Ethnographic Research

Camille

Date: 3/9/17

Type: Expert Interview

Location: Boys & Girls Club Main Campus

Team Participants: Mark Harrel & Olivia Newey

User Characteristics:

-Middle aged

-In charge of the club at this location

-African-American

-Has a daughter that goes there everyday

-Drives a van to pick up some students

Memorable Quotes:

“Before transportation was an issue, we would have over 100 students coming into the club.”

“We only have one van and I am the one that has to drive it.”

Top 3 Learnings:

  1. Boys & Girls Club main issue is transportation.
  2. The Boys & Girls club have another issue where they do not have many employees or volunteers.
  3. Kids will be better off if they attend the club.

Key Insight: The Boys and Girls club need to find a way for the teenagers to get to the club. If they do, there will be many more students coming into the club and bettering themselves. Many kids want to go there for the social aspect but can’t go because they don’t have a ride.

 

Nick

Date: 3/15/17

Type: Individual Interview

Location: Phone

Team Participants: Conducted Interview alone

User Characteristics:

-current teenager

-athlete

-good grades

-caucasian

Memorable Quotes:

“I don’t go to the club because I don’t see a need for it.”

“After school, I go straight to practice and workouts. Then I have to get home to do my homework.”

Top 3 Learnings:

  1. Athletes are less likely to attend the club
  2. Kids will only go to the club if they feel there is a need
  3. Many teenagers think that the Boys & Girls Club is for little kids and not teenagers like them

Key Insight: Athletes and kids who already have really good grades probably won’t attend the club because they don’t see much of a need. With that said, some will still attend for the sole reason that they like the social aspect.

 

Mike

Date: 3/15/17

Type: Individual Phone Interview

Location: Phone

Team Participants: Interview conducted alone

User Characteristics:

-has attended the club for the last 3 years

-likes to go to the club because of the social aspect

-will rarely do homework there

-Caucasian

-teenager

 

Top 3 Learnings:

  1. Social aspect is main reason for attendance
  2. Many go to the club because they would be bored at home otherwise
  3. Many kids wish for more kids to attend because they want to meet new people

Memorable Quotes:

“I like to go to the club because it is a fun and safe place for me to hangout after school.”

“Going to the club is way better than being bored at home.”

Key Insight:

Some students will attend the club for the sole reason that they won’t be as bored. Mike doesn’t live in a neighborhood so it is very rare for him to hangout with friends when home unless someone can drive him to his friend’s house. This makes the club a perfect place for Mike to be after school.

 

Immersion Experience:

For my immersion thus far, I was able to go to the club and talk to Camille and some teens that attend. Moving forth, I intend to keep attending the club every couple of weeks and volunteer for a little bit. When I am there, I plan on playing sports with the kids and talk to them about their futures.

Key Insights: 1. The kids will often attend the club for the social aspect and meeting new people. Next to that, it will keep them from being bored at home. 2. After talking to Camille, the biggest problem is definitely the transportation. If there comes up a way to fund their transportation efforts, many more kids will be better off.

 

Analogous Immersion:

Our team plans on coming up with different activities that the kids can do when they attend the club. For example, we were thinking of having a 3 vs. 3 basketball tournament, with the winning team being rewarded some sort of a prize. On top of that, we are looking into different possible ways that the Boys and Girls Club can be given more vans or better transportation efforts.

Mark Harrell-Ethnography Summary For the Boys and Girls Club of South Bend

Expert Interview: Rachael

I really enjoyed my interview with Rachael as she provided good insight to many of the issues with the teen program. Perhaps the biggest insight I gained was the issues with transportation and getting teenage users to the club itself. Beyond some of the middle schools in the area, there is no available transportation to the club from the high schools and as a result the attendance has dropped. The teen club is comprised of approximately 20-25 members.

Expert Interviews: Camille

My interview with Camille was very insightful given her experience and amount of time spent at the club (She’s been a part of the club since 1998). She too addressed the issue of transportation and provided stories of the dangers of some of the kids walking to the club from home or school. She also sighted that when the transportation was available from the high schools, the attendance was over 100 members for the teen program alone. Camille also went into some of the details regarding the Friday night pizza and “teen night” at the club that could potentially be a valuable tool when trying to attract teens in the future.

 

User Interviews:

Speaking with a wide variety of users during my time at the club gave me a better insight into how the users got to the club, and how difficult it truly was for some of the users to get to the club. Many also felt that they would have more of their peers attend if transportation was available from their high schools. Many also felt that if teen night on Fridays was brought back that their friends would be more interested in attending.

 

Immersion:

Spending time at the club allowed me to observe how the users interacted and what their day was like at the club. What I mostly saw was kids being active in the impressive gym facility that the club has. I personally believe that this gym can be utilized and an attractive asset to attract more users.

 

Iowa Benchmark

Great job benchmarking with Iowa.  Is the $5 fee per trip to the club to cover the costs of transportation and food?  And are membership fees separate?  Please benchmark other clubs, even those that are not Boys and Girls Clubs.

Note that the B&G Club has a running program at Harrison Primary…

The 3rd Annual Pi Day 5K/10K
Registration is now open for the Annual Pi Day 5K, hosted by the Association for Women in Science and Society of Schmitt Fellows. Registration is available on the website. It costs $25 ($30 after Friday, March 10) and includes a running shirt and pie and hot cocoa after the race. Aren’t interested in running races? We also need volunteers — sign-up is also on the website — all volunteers get a T-shirt as well! All proceeds go to benefit the Boys and Girls Club running programs at Harrison Primary School in South Bend.
Saturday, March 183:14 p.m. starting outside McCourtney Hall

Ethnography Summary – Boys and Girls Club Team A (Cal)

Cal Petersen interviewed Eric Petersen, President of the Waterloo, Iowa Boys and Girls Club from 2000-2005

Date: 3/5/17

Type: Phone interview

Team participants: conducted interview alone

 

User Characteristics: “influential expert”

President of Boys and Girls Club from 2000-2005

Male, age 56

What this person is about:

-Driven to make a difference in the community and give back to the city he is from and currently lives in

What is this person’s biggest point of pain?

-trying to do his best to help every kid possible, seeing kids in troubling situations

Memorable quote from interview: “unless you live down there, a parent
isn’t going to go out of their way to go downtown and bring their child there”

Top 3 Learnings:

  1. Both parents and the kids choose the Boys and Girls Club to enhance personal well-being for themselves or their children
  2. Having friends there is important to the kids, attendance goes up
    or down in multitudes
  3. incorporating a meal for the attendees at the Boys and Girls Club enhanced attendance across all ages

Key Insight: 1. Roughly same number of teens attend the club regardless of location in the US, difference is how do you enhance the experience for those there. 2. Waterloo club charged $5 a year and provided transportation from grade school-high school to the club and provided a meal, also was open until 9 pm M-F and till 6 pm on Satur
ay. 3. Teenagers want “monitors” and not authority when they go to the club

 

 

Questions to ask Interviewees

  1. Why do you think people attend the Boys & Girls club? Why don’t some people attend?
  2. What do you think the main benefits of Boys & Girls club are?
  3. Do you think the name makes teenagers not want to attend?
  4. If you had kids, would you send them to the club?
  5. What is the difference between the Boys & Girls club and a normal daycare?
  6. Why do you attend the Boys & Girls club?