Pre-Interview Worksheet with Homeless - Research Paper Example

National Public Smoking Ban Homeless Part One Pre-Interview Worksheet See Word Count For Each Section Interview will be conducted via e-mail Interviewee Research/Reflection Using complete sentences, provide the research you have found about the interviewee. Be sure to cite information from sources. Also, discuss why you have selected this person to interview. – At least 225 words. I chose to interview Dr. Carlton Young, a “former homeless single father with a young son who has lived through the horrors of homelessness and [became] a successful, much sought after Inspirational Speaker and Author”(Young). I chose him because of his first hand experience of being homeless himself. He was able to rise above homelessness and now became a successful author and speaker on how to address and overcome the plight of not having a shelter above one’s head. His background made him a stand out from the other experts because of a personal experience thus making his view on the subject grounded and based on reality. He would also make an ideal source on how to address the issue because of the nature of his vocation – a motivational speaker. This meant that his approach towards any issue is filled with optimism that an issue can be overcome. In the interest of the research paper, this will put a positive tone and doable perspective on the issue that the research is trying to address. Upon checking Dr. Carlton Young’s profile in his website, it revealed the diversity of his background. Apart from being an Author and a motivational speaker, he was also a soldier, and a successful entrepreneur. He travels from Atlanta, Georgia throughout United States to address homelessness with his proven approach of empowering people to go back into a mainstream life (Young nd). Interview Topic Research/Reflection Using complete sentences, provide the research you have found about the interview topic. Be sure to cite information from sources. Also, briefly describe the significance of this topic and its relation to the interviewee. – At least 75 words. To understand what homelessness is, I read several articles and journals about what constitutes a home and what makes one homeless. I tried to understand the plight of the homeless by reading articles that documents their situation. I also read news articles about the homeless status of America and what the policy makers are doing about it. I also did a cursory reading about Dr. Young’s book on how he was able to overcome homelessness and become one of the most successful author and motivational speaker in America. Primary Questions List a minimum of three open questions and three closed questions. Closed: At least 50 words. 1. What makes a person homeless? 2. Do we have an increased incidence of homelessness now compared before, say 20 years ago? 3. What is the current state of the homeless in America? 4. What is the government currently doing about it to solve the issue? Open: At least 50 words. 1. What caused the increased cases of homelessness today? 2. Do you think that we can we still do something about it? 3. In your opinion, what should be the ideal response of both the government and the general public to address homelessness? Reasoning Behind Asking These Questions Describe your reasoning behind this line of questioning. – At least 75 words. To effectively write the research paper, I have to define what the problem is. I have my own understanding about homelessness but it would be better to ask an expert opinion so I will begin my question with “what makes one homeless?” Second, I have to determine if there is an increase of homelessness in America to make it a case suitable for research. If it is a decline, then my paper would take a different direction and not look at it as an issue. The rest of the questions are soliciting details on what we are currently doing about it and how can it be ideally addressed assuming that homelessness is now a pressing issue in America. Anticipated Responses to Questions Discuss how you think the interviewee might respond to the questions; consider body language that might be seen. – At least 75 words. I anticipate that my interview will have limitations because I will be doing the interview via email. I may not be able to immediately follow through a question which I may need some clarification. Also, the information that will be conveyed to me is already “filtered” or edited and absent of the resource person’s non-verbal actuations. It may also take a while before my interview will be responded as I anticipate the resource person to be busy. I anticipate however that Dr.Young will provide invaluable input on how to address the issue since he himself became homeless at some point in his life. His input could provide insight into the paper that would make it substantive. Secondary Questions List three questions that you intend to ask if there is time or if the interviewee seems open to more questions. At least 50 words. 1. Is the problem of homelessness can be eradicated in the US? If so, how? 2. Considering the effort that the government is currently doing, is it effective in providing everybody a home in America? 3. We are supposed to be a rich country, the largest economy in the world, why do we still suffer the problem of homelessness which is supposed to be a third world problem? Reasoning Behind Asking These Questions Describe your reasoning behind this line of questioning. At least 50 words. The above questions are based on realities. It is basically comparing what the current efforts of the government are and the magnitude of the issue that it is trying to resolve. Is it adequate or is it just a token of action of government? It also provides an opportunity to solicit insights why do we have this problem in the first place when we are supposed to be the largest economy in the world. Homelessness is a third world issue that should not be a problem in the United States, yet we have this problem. Anticipated Responses to Questions Discuss how you think the interviewee might respond to the questions; consider body language that might be seen. At least 100 words. Of course I did some reading before formulating the questions. Based on my research, I know that homelessness is now increasing to a proportion of becoming a problem in America but I have to validate it with the resource person’s expert opinion. I also anticipate that the resource person will point the rising incidence of homelessness to the recent mortgage crisis, unemployment and weak economy in general. I am hoping that I would be able to engage the resource person in an online interview via Skype so I would know which of the issues that he will raise is more important basing on the tone of his voice and other body/facial signals that may be conveyed. Part Two – At least 350-400 words The secondary sources that I will be using will basically illustrate the different thoughts on the origin of unemployment. Dr. Young will validate which one of these thoughts is relevant and will provide the solution to the issue of the homelessness. His opinion is invaluable not just as a primary source but he also experienced the phenomena of homelessness at some point of his life. That made him an expert on the subject that got his “fingers dirty” in knowing the subject he is talking about. In simple language, he basically knows this stuff. I will compare and contrast the different ideas about homeless as presented by my secondary sources. This will provide the paper a more holistic approach because it considered other dimensions of the problem and elected a point of view that is more relevant as validated by an expert opinion. The first argument about the cause of homelessness is the argument of (Lurie and Wodiczko 2009: that posits about homelessness as more of a choice than a hapless circumstance. The study stated that government always provide facilities for those who does not or have lost their home only that these facilities are badly run and badly treated its inhabitants that people opted to live in the streets than stay in its institutions. Thus it follows that the increase in homelessness is more of a choice. The second argument that I will present would from the point of view of economics. Here, I will use the position paper of National Coalition for the Homeless (2009) citing that homelessness is caused by poverty, particularly unemployment. People do not have a job or lost their job that they do not have the money to pay mortgage or rent that is why they are in the streets or homeless. The argument may be simplistic but it is supported by hard data that unemployment directly correlates to homelessness. The third secondary resource I will use is a news article in support of the argument that homelessness is really caused by economics. The article will point out that the recent financial crisis was just so economically damaging in global proportion that even progressive first world countries that have strong social security mechanism such as Australia also suffered homelessness. After defining what caused homelessness by validating these various points of view according to the expert opinion of Dr. Carlton Young, I will then put in the resource person’s recommendation on how to best address and overcome the issue. I will cite specific instances from his experience that would make my recommendation more substantive. Part Three References ABC News (June 29, 2010) Homelessness surges as GFC continues to bite. Retrieved at [http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-06-29/homelessness-surges-as-gfc-continues-to-bite/884994 Lurie, David V; Wodiczko, Krzysztof (2009). Homeless Vehicle Project. MIT Press, October, 47:53-67 National Coalition for the Homeless (July 2009). Employment and Homelessness. Retrieved at [http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/employment.html] ] Young, Carlton (nd). About The Doc. Retrieved at [http://www.carltonyoung.com/] Read More