Legal Commentary

I've had one particular song in my head the last few days.  Those of you with small children might recognize it...it's a Raffi special: 

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring

Banana phone

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring

Banana phone

I've got this feeling, so appealing,

for us to get together and sing. Sing!

I suppose that the tune is appropriate because I've been spending quite a lot of time this week chatting on the (banana) phone with sources for my book--family members and survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, lawyers, journalists, whoever I need to talk to to fill in those informational gaps that seem to crop up now that my book manuscript is getting tighter.  I've also placed a few calls to folks that I am seeking to interview in order to either schedule an interview or ascertain whether they are willing to participate in the first place. 

I'm certainly no stranger to qualitative interviewing--I've conducted many, many open-ended interviews that are at least 2.5 hours long, and often much longer.  I have sat in living rooms and been awed and humlbed by the trust and the testimony that my interviewees impart.  But there is nothing quite so awful as getting ready to ask someone who has undergone a terrible experience in their lives to spend over two hours discussing it with you.  Though I recognize that such qualitative interviews are valuable, I always feel as if I am imposing, and worry lest my enthusiasm for my work make me sound a bit crazy in the bargain.  Emotionally speaking, digging up relevant law review articles on Westlaw is far easier. 

I've often thought that in legal research, there is rarely that raw human element that one sometimes encounters in sociological pieces.  Perhaps this is because that rawness can be wrapped up or walled off with bits of legal theory and analysis that conveniently further discussions at the same time as imposing distance between authors and their human subjects.  This distance is literally a critical distance; without it, our findings and conclusions are not as reliable.  One of the most wonderful and challenging things about conducting qualitative interviews about emotionally difficult subjects is that you form close ties with interviewees.  But these same ties make it harder at times to deconstruct and analyze the interviews produced through these collaborative research relationships. 

I'm optimistic that by the end of the summer the phone calls will be behind me and the book manuscript will be largely finished.  The discomfort of making cold-calls is ultimately a small price to pay for the deeply rewarding experience of completing this book project.  I'm sure that it is these connections that I will remember, and not the awkwardness of first introductions.  Until then, I guess that I will have to keep dialing the banana phone...

Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring...