For this method practice report, I interviewed my 10 year old cousin. I decided to ask him about his new experiences as a junior high school student compared to last year when he was an elementary school student. I asked him questions about his after school routine last year compared to this year. I informed his parents that I would keep his name anonymous and that these questions were for my use and that I would be writing about my experience online. I conducted the interview in their home after my cousin arrived home from school.
The first question I asked him was “how do you like your new school?” He responded by saying “it’s nice but I have to wake up early to get ready.” Being aware of his usual after school routine when he was in elementary school I asked him “what do you do after school this year that you didn’t do last year?” He said “well last year when I came home from school I would eat my lunch and watch tv or go on the computer or my kindle and play games until my mom came home, then I would do my homework with her or if you came over you would make me turn off everything and do my homework when I finished eating. This year I’m in after school so I do karate and I get home at 7 so I only have time to do my homework, play with my sister for a little bit, eat dinner, take a shower and then I have to go to bed.” I asked him if he missed being able to play games and watch television when he got home from school and he said “yeah but I get to watch as much tv and play games on the weekend so I guess that makes up for it.” I asked if he thinks that he’s doing better in school now that he isn’t so focused on watching tv when he gets home and he says “actually Devie (my middle name that my family uses for me) I never really thought about that but I do pay more attention to my teachers and I don’t call you for homework help anymore so I guess I am.”
This experience was interesting because I have done interviews with adults and children but never with a family member. I found that I was very relaxed and I even told my cousin that if he didn’t want to answer any more questions all he had to do was tell me and I’d stop. I would consider using this method for my group research with consistent reassurance to the child that we can stop at any point they are not comfortable and they can take as much time as they need to answer the question.