1. Interviews and qualitative research Dr. Marilyn Kendall Marilyn.Kendall@ed.ac.uk http://www.cphs.mvm.ed.ac.uk/groups/ppcrg/

2. Aim: to produce knowledge Interview research may to some appear a simple and straightforward task. It seems quite easy to obtain a sound recorder and ask someone to talk about his or her experiences. It seems so simple to interview, but IT IS HARD TO DO WELL. Kvale and Brinkman 2009

3. A professional conversation We live in an interview society, in a society whose members seem to believe that interviews generate useful information about lived experience and its meanings. The interview has become a taken-for-granted feature of our mediated mass culture Denzin and Lincoln, Part IV, Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2000

4. With a structure and purpose Asking questions and getting answers is a much harder task than it may seem at first…each interview context is one of interaction and relation: the result is as much a product of this social dynamic as it is a product of accurate accounts and replies Fontana and Frey, in Denzin and Lincoln, Handbook of Qualitative Research, 2000, Ch. 24

5. Theorizing the Interview The theoretical assumptions of the researcher –whether explicit or not- inform the design of interview studies and questions, as well as the analysis and re-presentation of data…thinking about these issues during data analysis may be too late Roulston 2010

6. Careful listening and questioning Interviewing is rather like marriage: everyone knows what it is, an awful lot of people do it, and yet, behind each closed front door, there is a world of secrets Ann Oakley, 1993

7. Typology Face to face Phone E-mail Internet Group Joint Structured Semi-structured In-depth Cognitive Discovery Oral/life history,biographical

8. The central problem How, if at all, is it possible to access, understand and report other people’s worlds and experiences??? Language “panta rei”

9. Gathering or Generating? Philosophy of social research What is the nature of the social world? Ontology How can we know the social world? Epistemology Research interview as a speech event Eliot Mishler Research Interviewing

10. Structured and unstructured All same series of questions – standardised Positivist Stimulus-response Language transparent Explanation Inflexible Responses coded in pre- determined scheme Interviewer controls pace and questions Objectivity and detachment Neutral, passive, invisible General topic areas of interest Interpretivist Speech event Explored and co-constructed Understanding Creative and responsive No a priori categorisation Respondent talks in own terms and at own pace Openness and engagement Relationship, trust and rapport, active participant

11. The interview Researcher –informant Personality History Research ideas Knowledge The interview text “cooked” by interview interactions, and transcription decisions Our interview story The research report Researcher’s story The untold stories Formal analysis Active interaction with the researcher Pre-existing ideas About the research process; Researcher’s, informant’s, Gatekeepers’ Constant is the researcher –skills, integrity, experience

13. An open mind [ but not an empty head] Reflexivity Research diary Re-listening and re-reading Context

14. Active Listening Qualitative interviewing requires intense listening, a respect for and curiosity about what people say, and a systematic effort to really hear and understand what people tell you Rubin and Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing, the art of hearing data, 1995

15. Three difficult things The beginning The middle The end

16. Context The sample Who? Access, gatekeepers The location Home, ward, clinic, office, private, communal, comfortable… The researcher Self presentation; expert or learner, same or different, gender, ethnicity, age, social background

17. Recording the Interview

18. Ethical issues Informed consent Privacy Avoiding harm Whose interests? Overt/covert

19. Qualitative interviewing is both an academic and a practical tool. It allows us to share the world of others to find out what is going on, why people do what they do, and how they understand their worlds. With such knowledge you can help solve a variety of problems. Rubin and Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing; the art of hearing data, 1995

20. Mma Ramotswe had always believed in the direct approach, no matter what advice Clovis Anderson gave in The Principles of Private Detection. Clovis Anderson seemed to endorse circumspection and the finding out of information by indirect means. But in Mma Ramotswe’s view, the best way of getting an answer to any question was to ask somebody face to face… It nearly always worked Alexander McCall Smith Blue Shoes and Happiness Ch 8