“It’s a Man Thing, Gina”: Watching Gender in Martin

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Second Life ◽  
Situation Comedy ◽  
Original Network ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Network Television ◽  
Series Representations ◽  
Group Interviews

Abstract In the almost three decades since the hit situation-comedy Martin (1992–1997) originally aired on Fox, the show has not only enjoyed a vibrant second life through syndication and streaming platforms, but has functioned as a form of television heritage, reflected in fashion, music, games, and memes. Martin has developed a particularly loyal following among black millennials, many of whom were too young to watch the show during its original network television run. In this article, I explore the series’ representations of black women through individual and focus group interviews with 26 black viewers. My interviews reveal that participants have ambivalent relationships with the show. While several cite Martin as their favorite show of all-time, they were disturbed by the show’s troubling depictions of black heterosexual romantic relationships and its reliance on stereotypical representations of black women.

One Tough Cookie: Exploring Black Women’s Responses to Empire’s Cookie Lyon

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-304
Author(s):  
Melissa A Click ◽  
Sarah Smith-Frigerio
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Black Female ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
The Family ◽  
Women Viewers ◽  
Group Interviews

Abstract The premier of Empire in January 2015 drew 9.8 million viewers and became FOX's highest-rated series debut in three years. In this episode, we are introduced to the terminally-ill CEO of Empire Entertainment, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), who must decide which of his three sons will inherit the family business. To further complicate the decision, his ex-wife, Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), is released from prison after 17 years. The strength of the performances from the main cast, and those of celebrity guest stars, bolster the drama that unfolds, explaining why Empire was incredibly popular with audiences, and black audiences in particular. We examine the series's representations of blackness through focus group interviews with 31 black women viewers, exploring how they made sense of Cookie and compared her to black female leads on other series. Our interviews reveal that Cookie's complexities inspire identification and anxiety, engage broader debates about popular culture representations, and clarify black women's desires to see multifaceted images of themselves and their communities on television.

Management Strategy for Distributing Questionnaires and Interview Guidelines in the Research Data Collection Process

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Po. Abas Sunarya ◽  
George Iwan Marantika ◽  
Adam Faturahman
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Management Strategy ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Good Management ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Group Interviews

Writing can mean lowering or describing graphic symbols that describe a languageunderstood by someone. For a researcher, management of research preparation is a veryimportant step because this step greatly determines the success or failure of all researchactivities. Before a person starts with research activities, he must make a written plan commonlyreferred to as the management of research data collection. In the process of collecting researchdata, of course we can do the management of questionnaires as well as the preparation ofinterview guidelines to disseminate and obtain accurate information. With the arrangement ofplanning and conducting interviews: the ethics of conducting interviews, the advantages anddisadvantages of interviews, the formulation of interview questions, the schedule of interviews,group and focus group interviews, interviews using recording devices, and interview bias.making a questionnaire must be designed with very good management by giving to theinformation needed, in accordance with the problem and all that does not cause problems at thestage of analysis and interpretation.

scholarly journals Counter-talk as symbolic boundary drawing: Challenging legitimate cultural practices in individual and focus group interviews in the lower regions of social space

2021 ◽  
pp. 003802612110144
Author(s):  
Riie Heikkilä ◽  
Anu Katainen
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Moral Boundaries ◽  
Popular Classes ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Symbolic Boundary

In qualitative interviews, challenges such as deviations from the topic, interruptions, silences or counter-questions are inevitable. It is debatable whether the researcher should try to alleviate them or consider them as important indicators of power relations. In this methodological article, we adopt the latter view and examine the episodes of counter-talk that emerge in qualitative interviews on cultural practices among underprivileged popular classes by drawing on 49 individual and focus group interviews conducted in the highly egalitarian context of Finland. Our main aim is to demonstrate how counter-talk emerging in interview situations could be fruitfully analysed as moral boundary drawing. We identify three types of counter-talk: resisting the situation, resisting the topic, and resisting the interviewer. While the first type unites many of the typical challenges inherent to qualitative interviewing in general (silences, deviations from the topic and so forth), the second one shows that explicit taste distinctions are an important feature of counter-talk, yet the interviewees mostly discuss them as something belonging to the personal sphere. Finally, the third type reveals how the strongest counter-talk and clearest moral boundary stemmed from the interviewees’ attitudes towards the interviewer herself. We argue that counter-talk in general should be given more importance as a key element of the qualitative interview. We demonstrate that all three types of counter-talk are crucial to properly understanding the power relations and moral boundaries present in qualitative interviews and that cultural practices are a particularly good topic to tease them out.

scholarly journals We Want More Than Life-Sustaining Treatment during End-of-Life Care: Focus-Group Interviews

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4415
Author(s):  
Mirinae Kim ◽  
Minju Kim
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Treatment Needs ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Basic Care ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Group Interviews

We qualitatively investigated end-of-life care needs. Data were collected via focus-group interviews with three groups: young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. The key question was, “What kind of care would you like to receive at the end of life?” Interview data were transcribed and analyzed using content analysis. End-of-life care needs were classified into six categories: life-sustaining treatment needs, physical care needs, emotional care needs, environmental needs, needs for respect, and needs for preparation for death. Because the Korean culture is family-oriented and talking about death is taboo, Korean patients at the end of their life do not make decisions about life-sustaining treatment or actively prepare for death. Therefore, to provide proper end-of-life care, conversations and shared decision-making among patients and their families are crucial. Further, we must respect patients’ dignity and help them achieve a good death by understanding patients’ basic care preferences. Future research should continue examining end-of-life care needs that reflect the social and cultural context of Korea to inform instrument development.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study on Employees’ Experiences of a Support model for Systematic Work Environment Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Hellman ◽  
Fredrik Molin ◽  
Magnus Svartengren
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Environment Management ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Support Model

Background: The aim is to explore how an organisational work environment support model, the Stamina model, influences employees’ work situations and the development of sustainable work systems. Methods: It was a qualitative study with semi-structured, focus-group interviews, including 45 employees from six work groups. Eighteen focus group interviews were conducted over a period of two years. Data were analysed with constant comparative method. Results: The core category, shifting focus from an individual to an organisational perspective of work, illustrated how communication and increased understanding of one’s work tasks changed over time and contributed to deeper focus on the actual operation. These insights were implemented at different time points among the work groups during the two-year process. Conclusions: Our results indicate that working with the model engages employees in the work environment management, puts emphasis on reflections and discussions about the meaning and purpose of the operations and enables a shared platform for communication. These are important features that need to continue over time in order to create a sustainable work system. The Stamina model, thus seems to have the potential to promote productive and healthy work places.

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