We wanted to know what does the Ban Righ mean to its women,
and how it manages to create such a welcoming home-like environment,
so we decided to ask some of the students and some of the advisors to take pictures of their favorite space, object, or activity at the Ban Righ.
We then asked them to talk about their picture choice, through recorded interviews where they could share stories or emotions, memories associated with the Ban Righ.
Our interviews were open-ended and based on the participant's freedom to share as much or as little as they chose.
We followed a free, reflexive interview pattern to allow participants to share what they love about the center through stories or free stream of consciousness. This allowed us to see through their eyes how the Ban Righ creates a relationship with them and how it allows them to form a community.
We asked some optional, secondary questions, that regarded how this community helps women pursue their education, the importance of education, and why it matters to mature female students.
Through this short, fun, open-ended interviews we were able to have a glimpse of some of the deeper effects that the Ban Righ community has on mature female students’ life.
We disclosed all risks and final purposes to our participants and we made sure we protected their privacy and identity ;)
Methods
We mainly used qualitative research methods, such as audio recorded interviews, photovoice, pictures, references to a previous research project about the Ban Righ
We asked students to give us about 5 minutes of their busy time, take a picture with their cell phone of their favorite place or object at the Ban Righ, and then tell us the story behind their choice. Some of them would also share their background as students and what the Ban Righ has meant for them.
We preferred to keep the women's names and identities anonymous and let the empty yet "impregnated of woman spirit" space of the Banrigh speak for them through their pictures and stories.