Clark Banack is leading the research team in studying coffee-time conversations among Western Canadians and Americans, a methodology based on Kathy Cramer’s research in The Politics of Resentment (2016). Our project will immerse researchers in 100 regularly occurring coffee group conversations in gas stations, malls, hotels, and restaurants across 40 communities, that is 20 in Alberta and 20 in Saskatchewan. 

After joining the group over coffee, researchers will begin the conversation with a broad question like “what are the biggest political concerns for people like you these days?”, “how have politics changed for people in your community in the past few years?”, “what are the deepest political divisions facing our province?”, and “who are the real winners and losers when it comes to politics today?” 

With active listening techniques and subtle probing questions, the researchers will remain focused on discerning the common values underlying the conversation rather than directing the participants in any formal way.

Our process in researching the coffee senates also strives for equity and allows research participants to suggest their own lines for discussion and to generate questions of their own.

Read more about Dr. Banack’s research in his Canadian Journal of Political Science article, “Ethnography and Political Opinion: Identity, Alienation, and Anti-establishmentarianism in Rural Alberta.”