Abstract

This work offers an analysis of the quality and consistency of an interview guide created to study the emotions in unemployed men, as well as the method for the implementation of this instrument. Our objective is to reveal how researchers from two research groups at two universities in Mexico and Colombia applied and tested a semistructured interview guide with a biographical approach to reveal the emotions in a group of unemployed men. Their methodology involved the application and evaluation of this tool and was followed in (N = 7 in Colombia + N = 14 in Mexico) interviews with unemployed men in two Latin American cities - Bogotá, Colombia and Guadalajara, Mexico - by two research groups. This application has allowed us to verify the consistency of the tool and its applicability during relevant research. Our results thus demonstrate the suitability and credibility of this methodological proposal and interview guide based on their testing and verification in interdisciplinary and interinstitutional contexts.

Key words:
Emotions; Men; Masculinity; Interview; Qualitative research

Introduction

This article presents a methodological study in which semistructured interviews¹1 Bernard HR. Unstructured and semistructured interviewing. In: Bernard HR. Unstructured and semistructured interviewing Research methods in cultural anthropology. Newbury Park: Sage; 1998. p. 203-224. with a biographical approach are used as a strategy to reveal the emotions in unemployed men, and it discusses the method of applying this instrument. This research arises from the need to understand publications that guide the methodological route of working with men and, in particular, to reveal their emotions. Previous studies have evaluated some methodologies and instruments to study emotions in men, and the interview has been the most used instrument by researchers²2 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva JM. Estrategias metodológicas e instrumentos de abordaje en estudios de las emociones en hombres: revisión narrativa. Masculinidades & Cambio Social 2019; 8(1):66-90.. However, there are no studies that analyze the methodological route used to demonstrate the instruments that facilitating working with men and revealing emotions. Moreover, this article is based on the experience of one of the researchers in previous research in other areas of knowledge; this need has also been recognized³3 Cavalcante FG, Minayo MC, Gutierrez DM, de Sousa GS, da Silva RM, Moura R, Meneghel SN, Grubits S, Conte M, Cavalcante AC, Figueiredo AE, Mangas RM, Fachola MC, Izquierdo GM. Instrumentos, estratégias e método de abordagem qualitativa sobre tentativas e ideações suicidas de pessoas idosas. Cien Saude Colet 2015; 20(6):1667-1680..

The purpose of the semistructured interviews in this work was structured with a script as an orientation to direct the conversations and deepen the understanding of the emotions of men in a biographical way. In the present case, organizing and categorizing the interview questions was of great importance because it allowed us to link the main aspects revealed in the scientific literature to the emotions in men and therefore guide the two teams of researchers who had this purpose. The text evaluates the methodological route and the semistructured interview guide with a biographical approach to reveal the social configuration of emotions in men with families who are unemployed^{4 5}. Our objective is to understand how emotions are socially configured when unemployment is experienced by a specific group of men with families in Bogotá, Colombia, and Guadalajara, Mexico. This research was endorsed by two universities: Universidad Militar Nueva Granada and Universidad de Guadalajara.

The applied instrument was constantly analyzed, evaluated and adapted in a network with academics from two university institutions in Mexico and Colombia. The version presented here links the criticisms and suggestions of these groups that were provided after the fieldwork was completed. Its point of interest was the unemployed men who to some extent contributed without proposing to qualify the instrument, and thus the same instrument allowed its suitability to guide the narrative on these men’s work trajectory -unemployment - and family with the analytical lens of socially constructed emotions. It is essential to recognize that conducting an interview on the topic of emotions in men is fundamental, since it is considered a prohibited topic among men because the relevant cultural construct entails that men do not have the social license to reveal certain groups of emotions that are hidden; hence, few emotions are externalized²2 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva JM. Estrategias metodológicas e instrumentos de abordaje en estudios de las emociones en hombres: revisión narrativa. Masculinidades & Cambio Social 2019; 8(1):66-90.^,66 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC. "Me da mucho miedo esto". Hombres, (des)empleo y familia: un acercamiento al vocabulario emocional. Rev Interdiscip Estud Genero Col Mex 2019; 50:1-34., making the expression of emotions taboo on the part of a male, which is also configured as an aspect that is closely linked to the configuration of masculinity.

