Joint MRIA/QRCA Workshop was a Great Success

Donna Pence, When Getting the Truth is Critical 
By Carol Foley

Donna Pence pictured

Finally, in September Donna Pence, a trainer and curriculum specialist for the Academy of Professional Excellence, a project of San Diego State University, presented a workshop in Vancouver BC on getting to the truth when working with individuals.  Ms. Pence is a retired special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and her perspective is of great interest to qualitative researchers.  This was the highest attended workshop of the year.  The workshop began with a worksheet, "All About Me," that attendees were asked to complete themselves but also that they found helpful as a tool to use in the future when beginning a qualitative session. Ms. Pence provided the attendees with a framework to understand that "lying" is really a continuum of deception and denial and that we all lie--in fact on average 3 times every day!  Equally important is to understand that there are common reasons that people are less than truthful, which are helpful for qualitative researches to understand.  She provided examples and some video footage of helping accused criminals or victims to tell the truth, but she also shared her questioning techniques that are non-confrontational, compassionate, and with a soft voice have been effective for her she must get to the truth.  She brought awareness to a new level about the posture/tone/attitudes that the questioner brings to a session that have a significant impact on the individual being interviewed--something most qualitative researchers already know but can hone their approach further.  Finally, she reminds us that we cannot assume we know someone's motives.  But we do know what some of the common motives or barriers to the truth are, and we can make hypotheses about motives and test them when necessary.  A big thanks to the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and Johanne Berube for making their hall available for our workshop.  Also thanks to MRIA for partnering with us on this event.

Full table	Rainbow
Donna Pence