Research Interview transcript

Methodoly:The Measures Society has set in Place for Person’s who Identify as Transgender.

Joshica Phillips

SOC 499

Saint Leo University

Methodology.

In order to answer my research question of the measure’s society has put into place for persons with transgender identities, I will conduct interviews. My sample framework would consist of transgender persons, members of the LGBTQ+ community and hiring officials. I would like my sample to consist of variety of ages beyond the years of 18 to establish a timeline of progression. The hiring officials would be so that I am able to find out the determining criteria for hiring transgender candidates. For example, are they only allowed to hire a select number or are they not allowed to hire any due to the lack of accommodation within their facility? For the purposes of my study, I would like to focus on pivotal places outside of the household such as accommodations in the workplace and public areas such as grocery stores and malls.

My interviews were selected based on my personal relationship with about 75 percent of them. I have close loved ones who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, more specifically those whom identify as transgender. Although I set a goal of having an even number of LGBTQ+ interviewees to hiring officials, I was only able to enlist three hiring managers and one co-worker to a transgender person. The remaining 25 percent of my interviewees were conducted using the snowball sampling, due to some of my original candidates withdrawing their consent.

My interviews were recorded using a voice recorder I ordered from Amazon. I felt this would be better than using an app on my cell phone because I could secure it in my safe when I was not actively working on transcribing. Also the recorder could be easily destroyed upon completion of my research oppose to my cell phone. I originally considered using my laptop, but due to my children needing its use for virtual learning that would breach my level of security. The recordings were all very clear and concise and I was able to pick up all words and sounds. I was able to pause and play during transcription making it easiest to type every word between myself and the interviewee. I did not type repetitive words nor pauses, however I was sure to type when their was an emotional pause such a laughter or sadness. My interviewees names where excluded and terms such as “transwoman, transman, or hiring manager” where used in it’s place to maintain confidentiality.

In lue of COVID and maintaining social distancing guidelines I conducted all of my interviews via video chat. Although some of the interviews were intriguing, I made it a personal rule to respect everyone’s time and not exceed thirty minutes. The shortest interview of 9 minutes was due to a technical issue on my interviewees end. They were in an area with bad weather that caused them to go without power for days. I did reach out to inquire about their well being and to see if they would like to continue the interview in which they were able to spare 7 more minutes of their time. My youngest interviewee was 21 and the oldest was 47. There were two transwomen, one transman, three cis males and four cis females.

My LGBTQ+ interviewees spoke freely and comfortably, whereas some of the hiring officials where a bit reluctant in some of my questioning. I spent the better part of those interviews with the managers assuring them my personal feelings where neutral, but I noticed they were not as candid as my LGBTQ+ interviewees. One manager felt my research was necessary because their personal experience with transgender employees were minimal causing them to lack the knowledge on how to best accommodate them.

I informed all of the interviewees of the consent form in which they would have to sign before moving forward. I was able to email the form for their signatures and they scanned and emailed them back to me. Three out of the ten original interviewees requested I shred their consent forms after their signatures because they no longer wanted to continue with their part in my research. I honored their wishes and searched and found three additional replacements.

I started by presenting a questionnaire to the LGBTQ+ subjects that established their backgrounds to include level of education and birth sex assignment. Among the questions I include that will allow me to observe the gender marking on their Government issued I.D such as driver’s license, state ID, etc. I then proceed to inquire about their work history as this painted a picture of the credentials they possess. I asked questions about known accommodations within their job facilities. Some of my participants where entrepreneurs which caused me shift my questions from their job to social accommodations such as restaurants and grocery stores. I even asked if their clients referred to them as their preferred pronoun to address identity recognition. My interviews with the hiring officials were inquisitive yet discreet ensuring not to paint the company in a negative light if they present opposing views. I wanted to focus on their knowledge of equal opportunity among transgender employees within their organizations. Interestingly some of them lacked experience in this area and gave their own opinions in which their companies could improve.

Social involvements of members of the LGBTQ+ community has evolved such as legalizing gay marriages and same-sex adoptions. It appears our country is moving towards an inclusive society however there are areas of opportunity to improve on. My knowledge of these areas does not expound beyond restrooms and identity markers. In order to provide a variety, I chose to ask the LGBTQ+ participants their experience as well as solicit for their suggestions to improve such matters.

My population was a combination of LGBTQ+ supporters and non-supporters to test the climate of acceptance or lack thereof. I am interested to know whether some refuse to accept one’s identity change due to prejudice or simply because they lack the knowledge. Although I anticipate some of the non-supporting participants may express strong opposing views, I will allow it. I am aware members of the transgender and queer persons within the LGBTQ+ community have lost their lives or in danger of losing their lives due to hate crimes and I ensured to keep all interviews closed and confidential. I also expressed full transparency of remaining neutral at the beginning of each interview. I was sure to maintain empathetic tone, because I am aware I may have never had my participants experience and I would like to keep my interviews as genuine as possible. Nonetheless, whether a participant’s views are similar or differ from my own I maintained non-bias candor.

Once all of the interviews are complete I will transcribe them entirely. I will then proceed to the transcript of all dead air and excess noise. Sections from each interview will be categorized into the gender identity, legal recognition and employment. The coding will be a combination of inductive and deductive. I have noticed there are limited journals on this topic within the U.S, and this may present a challenge when trying to relate the data to that in literature. I anticipate the majority code will be inductive as I believe it will present the most recent data.