| As a means to understand the role of literacy and | | | | because they enjoyed reading, or because it was |
| identity formation in the lives of these | | | | connected to another practice or interest. I asked |
| adolescents, I generated and collected 10 sets of | | | | about reading habits during the school week and |
| interviews, each consisting of a middle school or | | | | over the weekend, in school itself, and over the |
| fifth-grade student, one of his or her parents, and | | | | summer months. I inquired into what "counts" as |
| the students' homeroom teacher. The interviews | | | | reading and what genres of reading are valued in |
| were carried out in person or on the telephone | | | | school and at home. I asked about kids' feelings |
| and not in the presence of other participants. I | | | | about reading and how these may relate to their |
| asked each of the participants—students, | | | | future goals. Each interview lasted from one half |
| parents, or teachers—about both their own | | | | hour to an hour. Recordings and later transcripts |
| and their corresponding students' reading interests | | | | were made of each interview. Names of people |
| and habits and other current interests outside | | | | and places Breitling Replica were changed to |
| Breitling Replica Watches and inside of school; the | | | | protect the anonymity of participants. In the case |
| choice of reading material the students and adults | | | | of the two teachers interviewed, I sent via |
| read (or chose not to read); reading habits of | | | | electronic mail and before the first full-length |
| students and parents; abiding interests outside of | | | | interview a list of questions, so teachers could |
| reading and over time; availability of reading | | | | prepare student data, which may have been |
| materials and where they were generally found; | | | | relevant to the interviews. |
| time and place for reading; reading practices that | | | | Data analysis involved a generative process of |
| are not in books but perhaps involved with | | | | reviewing transcripts in search of patterns and |
| church, cooking, instruction manuals, video games, | | | | significant issues (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003). |
| or other practices; perceptions about social | | | | Coding was built on Compton-Lilly (2003) regarding |
| configuration and friendships among peers; and | | | | sociocontextual views of families, Noguera (2003) |
| self-perceptions as readers and feelings about | | | | regarding connections between reading habits and |
| reading. | | | | identity, and Gee (1996) regarding potential |
| Using a combination of open-ended questions and | | | | tensions between student relationships with adults |
| follow-up questions to clarify meaning or expound | | | | and peers. Gee's conception of Discourses was |
| on themes, I inquired into possible motivations and | | | | chosen as a theoretical framework for this study |
| uses for reading. I asked whether students were | | | | because it provided relevance and explanatory |
| motivated to read based on an assignment that | | | | power for the set of issues raised in the study. |
| was given to them, or whether they read | | | | |