Emotions constitute every social relationship; they establish life; they are devices of power relations, forms of meaning in time and space, which are not univocal relations of power resistance-counterpower⁷7 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC. Madejas entreveradas. Violencia, masculinidad y poder. Varones que ejercen violencia contra sus parejas [proyecto de investigación]. México DF: Plaza y Valdés; 2005.^,88 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC. Los hombres y las emociones: atisbos a partir de las relaciones de poder en la pareja. En: Cuevas AJ, editora. Familias, género y emociones. Aproximaciones interdisciplinarias. México: Universidad de Colima; 2014. p. 103-130.. They are understood as a legitimate form of representation of the universe in which subjects are immersed. However, the emotional processes of men have notably been little studied from the perspective of social construction, despite the recognition of their significant role in social practice⁹9 Martínez-Munguía CE. Masculinidad hegemónica y expresividad emocional de hombres jóvenes. En: Ramírez-Rodríguez JC, Cervantes-Ríos JC, editores, Los hombres en México: veredas recorridas y por andar. Una mirada a los estudios de género de los hombres, las masculinidades. Guadalajara, México: Universidad de Guadalajara/AMEGH; 2013. p. 177-200.. In this work, emotions are specifically understood to be primordial structures for social construction as well as categories of culture that allow the construction and understanding of part of the universe of social relations in specific geographical and historical contexts. From a gender perspective, i.e., that of masculinity, the close link between emotions and the construction of masculinity is recognized^{10,11,12,13,14,15, 16}; emotions are socially understood as exclusively of a feminine aspect, which limits and conditions the revelation of emotions among men. This situation establishes challenges for a methodological approach²2 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva JM. Estrategias metodológicas e instrumentos de abordaje en estudios de las emociones en hombres: revisión narrativa. Masculinidades & Cambio Social 2019; 8(1):66-90. that favors thinking about the design and creation of qualitative strategies for collecting information¹²12 Evers C. 'The Point': surfing, geography and a sensual life of men and masculinity on the Gold Coast, Australia. Soci Cult Geography 2009; 10(8):893-908.^,1717 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC, Gómez-González MP, Gutiérrez de la Torre NC, Sucilla-Rodriguez MV. Masculinidades y emociones como construcciones socioculturales: una revisión bibliométrica. Masculinities and Social Change 2017; 6(3):217-256.. In this context, a semistructured interview plays an important role and leads to several questions: how can spaces be built between men to talk about emotions? How does one ask about them? What reactions should be taken into account for proper attention or precaution? How is emotion learned? What is the origin of emotion? How is emotion socialized? The objective of this work is to reveal how researchers from two research groups at two universities in Mexico and Colombia applied and tested semistructured interviews with a biographical approach to reveal the emotions in a group of unemployed men.

Methods

Qualitative, hermeneutically based research was carried out; it was, therefore, comprehensive, accounting for the opinions, beliefs and internal contradictions of cultural and social expressions¹⁸18 Minayo MCS. Análise qualitativa: teoria, passos e fidedignidade. Cien Saude Colet 2012; 17(3):621-626. that related to emotions in the framework of the research and the family trajectories among a group of unemployed men. From a theoretical point of view, we define emotions as a social construction with a structural approach; all the sociological perspectives for the study of emotions include social structure as part of an analysis whose sociological perspective of emotions begins with the conception and vision that consider human behavior and interaction dimensions that are limited by the location of individuals in social structures that are guided by culture¹⁹19 Stets JE, Turner JH. The sociology of emotions. In: Lewys JM, Haviland-Jones, Feldman-Barrett L, editors. Handbook of emotions. New York-London: The Guilford press; 2008. p. 17-33..

