Mar 9: Qualitative research & pot stickers

Anya walked to her school, and I bused to my school. I walked right off the bus, hung up my coat, found the room, sat down, and things started. My day was filled with a PhD seminar on qualitative research for theological PhD research. There were about 8 of us. The introduction was review for me, as I read about this to fill this knowledge gap. However, I was able to ask specific questions from the anthropologist expert pertaining to my research during the break.

The lectures continued after chapel and a staff lunch time with the weekly announcements (mostly in Norwegian), except to introduce the Australian guest lecturer in systematic theology. The afternoon’s qualitative research lectures were more helpful for me, as there was more discussion about the analytical and theoretical phases, which is where I am now. There was also an introduction to nVivo qualitative research analysis software. This is the real reason I wanted to participate. I was a bit disappointed, as I believe that I can do this with my Nota Bene software with Orbis key words and searches. However, the nVivo software is much more friendly with a pleasing interface. So, it wasn’t the cosmic software I was hoping for.

Anya went with a friend and a her friend after school to a park in the area. Fortunately, there was no rain today–at least this afternoon. Now it is raining heavily and very windy. Sandnes is the end of a fjord (though a small one), and it seems that fjords act as wind tunnels channeling the wind through the steep-sided trough. (Since my elementary days on the prairie of North-central Montana, I have come to be annoyed by wind.) Here it is windy enough that I have to sleep with earplugs to not be awakened by the powerful gusts.

For dinner, I made pot-stickers (actually the steamed ones, but I don’t know how to transliterate the Chinese words). I had planned to make them for Elenn, as part of the pork hospitality, returning pork into her diet after her 2 month forced fast in Pakistan. But with being sick and some other special events (including Elenn actually cooking), the pot-stickers didn’t get made.

In the evening, part of my work was picking out Maasai names to give to my informants. Anonymity is required by the Norwegian research regulating body, but today in the seminar, it was suggested that a fictitious name is preferred to informant #7 or informant X. I wanted names that had acceptable meanings, so I didn’t end up with a name meaning “son of the witch doctor.”

I’m also informing some friend in Tanzania that Anya and I will still be coming this July. My home church’s mission team has had to cancel the travels for this summer and postpone them to 2016 due to some serious health and family issues. However, Anya and I had already purchased our tickets, with plans to meet them in Amsterdam and fly down together to Tanzania. So, we’re figuring out plans for our time there and the people that we want to visit. We will make sure to attend our friend, Pastor Nangole’s retirement celebration.  However, other plans are up in the air. Perhaps there will be some connections for Knut’s Maasai research project, but we are still pondering about this recent vacated time.

With blessings,

Beth