TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Assignment on casework process and interview skills in field lab

Submitted by: Apoorva Balakrishnan

Submitted to: Mr. Manoj joseph
Date of submission: 10/08/16
Subject: Field lab
 TRANSCRIPTION
Me: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, a general profile?

Person S: Actually, I am from Jammu and Kashmir , I have done my B.com in 2010, after that I was
trying to pursue my career in civil services but I have given 3 attempts but I didn’t clear, once I
appeared for mains last year but I couldn’t clear my prelims that’s why I chose to came here.

Me: What was your stream in +2?

Person S: Commerce.

Me: With mathematics?

Person S: Without maths it was with IT.

Me: OK. So B.com as your undergraduate course, why RD in master’s why not MBA, M.Com?

Person S: Actually I think social work in RD is a very general thing, we come across many things in
our normal lives like untouchability… it is prohibited under constitution but we can still see the
discrimination among SC and category and domestic violence., many things we can see which we
generally see in our society. When we see all this happening we get an urge to do something in that
particular area. Moreover I was preparing for civil services so I was inclined towards rural
development to some extent because I was reading about all these for the past three years. I’m
inclined towards rural India. Moreover I can see this discrimination based on caste and gender and I
personally don’t like it very much that is the reason why I wanted to join social work in RD.

Me: There are plenty of colleges which provide RD, then why TISS?

Person S: I think TISS is one of the premiere institutes for social sciences, like for engineering there is
IIT for MBA there is IIM and for human sciences TISS is the best so that’s why.

Me: Since you’ve been here it has almost been 2 months… so when you started here you didn’t have
any social science background so did you have any difficulty in coping with any of the subjects?

Person S: Yes in one subject that is social research methodology, social science research. Philosophy
of social science research and India economy and India society is still manageable but philosophy of
social science research is something very… am not able to wrap my head around it.

Me: So is it because you don’t have a background regarding the subject or because of the classes,
because of the professor?

Person S: Actually it’s quite complicated, firstly I don’t have a background, the teacher is a reason too
and the classes, there is too much of information, its information overload.
Me: So sometimes you find yourself phasing out of the classes?

Person S: It’s like you are in the class but you can’t concentrate it’s too much to take in. I am there
physically present but not mentally. I don’t know why. Maybe because I don’t like the teacher.

Me: Okay. So no other subjects?

Person S: All the rest of the subjects are ok. Understanding India society though I like the subject but
I don’t like the way it is taught because it only focuses in marathwada region I am not getting an India
picture a India scenario of Indian society and development its mostly concentrated towards
Maharashtra region so that’s why I am not liking that class very much. I think it should be over all
India perspective if someone is taking an example there should be Indian view. I am not against
Maharashtra but it is more oriented towards Maharashtra so that is why. Classes are fine but I need an
Indian view. If the faculty tells us about agitation they generally tell us about Maharashtra and
marathwada region only. So they should also tell us about U.P, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc. they are not so
well developed and so in that way I am not liking the classes.

Me: Ok. So how are you planning on coping up with the subject?

Person S: Actually I use to read, through reading I can self-sufficiently I can cope up with that
because they provide us with notes and with notes we can understand most of the reading but there is
some work for faculty as well they can teach us in a very good way by illustrating and everything but
since they concentrate on marathwada region I prefer to read books and journals.

Me: So you face difficulty in coping with the subject because they particularly concentrate on
marathwada region?

Person S: I am not facing difficultly I just don’t like that class very much because of it, otherwise it’s
not bad to concentrate on your state but we are coming from different parts of India, our class is so
diverse so we want some examples from outside of the state as well because we are here for rural
development for India and society when we talk about society we are not taking just marathwada
society we need the perspective from all the regions so concentrating yourself only in this particular
area is not a good thing they should tell about the whole country because we may not get placed in
marathwada we can get placed in Delhi, Jharkhand, in central belt, in northeast. I am not facing
difficulty I’m just telling you that I don’t like the way the classes are being conducted. I am facing
difficulty in only one subject that is philosophy of social science research. I don’t know how to cope
up with that subject I have no sources, I have never read anything about it I don’t know what to do
with that.

Me: Okay so your exams are probably in a month how are you planning to cope up with it?
Person S: Maybe group studies I’ll ask some students who have knowledge about this subject or
otherwise I’ll try to cope up actually I use to self-study there is some kind of fear in me about that
subject but that fear will go away once I start reading and learning that subject to be very honest I
haven’t started reading it yet because I don’t find it very interesting in the classes it’s too much of
information to process at one go, at a point it feels like enough is enough and because I don’t find it
interesting I don’t feel like starting the subject maybe if I start reading maybe then I’ll be able to
decide whether I can do it on my own or will I be needing group study.

Me: Have you confronted the professor regarding the subject?

Person S: No.

Me: If he or she can make the classes interesting or help you in some way?

Person S: No I haven’t.

Me: Have you talked about it with any of your classmates?

Person S: Yeah I have asked a few if they are able to understand it and many students are not sure if
they do. They are like at the end of the semester the teacher will be providing us with the summary
and they will read it and clear the exams and that teacher is against examinations so he told us he will
be providing us with the questions. So for many students it’s just to pass the exams but for me if I am
here I want to learn and understand it that’s my goal. So let’s see let me get started with it first.

Me: Fair enough. Tell me a little bit about your family?

