Doctoral Dissertation Research: Girltalk: Adolescent Girls, Friendships, and the Making of Identities

在萨莉·麦康奈尔-吉奈博士的指导下，Tanya L.Matthews女士将在盐湖城地区的一所高中进行实地考察。她将单独和小组采访女孩，让她们谈论她们的友谊，以及她们对高中生中的社会群体和类别的看法。采访将被录制下来，以供以后转录和分析。分析将侧重于对做法进行分类，包括社会标签(例如，斯通纳、保利[太平洋岛民]、莫莉·摩门教徒)以及对给他人和自己贴标签的态度。随着最近几波新移民的涌入，以及大量摩门教人口的悠久传统，盐湖城是一个有趣的地区，可以探索青春期女孩发展身份和社交网络中种族和宗教从属关系的复杂关系。与更广泛研究的男孩的社会关系相比，女孩的社会关系和分歧也提供了一个有启发性的对比，突显了经常被忽视的许多类型的冲突。这项研究从“女生视角”审视了制约和促进特定社会分工和联系模式的高中制度安排。它还应该提高对影响教育环境的社会紧张局势的理解。研究结束后，马修斯将返回盐湖城，为教师和学校管理人员举办研讨会，阐述她的研究结果。

Under the direction of Dr. Sally McConnell-Ginet, Ms. Tanya L. Matthews will conduct fieldwork in a Salt Lake City area high school. She will interview girls individually and in groups, asking them to talk about their friendships and their views of social groupings and categories among the high school students. The interviews will be recorded for later transcription and analysis. Analysis will focus on categorizing practices, including social labels (e.g., stoner, Poly [Pacific Islander], Molly Mormon) and attitudes towards labeling of others and self. With recent waves of new immigration and a long tradition of a large Mormon-identified population, Salt Lake City is an interesting area for exploring the complex relation of ethnic and religious affiliations in adolescent girls' developing identities and social networks. Girls' social affiliations and divisions also offer an illuminating contrast to the more widely studied boys' social relations, highlighting many kinds of conflicts that often go unnoticed. This research gives a "girls'-eye view" of the institutional arrangements in high schools that constrain and promote particular modes of social division and connection. It should also improve understanding of social tensions that affect the educational environment. At the end of the research period, Ms. Matthews will return to Salt Lake City to conduct workshops on her findings for teachers and school administrators.