Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

not an option. Actual observance of ritual was not an option because I could not take part in
closed ritual ceremonies due to the secrecy of these ceremonies.
As discussed in Chapter II, the topic of ritual is very close to me, therefore, in order to
assure that my bias would not interfere with the interviews, I developed interview questions that
were clear, concise and not leading. In addition to the structured interview questions, I did not
make personal comments about my beliefs during the interview process. I did recognize that I
had personal bias, and therefore took every precaution that I could in order to allow for the
sorority women’s responses to be their own, without guidance from me. Patton (1990) writes that
it is important to understand the power of interviewing and to anticipate and deal with the ethical
dimensions of qualitative inquiry:
Because qualitative methods are highly personal and interpersonal, because materialistic
inquiry takes the researcher into the real world where people live and work, and because
in-depth interviewing opens up what is inside people, qualitative inquiry may be more
intrusive and involve greater reactivity than surveys, tests, and other qualitative
approaches (p. 356).
In an effort to address ethical concerns that may have arisen, I assured the participants of
confidentiality as it related to their individual identity and their sorority affiliation and had them
sign an informed consent form. The participants were informed during the interview that their
campus identity would be included in the study. I made certain that I followed all procedures as it
related to data access and stayed within the boundaries established by this study. I have taken my
role very seriously and have upheld my agreement to keep confidential the identity of the
individuals and their sororities.
Each participant was asked to sign an informed consent form along with a statement of
confidentiality on the part of the researcher. Permission to interview their undergraduate sorority
members was obtained from the National Panhellenic Conference Research Committee (see
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