Yiddish research project

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 5:45 am

Dear friends,

I am posting this on behalf of a colleague who is looking for Yiddish-speaking women who would be willing to participate in a study focusing on Yiddish. I know Itzik personally and can vouch for his professionalism:

My name is Itzik and I'm a PhD student in the Linguistics Department at NYU. I'm writing my dissertation about Yiddish as a spoken language in New York.

My project requires 20 interviews with Yiddish-speaking Hasidim (10 men and 10 women). I already have more than a minyan Hasidic men who have agreed to participate but I am still looking for Yiddish-speaking Hasidic women who would agree to be interviewed.

About the interview: I will ask you questions in Yiddish about yourself (family, work, school, etc.) just to get an informal natural conversation started. Everything will remain strictly confidential and anonymous, in keeping with the requirements of my university (I will bring along a confidentiality form that explains all the details; I can send it to you in advance, as well). You can skip over any topics that you'd rather not discuss -- I am a linguist, not a sociologist or anthropologist, so my primary interest is the Yiddish language.

The entire interview takes about an hour. We could meet in an office in NYU, or somewhere more convenient for you. The important thing is that the room is quiet enough for me to make a high-quality audio recording (no video) that I can analyze afterwards.

I am also happy to meet with husbands, brothers, female friends etc. in the same room if that is more comfortable for you. They can even join in on the interview. I can also bring a female along to the interview, who can even ask the questions for me, if you prefer.

Please let me know what you think! I am happy to discuss any and all details. And thanks in advance for your help.

Sincerely,
Itzik Bleaman
ibleaman@nyu.edu
More info about me: https://wp.nyu.edu/ibleaman
I'm also on Whatsapp and Facebook.

kiryat sefer

Tue, May 09 2017, 5:48 am

Is there an option to do it over the phone?

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 5:52 am

I don't think so. You can email Itzik and ask him questions. He is a very easygoing and professional guy.

kiryat sefer

Tue, May 09 2017, 6:17 am

I am willing to do an interview but on the phone. I don't know the guy from beans. I dont think any other Yiddish speaking person would either meet in person.

Sadie

Tue, May 09 2017, 6:22 am

I also know him; he's a very nice and professional person. Nothing to worry about in terms of meeting in person.

kiryat sefer

Tue, May 09 2017, 6:46 am

Sadie wrote:

I also know him; he's a very nice and professional person. Nothing to worry about in terms of meeting in person.

So maybe I would have to discuss it

crust

Tue, May 09 2017, 6:46 am

Sadie wrote:

I also know him; he's a very nice and professional person. Nothing to worry about in terms of meeting in person.

I'm not worried about him. It's a hassle to go to NYC though.
Till where will he travel to meet Someone?

crust

Tue, May 09 2017, 6:55 am

Also, please explain to me the difference between this thread and this one;
http://www.imamother.com/forum.....13969

zaq

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:05 am

crust wrote:

Also, please explain to me the difference between this thread and this one;
http://www.imamother.com/forum.....13969

This Itzik is a linguist and his research is about the Yiddish language, not about Yiddish speakers' mores and beliefs. The other one is about Taharas hamishpacha observance and marital satisfaction among BTs and gerim regardless of what language they speak. The only resemblance between the two is that both are PhD candidates looking to find research participants on this site.

crust

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:11 am

zaq wrote:

I understand the difference in research topic.
If you read through that thread it says she has to ask permission from Yael.
My question was how this one is more legitimate.

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:26 am

He is willing to travel to meet with you. As for the difference between his project and the one you linked, this one is purely about the language (sounds, grammar, etc.) not about the content. Itzik will not ask any sensitive questions or even care much about the content. He will let you talk about any topic you like, as he is simply trying to analyze the way people speak Yiddish now. I hope this helps.

kiryat sefer

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:28 am

I would love to do it!

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:32 am

Also, you can google him (Isaac Bleaman). He is a serious scholar who has presented his work at many conferences.

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:34 am

As far as legitimacy, he can email you his IRB to show he has NYU institutional backing.

zaq

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:36 am

crust wrote:

I understand the difference in research topic.
If you read through that thread it says she has to ask permission from Yael.
My question was how this one is more legitimate.

maybe this poster didn't think to ask for permission first? Or maybe she got permission and didn't feel the need to say so? Linguistics is a far more innocuous theme than marital relations. The marital satisfaction "research project" could easily have been a ruse for some perv to engage in highly inappropriate interaction with imamothers. Not that this one couldn't be a ruse for some perv with a Yiddish fixation, but it's less likely.

ETA: I posted "feti$h" not s-xual desire but the auto-censor changed it. Just so you know.

youngmomma

Tue, May 09 2017, 8:53 am

I'll just add this: I think such research can have important implications which can ultimately benefit the Yiddish-speaking community. Participating in such projects can also give you some insight into how such work is done. Finally, the researcher has provided his name and institutional information, as well as numerous personal contact information. So email him if you want to get involved, and I really don't think there's a reason to be paranoid here :-). Thanks for the discussion!

crust

Tue, May 09 2017, 9:02 am

youngmomma wrote:

I really don't think there's a reason to be paranoid here :-).

Lol!!
Thanks for clarifying.
I'll contact him.

youngmomma

Fri, Jun 02 2017, 3:39 pm

Hi Ladies,
My colleague Isaac is still looking for participants for his linguistics study. He's already met with several of you (thank you!) and nobody was harmed in the process :-). I would even venture that it was a fun experience! But he still needs to balance the ratio of men to women participants. If you are uncomfortable meeting with Isaac, he can set up the interview with his Yiddish-speaking female associate. C'mon, help a fellow Yid out, my friends! He has a dissertation to write and he needs your Yiddish! Thank you, from the bottom of my Yiddish harts...

Maya

Fri, Jun 02 2017, 3:45 pm

I can do it.

dimyona

Fri, Jun 02 2017, 4:18 pm

I can possibly do it.