Person S: We are a family of six, we are four siblings and mother and father. My mother is illiterate.
My father is 12th passed he is not well educated. My parents belong to village setup. My grandpa
expired when my mother was very young and she was not from a well to do family so she could not
pursue her studies. My grandfather they were okay in financial conditions. Though I live in Jammu
my roots go back to U.P ALLAHABAD. So my father is basically from a farmer’s family he basically
supported his father since childhood he used to help my grandfather we have a business of paan beetle
leaf. It’s been 35-40 years my father migrated to Jammu from Allahabad so there also we have this
business.

Me: Is it farming or business?

Person S: It’s a business. There is no cultivation of paan in U.P it’s in eastern belt. So this business is
our family business and my uncle is also in Jammu so they run the business together. It’s very
successful there we have a monopoly there.

Me: Are you the eldest of all the siblings?

Person S: No, I have an elder brother then my sister I am third and my younger sister. My brother is
not so good in academics so he joined my father’s business, my sister is doing CA she has done her
MBA after that she worked for a while in coca cola company and now she is pursuing her CA and my
younger sister she just completed her graduation from Delhi university.

Me: Where did you complete your undergraduate?

Person S: Jammu University.

Me: What if you are unable to cope up with it and the friends you approach are stuck in the same level
as you what’s your lookout then?

Person S: Then I will have to go to the professor but I’ll try to do it on my own but if I still can’t then
I have to seek help from the professor.

Me: Okay. Thank you so much for your time.

 PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANT
From: Jammu and Kashmir

Roots: U.P, Allahabad

Stream in +2: commerce with IT

Undergraduate: B.com

College: Jammu University

Post-graduation: master’s in Rural Development

Parents: Mother: illiterate

Father: 12th passed

Siblings: Brother: dropped out after 10th

Elder sister: Pursing CA

Younger sister: graduated from Delhi University.

The participant’s father runs a family business of beetle leaves (paan) along with her paternal uncle in
Jammu itself and for the past few years her brother joined the family business as well after dropping
out from school because he want good in academics. The elder sister is currently pursuing CA and
before that she was working with coca cola Company. The younger sister just graduated from Delhi
University. The participant appeared for civil services thrice and was not able to clear. She was
getting frustrated by the continuous disappointment and decided to join the institute for master’s
course in rural development.
 DESCRIPTIVE NARRATIVE
The participant “person S” is from Jammu and Kashmir she has completed her undergraduate in
B.com from Jammu University in the year 2010 and after that she had a strong will to pursue her
career in civil services so she appeared for CSE (Civil Services Examination) thrice and was
unsuccessful in clearing it, once she got to mains but was unable to clear it and so she was frustrated
and disappointment was getting to her so she finally decided to join TISS and got admitted for
master’s in rural development she wants to pursue rural development because she finds a part of it
related to civil services and she wants to change the face of the rural India and has got a lot of zeal
and zest in her to bring about some changes.

Her family consists of six members her mother, father and four siblings including herself. Her mother
is an illiterate woman because her family’s financial condition weren’t very much in support of her
education and the participant’s grandfather has passed away at a very young age and her father is only
12th passed and he runs a beetle leaf (paan) shop along with his elder brother in Jammu.

The eldest of all her siblings is her brother who dropped out of school after completing 10 th because
he wasn’t very well in academics and no works at their father’s beetle leaf (paan) shop, her elder sister
has done MBA and is currently pursuing CA after working with coca cola company for an year, her
younger sister has just graduated from Delhi University.

She faces difficulty in philosophy of social science research as she is from a completely different
background and it is new to her and according to her there is a lot to take in at one go so she is not
able to wrap her head around it. She finds the classes monotonous and is not able to concentrate in the
subject because of too much information to process in such a short span of time she thinks that the
professor can make the class a whole lot interesting by including examples from all over India but the
professor of that subject concentrates particularly on the marathwada region and it’s not helping her to
think in a bigger all India perspective and so she is not indulged in the subject and this is the reason
why she doesn’t want to get started with the subject because she has some sort of fear regarding it that
she won’t be able to do it but she has planned to start with it as soon as possible and if she doesn’t
understand it then she will ask a few of her friends to have group study sessions and when asked what
if her group of friends are not able to do it either she will directly approach the professor itself as a
last resort but she will try to do it by herself as far as possible because she prefers self-study over any
other alternative.

She wants the classes to be more interactive and interesting for a subject the professor offered to help
them by providing them with the summary and the questions for the end semester exams which makes
all the students not care much about the learning but inclined towards passing the subject but she
wants to learn and cultivate her ideas rather than just pass the exams. When asked if her classmates
feel the same way about the classes her response was that they don’t exactly feel the same way but all
they care about is to pass and nothing else.
 ECOMAP
POSITIVE:

The participant not only wants to get a degree but also gain knowledge from the course she is
pursuing but the only problem she faces is that of the professor not teaching the subjects properly.

Has interest in the subject: as she has been preparing herself for CSE for the past few years and it has
stirred an interest in her for rural development.

Her parents are really very supportive of her and are with her every step of the way right beside her
when she attempted CSE thrice and couldn’t clear the exam she was depressed but her parents
supported her and brought out the confidence in her to join the institute for further studies.

Monopoly in family business: her family runs and owns a beetle leaf (paan) shop in Jammu which is
the only shop in the whole area which in turn profits them as they have a monopoly in business.

After everything she still wants to attempt CSE again and this time she is planning for cracking the
exam.

NEGATIVE:

She attempted CSE thrice and failed and that left her in depression.

Whatever information is provided in her classroom teaching session is way too much to process at one
go.

The classes can be more inclusive and interactive. According to her the teacher can pool in more
effort for making the class interesting.

All the topics of discussion are bound to be in marathwada region itself which restricts the more
overall Indian viewpoint on the subject.

Her brother dropped out of school after 10th grade.