with black students attending Rowan Oak University or who have recently attended the university in past two years. Rowan Oak University is a PWI in the south with black student enrollment at fifteen percent and white student enrollment at seventy five percent. Their ages range from twenty to thirty-five. Specifically, the interviews sought to unpack how these black students coped with and resisted racism while attending Rowan Oak University. I used purposive sampling methods to obtain participants, and the interviews were completed between February 2014 and April 2014. Each interview averaged an hour in length. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Inductive studies seek to understand how their respondents generate meaning out of their context (Holstein and Gubrium 1995). I asked questions that were intentionally open ended to allow participants to use their own language and concepts in their responses. I mentioned topics that participants found meaningful and relevant to everyday concerns while keeping track of how they spoke and how they reacted to the dialogue (Emerson, Fretz, and Shaw 1995). I sought to give black students, as a marginalized group at PWIs, a voice and a way to express their
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their social reality and experiences as a minority group on campus in their own words and from their own individual perspectives.
INTERVIEWS AND OBSERVATIONS
My main method of data collection consisted of individual in-depth interviews.
This method fits into my study because it aims to gather information on what the research project is about and to explicate how knowledge concerning that topic is narratively constructed
(Holstein and Gubrium 1995). Since this method views respondents as narrators, this made for a more interesting and rich research collection as it connects aspects of emotion, opinion,
experience and expectation, into a meaningful whole (Holstein and Gubrium 1995). In addition, the interview method allowed me to note tone of voice, ask follow-up questions, and observe body language.
My primary method of inquiry was interviews. My goal was to use open-ended questions to gain insight into the everyday experiences of black students attending PWIs. Each respondent was asked the same set of questions (see Appendix A). Additional follow-up questions were added, each depending on the respondent’s personal experiences to clearly understand how they viewed their experience and to build upon the conversation. I used an audio recorder during the interviews and took handwritten notes. I transcribed each of the recorded interviews. After each interview, I also detailed the environment, body language, and other insights. My guiding questions were:
1. Have you felt racially discriminated against on this campus? Can you tell me what happened?
2. How did you respond to the situation (let it go, said something back to the attacker, or reported them, etc.
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3. How did you feel after you experienced some kind of racial discrimination on campus? 4. What do you do after you experience a racial prejudice on campus, after you have already responded to the immediate situation (do you go out for drink, talk to friends about it, etc.).
SAMPLE
I used purposive sampling techniques to find interviewees. In purposive sampling, the researcher concludes what information is needed and then endeavors to seek out people who are able and willing to provide information based on their own knowledge. I chose this method, because in many cases, African Americans share their racial experiences with one another, so I utilized this as an advantage to enlarge the pool of participants. I began with a key informant, which is a technique used in purposive sampling (Tongco 2007). Key informants are attentive, reflective members of the community of interest who know much about the culture and are both able and willing to share their knowledge (Tongco 2007).
CONTACTING PARTICIPANTS
After obtaining IRB approval for this project, I first interviewed a couple of students that I knew had previous problems with racism within this institution. I knew of them through key informants, who served as gatekeepers for my first interviewees. My participants consisted of 6 men and 6 women in which 9 self-identified as black, 1 as Samoan, 1 as biracial, and 1 as Latino. Participant majors were diverse, including exercise science, higher education, journalism,
nursing, criminal justice, pre-pharmacy, biology, and accounting.
Initial contact took place through phone calls, text messages, and emails in order for me to schedule interviews with participants at their convenience. I conducted interviews at various
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locations including parks, restaurants, homes, and coffee shops. At the beginning of each
interview, I had the participants read and sign a consent statement which informed the participant of the research goals, the interview process, confidentiality, and that they could drop out of the study at any time. To ensure confidentiality, I did not use any of the participant’s names, names of others that they may have used, or links to the campus educational departments in which interviewees may have had negative experiences. Instead, I opted to used pseudonyms for participants. I also replaced specific references to names of places on and around Rowan Oak University with a pseudonym to keep the identity of the school confidential. I gave each
respondent a written statement for them to keep that clearly stated the purpose of the study. Since the nature of my study involved recording participants, I also had interviewees sign a release form.
OBSERVATION AND CODING
Data analysis for this research involved a grounded theory approach consisting of open, axial, and selective coding (Corbin and Strauss 1990). I prepared the data by transcribing the interviews and detailing observations notes. I then began to use open coding by documenting reoccurring themes in the data. I printed a hard copy of each transcript and manually wrote the themes in the margins. Then, I used axial coding as I identified relationships among the open codes and made connections.
I analyzed any recurring themes that occurred throughout this process and applied it to experiences of blacks at PWIs. I used this information to address any existing commonalties and differences in responses as I interpreted themes. For example, I would document if micro-
aggressions were overt (OV), covert (CV), and if they were considered micro-insults (MI), micro-assaults (MA), or micro-invalidations (MIV). I then noted how each responded dealt with
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the situations e.g. avoidance, minimization, etc. This allowed me to see the patterns of theory emerging from the data. I also obtained and noted information such as self-identification, gender, age, classification, and major.
LIMITATIONS
The limitations of this study include it being limited to one university and a relatively small sample size (n=12). Rowan Oak University is not the only university with a unique history that has ties to racial problems, but it does seem to be interpreted very negatively with race relations within the media. It also tends to conjure up classic “Ole South” images when
mentioned to others, especially minorities. Sample size was also a limitation in this study. Since I only had twelve interviewees and used purposive sampling techniques, this study included
students within small social networks that are dense in comparison to a larger, more random sample of students. Also, since I conducted twelve interviews, this research cannot be
generalized to the population as a whole, but I believe that my respondents allowed me to gain diverse and rich insight into their everyday lives as black students attending PWIs.
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IX. FINDINGS