The hermeneutic method of analysis that was used allowed the researchers to put themselves in the place of the other, recognizing particularity and history while interpreting discourses and looking for meanings in contexts within dialog via the advances of particular knowledge; here, the protagonist is the subject participating in the research who is faced with tensions and subjective contradictions in the social and cultural context, an inheritor of a hegemonic and patriarchal paradigm¹⁸18 Minayo MCS. Análise qualitativa: teoria, passos e fidedignidade. Cien Saude Colet 2012; 17(3):621-626.. The criteria used for the formulation and adequacy of the instrument - a semistructured interview - followed the proposal of Golafshani²⁰20 Golafshani N. Understanding reliability and validity in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report 2003; 8(4):597-606.; the validity and reliability of the qualitative research was based on the quality and adequacy of the instruments and methods in addition to the contents and procedures that were exhausted while emphasizing their replicability²¹21 Pröll S, Rauber A. Habilitación de la reproducibilidad para conjuntos de datos de investigación a pequeña y gran escala. Revista D-Lib 2017; 23(1/2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1045/january2017-proell
https://doi.org/10.1045/january2017-proe... . That is, the criteria of quality and veracity were analyzed on the methodological route and in an exhaustive and documented review of the literature, which provided the inputs for the development of the script of the semistructured interviews. Based on the criterion of theoretical adequacy²²22 Noreña AL, Alcaraz-Moreno N, Rojas JG, Rebolledo-Malpica D. Aplicabilidad de los criterios de rigor y éticos en la investigación cualitativa. Aquichán 2012; 12(3):263-274., the process of consolidating the interview script was carried out and discussed among the team of researchers in Bogotá, reflecting on the sensitivity and relevance of the topics to be addressed with respect to unemployed men. The above was done with the members of the research team during fieldwork through a reflective process²³23 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva J.M, Rodríguez-Ramírez JC, Joya-Ramírez NS. Reflexividad en torno a los dilemas éticos y bioéticos en un estudio de emociones en varones bogotanos sin empleo. En: Duque-Ortiz D, Rincón-Meléndez ML, editores. Diálogos nacionales sobre ética de la investigación 2018-2019. Bogotá: Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología e Innovación; 2021. p. 151-160. where difficulties, redundancies, what worked or did not, and what needed to be linked were analyzed.

Instruments. The primary instrument was the semistructured interview script, which allowed us to guide the researchers of Bogotá and Guadalajara in the exercise of their fieldwork. Two sources inspired its construction: a review of the literature by each of the research teams from each city and the contribution of Mendieta-Izquierdo et al.²2 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva JM. Estrategias metodológicas e instrumentos de abordaje en estudios de las emociones en hombres: revisión narrativa. Masculinidades & Cambio Social 2019; 8(1):66-90., who present a narrative review of such instruments in the studies of emotions in men and discuss the need for this type of reflection in qualitative social research, specifically, its use in gender studies in the field of health.

Procedures. Initially, the team of researchers from Guadalajara developed an interview guide that was used to collect information on the focal population. Subsequently, the team of researchers from Bogotá performed a reflexive analysis of the planned procedures, reaching consensus within the research group for the preparation of the study, the field work and the ways in which the data were analyzed. This is how the instrument for conducting interviews with unemployed men in Bogota was approved and how the form and organization of the interviews was clarified - locating the particular, social, regional and local specificities of the unemployed men while always using the hermeneutic method for orientation.

A reflective qualitative evaluation was carried out in a meeting of the researchers from Bogotá, who participated in the critique and evaluation of the instrument and the procedures for analyzing the data. Ultimately, three researchers from the Bogota team were responsible for the work in this city and read the interview script before offering suggestions.

Seven interviews were conducted with unemployed men in the city of Bogotá, and 14 interviews were conducted with men in the city of Guadalajara. While each team of researchers had a coordinator or principal investigator, these research teams were also multidisciplinary, comprising the following professionals in the health and social sciences: a doctor, a psychologist, a respiratory therapist, a philosopher with postgraduate training at the doctoral level, a doctoral student in bioethics, and research assistants with professional training in philosophy, sociology and anthropology. The latter did not participate in the reflective exercise; however, based on their theoretical reflections on masculinity and the emotions generated in academic spaces, they contributed elements to the reflections of the principal researchers.

Access to participating subjects. Difficulties locating unemployed men by the two research teams entailed that it was necessary to resort to particular strategies to access the subjects. The Guadalajara team turned to support centers for unemployed people and a local radio station. The Bogotá team used a voice-to-voice strategy, contacting different people to obtain its sample. Notably, the services that are intended to support the unemployed population - family compensation funds - were not an executable option for the team of researchers in Bogotá; thus, there was a barrier in terms of the institutionalization that implied bureaucratic procedures were not available, but this was contemplated at the beginning of the research protocol. Since the issue of the unemployment of men is considered a taboo that stigmatizes men²⁴24 López-Gallegos AM. Masculinidad y emociones: la ansiedad, la tristeza y la vergüenza en hombres desempleados en la ciudad de Saltillo [tesis]. Saltillo, Cohauila: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León; 2008. and their partners, the issue remains in the private, domestic sphere; in the social nucleus, it is ignored, and it is unknown whether unemployed men experience difficulties in socialization or shame to avoid being labeled lazy or kept⁶6 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC. "Me da mucho miedo esto". Hombres, (des)empleo y familia: un acercamiento al vocabulario emocional. Rev Interdiscip Estud Genero Col Mex 2019; 50:1-34. when talking about the subject. The most successful method for the engagement of the participants was thus a voice-to-voice strategy, as they were referred by researchers, teachers and people who knew the study was taking place with the collaboration of people who knew unemployed men and were thus the key facilitators to obtain access to them.

