• Principles and methods that can be adapted to a range of interviewing approaches.
• A clear and inviting presentation appropriate for both individual use and for classes.
• Ideas to help readers analyze and improve their own approach, as well as suggestions for group practice.
• An interviewing technique that stresses listening, with guidance for avoiding leading questions.
• Examples of doctorial students’ research demonstrating that interviewing can deal with life and death issues, as well as everyday life.
• Updated references to help readers deepen their understanding of interviewing as qualitative research.

Reviews

About the Author

• Contents
• Preface vii
• Acknowledgments xi
• Introduction: How I Came to Interviewing 1
• 1. Why Interview? 7
• The Purpose of Interviewing 9
• Interviewing: “The” Method or “A” Method? 9
• Why Not Interview? 11
• Conclusion 13
• 2. A Structure for In-Depth, Phenomenological Interviewing 14
• What Makes Interviewing Phenomenological and Why Does It Matter? 16
• Phenomenological Theme One: The Temporal and Transitory Nature of Human Experience 16
• Phenomenological Theme Two: Whose Understanding Is It? Subjective Understanding 17
• Phenomenological Theme Three: Lived Experience as the Foundation of “Phenomena” 18
• Phenomenological Theme Four: The Emphasis on Meaning and Meaning in Context 19
• How Do These Phenomenological Themes Matter? 20
• The Three-Interview Series 21
• Respect the Structure 24
• Alternatives to the Structure and Process 25
• Length of Interviews 26
• Spacing of Interviews 27
• Whose Meaning Is It? Validity and Reliability 27
• Experience the Process Yourself 32
• 3. Proposing Research: From Mind to Paper to Action 33
• Research Proposals as Rites of Passage 33
• Commitment 34
• From Thought to Language 35
• What Is to Be Done? 35
• Questions to Structure the Proposal 36
• Rationale 40
• Working with the Material 41
• Piloting Your Work 43
• Conclusion 43
• 4. Establishing Access to, Making Contact with, and Selecting Participants 4
• The Perils of Easy Access 45
• Access Through Formal Gatekeepers 48
• Informal Gatekeepers 49
• Accessing Children 50
• Access and Hierarchy 52
• Making Contact 52
• Make a Contact Visit in Person 53
• Building the Participant Pool 54
• Some Logistical Considerations 55
• Selecting Participants 56
• Snares to Avoid in the Selection Process 59
• How Many Participants Are Enough? 60
• 5. The Path to Institutional Review Boards and Informed Consent  62
• The Belmont Report 62
• The Establishment of Local Institutional Review Boards 63
• The Informed Consent Document 65
• Seven Key Sections of an Informed Consent Document 66
• 1. What, How Long, How, to What End, and for Whom? 67
• 2. Risks, Discomforts, and Vulnerability 68
• 3. The Rights of the Participant 68
• 4. Possible Benefits 73
• 5. Confidentiality of Records 73
• 6. Dissemination 76
• 7. Contact Information and Copies of the Document 77
• Special Conditions for Children  78
• Informed Consent When Using Technology to Interview 79
• Informed Consent When Interviewing Abroad 80
• The Complexities of Affirming the IRB Review Process and Informed Consent 82
• 6. Technique Isn’t Everything, But It Is a Lot 85
• Listen More, Talk Less 85
• Follow Up on What the Participant Says 88
• Listen More, Talk Less, and Ask Real Questions 91
• Follow Up, but Don’t Interrupt 92
• Two Favorite Approaches 93
• Ask Participants to Reconstruct, Not to Remember 94
• Keep Participants Focused and Ask for Concrete Details 95
• Do Not Take the Ebbs and Flows of Interviewing Too Personally 95
• Limit Your Own Interaction 96
• Explore Laughter 96
• Follow Your Hunches 97
• Use an Interview Guide Cautiously 98
• Tolerate Silence 99
• Conclusion 100
• 7. Interviewing as a Relationship 101
• Interviewing as an “I–Thou” Relationship 101
• Rapport 102
• Social Group Identities and the Interviewing Relationship 104
• Distinguish Among Private, Personal, and Public Experiences 113
• Avoid a Therapeutic Relationship 114
• Reciprocity 116
• Equity 116
• Interviewing Online or by Telephone, and the Relationship Between Participant and Interviewer 118
• 8. Analyzing, Interpreting, and Sharing Interview Material 121
• Managing the Data 121
• Keeping Interviewing and Analysis Separate: What to Do Between Interviews 122
• Recording Interviews 123
• Transcribing Interviews 124
• Studying, Reducing, and Analyzing the Text 125
• Sharing Interview Data: Profiles and Themes 127
• Making and Analyzing Thematic Connections 133
• Interpreting the Material 136
• Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDAS) 138
• Cautions Regarding CAQDAS 140
• 9. The Ethics of Doing Good Work 147
• Doing Good Work 147
• The Reciprocity Implicit in Treating Participants with Dignity 150
• Conclusion 151
• Appendix: Two Profiles 153
• Nanda: A Cambodian Survivor of the Pol Pot Era 153
• Betty: A Long-Time Day Care Provider 160
• References 164
• Index 182
• About the Author 196