Phil Whitehead

Why this choice of person?

I chose my Mum to respond to questions about soap operas as I thought it
would be a good idea to get answers from a range of ages and gender in
comparison to Alex and Henry in the previous interview. Its also interesting to
get a response from a social group which is usually and typically not
stereotyped or represent negatively in soap operas.
What else does he/she do besides watching soap operas? What use
is this extra information to the data gathering process?
ther than watching soap operas my interviewee wor!s full time " days a
wee!# this ta!es up the ma$ority of a typical wee!day. Also she is a member
of a local gym and attends % hour sessions twice a wee! aswell as going
occasionally freely. &he is has ' children ages '( and %) which !eeps her
busy with housewor! things. *inally she regularly goes out socialising with her
friends and husband usually at wee!ends. +his extra information de,ning and
creating a more niche audience for the gathering data process.
What themes began to emerge from the interview?
It was obvious when gathering the data and information that my Mum does
not watch soap operas regularly# however she did use to and prefers
Hollyoa!s and -orrination &treet if anything. .easons for this is being able to
humourously relate to Moira as a busy mum in Hollyoa!s. I also learnt that
my mum believes her social group is represented fairly but does see how
other social groups such as the wor!ing class is not always shown positively
in soap operas. Also its clear she prefers +/ drama# particularly crime drama
to soap operas.
How could you develop your interview questions? What other
questions could you ask and why?
I could develop my questions further by as!ing speci,c details about
Hollyoa!s and -orrination &treet and compare the similarities and di0erences
in each of them. I could also as! her for her favourite moments or memories
of the soap opera and why it speci,cally appealled to her. I also could of
a!sed her about her interest in crime drama# why this appeals to her and
what di0erences are there in comparison to soap operas. I could of as!ed her
about her favourite characters in her favourite +/ shows and why they appeal
to her and are possibley best for her age group.