Organization of data. Each semistructured interview, its systematization, preanalysis and analysis were independently carried out by two of the researchers - one from each city -while the Bogotá research team was supported by two research assistants who were linked to the project and worked independently at different times. The final results were shared with a researcher from Guadalajara only to establish agreements for analysis of the emotional vocabulary. Finally, the data were subjected to different analyses according to the reports and publications concerning each city. After the systematization of the local analyses and the set of interviews during the fieldwork, a second analysis was carried out by two researchers - one from each city - with the objective of critically analyzing the data individually and collectively and establishing the respective findings in light of the search for an emotional vocabulary.

The adjustment of the interview guide was procedural and settled through the interactions of the groups of researchers who finally performed a contextualized review of the instruments and suggested alternatives, changes, and their forms of application. A review of the form for the selection of the participants and the strategies used in the organization and analysis of data was also carried out. Finally, the researchers presented the process of reflective analysis at a research event at the national level to describe their experience and the development of this fieldwork²³23 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva J.M, Rodríguez-Ramírez JC, Joya-Ramírez NS. Reflexividad en torno a los dilemas éticos y bioéticos en un estudio de emociones en varones bogotanos sin empleo. En: Duque-Ortiz D, Rincón-Meléndez ML, editores. Diálogos nacionales sobre ética de la investigación 2018-2019. Bogotá: Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología e Innovación; 2021. p. 151-160..

Results

For the semistructured interviews, two instruments were used: 1) an identification sheet and 2) an interview route or script for the study of emotions in men. The first instrument contained 26 simple questions that allow gathering detailed information on the social characterization, biography, and lifestyle of a male and on his access to some type of support to face the situation of unemployment. Here, it is necessary to emphasize the need to keep the names of the mentioned people private and to recognize that the process of informed consent was completed prior to the development of each interview, ensuring the ethics and bioethics of this research and its scientific integrity. The identification form was thus complementary to the interview instrument (Chart 1).

The second instrument that was used was a route or interview script for the study of emotions in men. Initially, this script was divided into three parts. It was not structured as a questionnaire. In the first part, a list of 15 thematic areas of great importance was clearly integrated into the framework of the dialog with the participants to determine, in a biographical way, their genealogy via their personal, family, school and work areas, as these are the aspects that have been analyzed in published research by one of the researchers⁶6 Ramírez-Rodríguez JC. "Me da mucho miedo esto". Hombres, (des)empleo y familia: un acercamiento al vocabulario emocional. Rev Interdiscip Estud Genero Col Mex 2019; 50:1-34.. In the second part, the thematic areas that allowed us to reveal emotions in a particular way were proposed. This section was proposed when in the development of an interview it became relevant, i.e., when the progress of a dialog allowed us to emphasize them. In the third part, the synthesis, final comments and closing, that is, the points to be highlighted, were proposed; here, the participant was invited to comment on the aspects that he deemed the highlight of the interview, and this space allowed the interviewer to close the interview (Chart 2).

The instrument was organized in stages of increasing complexity for each participant, which allowed a biographical approach and thus a contextualization that favors participants gradual discussion of their history to enable the self-recognition and degree of confidence that allows them to reveal emotions. The approach with the participants took place in the framework of an informal, democratic conversation that was anchored in empathy with constant care for their fragility, was flexible and open regarding the inclusion of topics and any issues raised by the participants, and was adapted the questions to participants’ language to allow the spontaneous development of their conversation. Moreover, the 15 areas of the proposed roadmap were exhausted; special attention was given to the time dedicated to the interviews to prevent exhaustion in the participants and special attention on the part of the researchers provided psychological support as needed, which required knowing the route of psychological care to guide participants. Hence, for the points raised here, it is recommended that those researchers who are going to use this instrument do not perform it without prior training.

