1. Chapter 18
Interviewing

2. Background and Orientations
• The interview is valuable for obtaining
insight into a research topic you’ve chosen
• Orientations toward Interviewing
• The Postmodern View
– Neopositivism
– Romantic
– Postmodernist
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3. Background and Orientations
• Structured, Semi-Structured, and
Unstructured Interviews
– Structured Interviews
– Semi-structured Interviewing
– Unstructured Interviewing
• Recording the interview
• Editing the material
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4. Interview Procedures and Practices
• The Sympathetic Ear: An Example of
Research in Action
• Believing, Disbelieving and Disbelieving
Belief
– Never Be Judgmental
– Never Believe All You Hear
• The devil’s advocate question
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5. Interview Procedures and Practices
• The hypothetical question
• Posing the ideal
• Offering interpretations or testing propositions
– Leading Into Confession
• Elite Interviews
– Strategy 1; Strategy 2
– Example—sex And God
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6. Asking Questions Informally and
Interacting Effectively
• The “10 Commandments of Informant
Interviewing”
– Respect
– Understanding
– Sensitivity
– Manners
– Confidentiality/Anonymity
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7. Asking Questions Informally and
Interacting Effectively
– Time
– Propriety
– Safety
– Preparation
– Documentation
• The Basics of Getting Informants to
Engage in Revelatory Talk
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8. A Final Word On The Subject:
Observation Trumps Interviewing!
• Participant-observation/interviewing often
go together as complementary activities
• The research practice of interpreting
interviews in light of observations is a:
– Concrete instance of what it means to be
objective in research
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.