The interview as legacy: a social scientist confronts AIDS
Weitz, R.
Hastings Center Report 17(3): 21-23
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0093-0334 PMID: 3610626 DOI: 10.2307/3562245Document Number: 347981
This research was designed to examine how the lives of people with AIDS are affected beyond changes in their health and how they think about what is happening to them. Underlying this research is the assumption that people's perceptions and experiences significantly affect their behavior. The study consists of in-depth semistructured interviews with Arizonans who have AIDS. The interviews focus on such issues as: How do individuals 1st suspect they have a problem and how do they respond to these suspicions? How are they informed about and affected by their diagnosis? What experiences have they had with medical treatment, research, and prevention programs and which factors increase or decrease their willingness and ability to cooperate with such programs? How has AIDS affected their relationships with family, friends, employers, lovers, and colleagues? How has it affected their sexual behavior? Under what circumstances do they reveal or conceal the fact that they have AIDS? These data are augmented by information on sociodemographic characteristics and health status. This research has generated an unusually burdensome sense of responsibility in the author. Ironically, the chief worry has been protecting the signed "informed consent forms." The possibility of informed consent becomes even more dubious if the respondents feel they cannot afford to refuse. The legal dilemmas posed by this research have presented the fewest difficulties. Undoubtedly many other researchers have coped with similar problems over the years. In the long run, the unusual stresses of AIDS research may have at least 1 serendipitous effect, if they pressure scholars to begin tackling these issues openly.