Organization of data and route of analysis

The interest here is how the data were and can be organized and prepared for analysis. A strategy for the treatment of the data obtained from an analysis of semistructured interviews is thus presented.

Recommendations and route to follow. Emotions are not necessarily labels; they therefore force us to reconsider whether men are less emotional than women. Apparently, the ways in which men express emotions are different due to the process of socialization. This is why a different perspective is required when analyzing them. Thus, based on the reflections of the researchers, a guide was generated that notes the indications for an analysis of emotions; when analyzing emotions in men through narratives, it is suggested to pay special attention to the following: a) some emotional labels are easily identifiable, e.g., worry or fear. There may be a series of terms that are easily identified. b) Some narratives can be identified metaphorically, that is, men speak metaphorically about their emotions, e.g., “I felt that my skin was burning” or “I felt butterflies in my stomach”. On the other hand, there are phrases or sentences, narrative fragments, that may refer to an emotion without mentioning a label. Here, the analysis should be aimed at finding metaphors or narratives that in themselves, although they do not mention emotions, may be implicit in these metaphors or narratives. For example, a man is excited, but he does not mention a particular emotion: “… Boss: I am not going to pay you, I am going to give it to your wife. Participant: Then, I will not return...” Here, the participant is upset by the situation, although the emotion “annoyance” is not verbalized.

Therefore, how can we perform a careful reading of all these types of situations that are charged with emotion? Special care is needed for each of the narratives, shifting back and forth to identify the emotions and metaphors that drive them. c) It is necessary to identify fragments, as this process will be illustrative and powerful only if it is able to analyze all the content. d) It is suggested to determine the entire emotional set and then select the most frequent emotions, which have greater significance or are the most frequent and thus of greater significance. The most frequent emotions account for recurring emotions, i.e., sadness can be related to anger, anger to a bad temper, a bad temper to rage, etc. e) To establish semantic sets, or constellations, it is suggested to create a semantic set that allows knowing how these emotions are related. For this last aspect, it is necessary to identify narratives and metaphors and to obtain a picture of the frequencies of emotions, which are also often identified as emotions and metaphors. f) To reveal the identify references of discomfort, e.g., everything nice or everything good, these must be defined as terms that refer to well-being or discomfort. This can allow the inference of emotions that are not defined but can be identified as well-being or discomfort - everything that was referred to as good or bad. These are imprecise, vague forms that do not have labels, which leads us to think that they are not emotions; however, they refer to emotions.

Among men, emotions are expressed differently than among women; men do not have this habit, and this form of socialization, when it is presented in this way, is frowned upon. Women express and verbalize their emotions. However, there are certain groups and conditions that men learn to use to identify emotions and value them positively. That is, they verbalize emotions through emotional labels, they learn an emotional vocabulary, and among different groups of peers, they learn certain ways to identify emotions. For their analysis, it is necessary to recover metaphors as a symbolic axis that allows expressing and interpreting emotions. It is necessary to take into account that men do not easily express emotions and do not label - do not verbalize - emotions.

Some evidence of emotion that cannot be labeled - verbalized - must therefore be accounted for, e.g., silences or sighs that can be manifestations of emotion; it is necessary to know the emotional effects, as these are triggers of social action that drive what we feel.

What is expected of the analysis? This analysis is intended to a) identify all emotions without confusing attitudes or behaviors with emotions, although emotion is a component of attitude; b) establish the list of emotions, labels and emotional phrases among family and in work; c) make a list of emotions, a dictionary of emotional codes; d) identify emotional phrases; and e) understand the symbolic code of emotions in men.

Use of the hermeneutic method

The use of the hermeneutic method in this study of emotions, as a social construction, among unemployed men began with an in-depth preanalysis of the data. The exhaustive process was as follows: a) the researchers organized and reorganized the material; b) the researchers performed a general analysis of each interview according to the contextual data, relevant facts, motivations and current situation; c) the researchers explored the evolution of the dynamics of employment trajectory-unemployment, economic, social, family and personal circumstances and impact on personal life; d) the researchers described each case’s family and personal impact, the conditions in which the participant found himself, and the effects of unemployment on him, his family and friends; and e) the researchers reflected on their analysis of each case based on these narratives and hypotheses. In this phase, the aim was to highlight the relevant aspects of each of the participants to articulate them with those of the others and to note any contradictions and similarities in the narratives.

