| gang_member_paper.pdf |
Understanding Somali gangs
Interview paper
Mohammad H. Zafar
Metropolitan State University
METHOD
The participants of my study consisted of six Somali males, who are all actively in a gang. Their respective family heritages are all Somali. All of the participant gang members were over the age of 16. The Cedar-Riverside high rise has predominately Somali population and is a known area of gang members. A resident at the Cedar-Riverside high rise knew a few gang members, and he introduced me to all of the 6-gang members. They were all interviewed in privacy and separate. Prior to soliciting the study participants, a research proposal was submitted to and approved by the Human Subject Review Board. The data for this study was collected through a total of six face-to-face interviews with the participants. These interviews were conducted at a location chosen by the participants. The interviews were semi-structured. A copy of the interview questions is attached in the appendix. The participants were provided with a copy of the interview questions prior to giving consent. With the permission of the participants, the interviews were audio recorded. After the interviews were recorded, they were downloaded to a password-secured laptop, and then deleted from the audio recorder. After all of the data was collected, I transcribed the interviews. Pseudonyms were used to protect the privacy of the participants. After the transcription was complete, the data was analyzed for emerging themes through the use of conceptually created categories.
The participants of my study consisted of six Somali males, who are all actively in a gang. Their respective family heritages are all Somali. All of the participant gang members were over the age of 16. The Cedar-Riverside high rise has predominately Somali population and is a known area of gang members. A resident at the Cedar-Riverside high rise knew a few gang members, and he introduced me to all of the 6-gang members. They were all interviewed in privacy and separate. Prior to soliciting the study participants, a research proposal was submitted to and approved by the Human Subject Review Board. The data for this study was collected through a total of six face-to-face interviews with the participants. These interviews were conducted at a location chosen by the participants. The interviews were semi-structured. A copy of the interview questions is attached in the appendix. The participants were provided with a copy of the interview questions prior to giving consent. With the permission of the participants, the interviews were audio recorded. After the interviews were recorded, they were downloaded to a password-secured laptop, and then deleted from the audio recorder. After all of the data was collected, I transcribed the interviews. Pseudonyms were used to protect the privacy of the participants. After the transcription was complete, the data was analyzed for emerging themes through the use of conceptually created categories.
| heading_1.pdf |
Hamline Midway Coalition
Interviews with community members about using
non-auto forms of transportation
Metropolitan State University
Masters in Community Psychology students participating in the project: Kellie Cecil-Medina, Deborah Dixon, Madina Dula, Pamela Dupree, Maisha Giles, Amy Parker, Elizabeth Roseborough, Lindsay Scheeler, Mohammad Zafar
SUMMARY
The Hamline Midway Coalition (HMC) — District Council 11 — is a community-based non-profit organization dedicated to making the Hamline Midway neighborhood a better place to live, learn, work, and play. The Hamline Midway Coalition is one of 17 District Councils in the City of Saint Paul. HMC serves the area bounded by University Avenue on the South, Pierce Butler Route on the North, Lexington Avenue on the East, and Transfer Road on the West. HMC has a Transportation Committee that addresses transportation issues in the Hamline Midway neighborhood. The committee disseminates information to and gathers feedback from the community on transportation issues; tracks, discusses, and debates transportation-related issues; and provides information and recommendations for action to the HMC Board of Directors.
During Spring semester 2009, Dr. Alexandra Pierce and her Masters in Community Psychology students from Metropolitan State University conducted a qualitative research project for the Hamline Midway Coalition. The nine students in Dr. Pierce’s Qualitative Research Methods and Analysis course scheduled and completed 18 interviews with residents of the Hamline Midway neighborhood. Each student transcribed their own interviews and students worked together to code and analyze the interviews. Each student was responsible for writing up the analysis for specific sections of this report.
The interviews were intended to gather information from Hamline Midway residents who had reduced their use of a personal auto and increased their use of other transportation methods. The main topics of the interviews were:
n What motivated residents to make this change
n Challenges that make it difficult to eliminate the use of a personal auto
n Strategies they have used to overcome those challenges
n Benefits they have realized from reducing their use of a personal car
n Their recommendations for others wanting to increase their use of transportation methods other than a personal auto
n Their suggestions for how Hamline Midway Coalition might encourage increased neighborhood residents’ use of non-auto transportation.
Over half of the 20 business owners interviewed for this project made unsolicited comments that they had a high regard for Eastside NDC, and that they much appreciated the current team at ESNDC, particularly Anne Briseno, the Director of Commercial Development.
During Spring semester 2009, Dr. Alexandra Pierce and her Masters in Community Psychology students from Metropolitan State University conducted a qualitative research project for the Hamline Midway Coalition. The nine students in Dr. Pierce’s Qualitative Research Methods and Analysis course scheduled and completed 18 interviews with residents of the Hamline Midway neighborhood. Each student transcribed their own interviews and students worked together to code and analyze the interviews. Each student was responsible for writing up the analysis for specific sections of this report.
The interviews were intended to gather information from Hamline Midway residents who had reduced their use of a personal auto and increased their use of other transportation methods. The main topics of the interviews were:
n What motivated residents to make this change
n Challenges that make it difficult to eliminate the use of a personal auto
n Strategies they have used to overcome those challenges
n Benefits they have realized from reducing their use of a personal car
n Their recommendations for others wanting to increase their use of transportation methods other than a personal auto
n Their suggestions for how Hamline Midway Coalition might encourage increased neighborhood residents’ use of non-auto transportation.
Over half of the 20 business owners interviewed for this project made unsolicited comments that they had a high regard for Eastside NDC, and that they much appreciated the current team at ESNDC, particularly Anne Briseno, the Director of Commercial Development.
| hijab__the_loss_of_identity.pdf |
HIJAB AND THE LOSS OF IDENTITY
Capstone paper
Social Science
Mohammad H. Zafar
Metropolitan State University
ABSTRACT
There is a growing body of literature about people from Western societies who convert to Islam, but there has been little discussion about how converting to Islam has affected the lives of Caucasian (white) women. By converting to Islam and by choosing to visually distinguish themselves as Muslims, these women forgo many privileges associated with being white. This research examines how the daily lives of white women are affected by the choice of the hijab (Islamic dress code) in Western society. It also demonstrates that the participants’ social identities change after they start to wear the hijab. The forces of this change come from both the women and the society in which they live. Interviews were conducted with white women who wear the hijab. Initially the women reacted negatively to the idea of wearing the hijab. Once committed to wearing it; however, the women stayed confident in their choice and were able face and endure many of their society’s ongoing negative stereotyping.
