Koreans in North America by Min Pyong Gap;

Author:Min, Pyong Gap;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1664191
Publisher: Lexington Books

Data and Methods

I conducted in-depth interviews with twenty-one Korean ISWs and eight husbands between March 2009 and December 2010 in two northeastern U.S. university settings: University at Albany, SUNY in New York and Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. To investigate the effects of ISWs’ student status on the division of household labor, my sample consists of two groups of ISWs: fourteen full-time homemakers and seven graduate students. In addition, to make an overall comparison of each spouse’s share of housework and childcare, I also interviewed eight male Korean students, who were husbands of ISWs. Interviews with both wives and husbands allowed me to construct a more comprehensive picture of the gender dynamics among Korean international student couples.

In Albany, I recruited the initial interviewees through the Korean Graduate Student Association (KGSA) and International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) of the University at Albany. KGSA provided its members a list of Korean graduate students. The ISSS forwarded my recruiting e-mail to all Korean graduate students enrolled at the university. In Boston, I recruited the initial interviewees through my personal acquaintances. After recruiting the first interviewees in both areas, I asked them to refer to other Korean ISWs and their husbands who might be interested in and willing to participate in my study. In this way, I recruited a total of twenty-one wives and eight husbands (fifteen wives and six husbands in Albany and six wives and two husbands in Boston).

Interviews were based on a semi-structured interview guide with open-ended questions, lasted approximately one to two hours, and were audio-recorded. Interviews were conducted at locations where my interviewees felt most comfortable, such as a cafeteria, a playroom or the living room of their apartment, and at the time when they felt most convenient. I provided each participant with a gift card.

Some respondents were curious about what their spouses said about their relationship. Others were concerned that what they told me would spread among the Korean community, because I was involved in the Korean student community. By guaranteeing strict confidentiality, I overcame these difficulties during my data collection. In addition, I recognized that because of my female status, some husbands tried to make good impressions on me or were hesitant to talk about their spousal relationships. Thus, I carefully ordered my interview questions―I asked easier questions first, such as inquiries about school life, and then questions about more sensitive topics such as spousal relationships. Also, I expressed empathy to the participants. Further, through effective probing, I extracted more candid and vivid accounts from my interviewees. After transcribing each interview, I compared and analyzed the transcripts. In the excerpts used in this paper, all names are pseudonyms.

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