Once the preanalysis of each of the participants was performed, a strategy was proposed to make all the analyzed material available in a common database that was accessible to the researchers responsible for the analysis to build a local and comparative analysis for each of the cities. The meetings between the researchers were fundamental to ensuring agreement and establishing common parameters, which produced improvements in the entire process, from the adjustment and improvement of the instruments to the agreements on the procedures when collecting data and analyzing them. The data were analyzed and processed in each of the cities with the methodology for each being shared. Importantly, the team of researchers who carried out the research was familiar with the use of qualitative methods and techniques, exhausting more than ten years of work by the end of this study. Therefore, finally, researchers interested in this topic should be people with professional and personal maturity who can recognize and respect that they are dealing with people with high social, family and emotional vulnerability. In particular, they should be clear about the places and dynamics of the interviewee and the interviewer, an aspect that generates an interaction of feelings, empathy, and acceptance. In addition, the researcher should avoid judging narratives and respecting his or her position as interlocutor.

Results of the strategies used in the fieldwork

Once the entire process was completed, the instruments were presented in their final format, and the points that guided their improvement and use will be discussed, respecting their logic and internal coherence, while offering some recommendations for their use by other researchers interested in similar research. In this case, some important points to ensure the quality of the instruments were a) internal meetings between researchers from each of the cities to reflectively analyze their fieldwork process, access participants and conduct interviews; b) access to and knowledge of all the researchers concerning the scientific literature, which allows us to know the assumptions and impressions of the meaning of our research; c) meetings between researchers after the execution of fieldwork to agree on the process of preanalysis and analysis to socialize issues and learn the evidence from each interview; and d) reflective meetings between the researchers of the two cities to establish consensus for analysis.

The Bogotá research team submitted the project to the research ethics committee of its home university. Once everything was approved, the researchers began their fieldwork. Significant difficulties were recognized when searching for subjects, an aspect that reflects the extant taboo on the subject. Initial informal contact by telephone turned out to be one of the best strategies to approach the participants and gain their confidence when conducting their interview. A useful way to communicate the purpose of the research with men was to state that it would be interesting to know their life history and their current situation as it related to unemployment in the interest of conducting research on a topic that is not generally discussed but that many men, like them, experience on a daily basis. Hence, the researchers recognized that the moment of the interview should be treated with special care, providing spaces for each person to express his emotions, anguish and to feel heard while respecting their moments of silence or crying by recognizing that an issue such as the unemployment of men mobilizes a series of deep feelings. Special attention was given by the researchers to be attentive to possible interferences or communication crossovers, facial expressions of displeasure, nonverbal and body language of discomfort and any comments that could signal conflicts within the home. At the end of their interview, the participants highlighted how it had been a space of relief, which also favored the generation of catharsis.

The researchers of the Bogotá team reflected on the strategies of seeking help, identifying the routes for referring people to health services, in particular to psychological assistance, when they identified signs of distress or manifestations of depression. In addition, they stayed in contact with the participants to obtain their comments on conversations that were generated in their interview while being faithful to the principle of retribution when returning to the results of the research²⁵25 Thierry H. Sistemas de retribución según resultados. Revisión de las investigaciones de 1945 a 1985. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 1987; 3(8):152-167. at the end of the study.

One of the drawbacks of conducting these interviews occurred in cases in which the participants looked for spaces and times when their partners could not determine their participation in the study and thus invited their interviewer to travel to distant areas of their city while looking for spaces, such as public places, to conduct their interview. The main difficulties that arose in the application of the instruments included the taboo of the social precept of hegemonic masculinity²⁶26 Connell RW. Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press; 1995.^,2727 Schippers M. Recovering the femenine other: masculinity, femininity, and gender hegemony. Theory and Society 2007; 36(1):85-102., where emotions are not expressed during the unemployment of men with families amid their discrimination, shame, guilt, anger, reproaches, and resentment due to any partner or family conflicts caused by the situation and a lack of support by public agencies.

Based on the fieldwork and, in particular, the interview process, some changes were proposed to the research instruments. To the identification form, the team of researchers from Bogotá added the categories of socioeconomic status, location, type of employment (formal and informal), time unemployed in months, connection during the period of employment to a family compensation fund, search for support via family compensation funds or state unemployment, and number of unions in the men’s emotional lives.

A specific change in the order of the questions was instituted for a better interlocution to the interview route of studying emotions in men. The component called “thematic areas that are listed below, when this is relevant, will be emphasized in: aspects of emotion” was located in a second moment. Once the first one, called “thematic areas” was exhausted, there would be greater confidence on the part of the participant in revealing the aspects of his emotion. When commenting, the topic of emotions is central; it should not be asked about initially but only when the interviewer has greater confidence with the interviewee; for that reason, it was considered appropriate to leave it at the end, before closing.

As a significant contribution in the interview process, section three, called “synthesis and final comments (points to be highlighted)” is recognized; here, the participant is invited to comment on the aspects to be reviewed This was the last question of the interview, which arouses emotions and where aspects of trust are recognized via expressions such as “I like to talk about myself where I can’t, I do not know you, this is much better”, “our reality”, “rescuing the unemployed”, “nobody ever asks us this”, and “I hope this is useful for something; hopefully it will be useful”.

It was not suggested to modify the thematic list. However, it was emphasized that the questions should be transformed into topics of conversation and treated simply in a way that is appropriate to the language of the men and their comprehension capacity, based on their educational level. Importantly, a researcher from each city was in charge of completing the interviews with the participants, guided by the interview guide. Each of the questions posed in this guide is based on a solid theoretical construct, supported by scientific knowledge that has been identified worldwide; moreover, this theoretical foundation was permanently corroborated by the empirical exercise of collecting this information. The researchers listened and thus understood their communication process and the situation of these men. Finally, in this research, the data from the individual interviews were constantly analyzed in a hermeneutic way and in conjunction with universal empirical knowledge, thereby allowing “concrete thinking”²⁸28 Marx K. Introducción general a la crítica de la economía política. México DF: Editorial Siglo Veintiuno; 1978., that is, a process of unification.

Reflections on the process

Some limitations can be recognized in this study. First, in relation to the object of study, the various difficulties in accessing the participants were immense due to the social relationships established according to gender and masculinity. The second is because there is little research on this subject in Latin America, which invites us to think about the exploration of the subject. Therefore, such research should continue and deepen the knowledge of the different aspects that establish emotions among unemployed men in relation to their family. This article has the fundamental intention of presenting the paths and methodological routes that have been traveled so that they can be replicated²¹21 Pröll S, Rauber A. Habilitación de la reproducibilidad para conjuntos de datos de investigación a pequeña y gran escala. Revista D-Lib 2017; 23(1/2). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1045/january2017-proell
https://doi.org/10.1045/january2017-proe... and criticized and falsified in Popperian terms²⁹29 Popper K. La lógica de la investigación científica. Madrid: Tecnos; 1980.^,3030 Popper K. Conjeturas y refutaciones. Barcelona: Paidós Ibérica; 1994., which is of great relevance since there is little extant scientific evidence.

Therefore, the focal identification sheet and the semistructured interview script are presented here based on the premise that these techniques and strategies that were initially proposed were improved at the end of the fieldwork and in the final analysis of the data within spaces that enabled the researchers’ self-critical reflection on their research process²³23 Mendieta-Izquierdo G, Cuevas-Silva J.M, Rodríguez-Ramírez JC, Joya-Ramírez NS. Reflexividad en torno a los dilemas éticos y bioéticos en un estudio de emociones en varones bogotanos sin empleo. En: Duque-Ortiz D, Rincón-Meléndez ML, editores. Diálogos nacionales sobre ética de la investigación 2018-2019. Bogotá: Ministerio de Ciencia Tecnología e Innovación; 2021. p. 151-160.. In this research process, the exercises of reflective meetings, the scientific heritage of this research and the constant exchanges of the researchers should be highlighted. The face-to-face and virtual meetings of a network of researchers that generated discursive scientific exchanges and particular interests that converged in agreements also strengthened the research.

The methods, instruments and strategies presented in this article are reliable and adequate, as long as there is special care given to their application; they are only an instrument, a means by which a researcher acts in his or her research work to reveal the emotions in men and enable understanding through the use of the researcher’s own tools. Empathy with the participants stands out as a significant method to reveal emotions from a gender and masculinity perspective. This particular work proposes a methodological approach to study the emotions in unemployed men, allowing us to bring to light the voices and feelings of these men. It is desirable that researchers who implement this route and semistructured interview guide share their own experience to qualify it for future study.

Acknowledgments

Product derived from the IMP HUM-3117 project funded by the Vice-Rectory of Research of the New Granada Military University, validity 2020-2021.

References

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