Doing InterviewBy Steinar Kvale

Summarized by Joseph Ato Forson

Background of Author• Born in Norway and graduated

from university of Oslo• Professor of Educational

Psychology and Director of the Centre of Qualitative Research at the University of Aarhus

Introduction Conversation are old way of obtaining systematic knowledge

o Thucydides- history of warso Socrates- philosophical knowledge through dialogues

The term “ interview” is of recent origino Literally an inter-view, i.e. an exchange of views between two

persons conversing about a theme of common interest.

In social science research, qualitative interviews are employed as research methods

oGlaser and Strauss’s sociological study of hospitals (1967) played a pioneering role in qualitative Research

Technical, epistemological and cultural reason accounts for the growing use of qualitative research interviews

Introduction (cont..)Forms of interviews

o Structured- conversation that is purpose determined by the interviewer

o Semi-structured life interview- describes the life world of the interviewee in respect to interpreting the meaning of the described phenomena.

Ethical issues permeate interview researcho Knowledge produced depends on the social relationship of

interviewer and interviewee

Epistemological issues of interviewingAspects of Semi-structured life interview1. Life world- interviewee’s lived everyday world2. Meaning – understanding the meaning of central themes of

subjects’ lived world.3. Qualitative- knowledge expressed in normal language

devoid of quantification4. Descriptive- interviewee encouraged to describe as possible

their experience and feeling and how they act.5. Specificity- actions and situations elicited to the point, not

general opinions6. Qualified naïveté- the interviewer exhibits openness to new

and unexpected phenomena (rather than ready made categories)

Aspects of Semi-structured life interview (cont)7. Focus- subjects allowed to bring forth dimension found

important 8. Ambiguity- interviewer task is to clarify9. Change- subjects may discover new aspects of themes10. Sensitivity11. Interpersonal situation12. Positive experience- rare and enriching experience to the

subject (New insight)

Ethical Issues of interviewingMain DiscussionInterview as a moral inquiry

o Concerns the means as well as the ends of an interview inquiryo Complexities in researching private lives and placing account in

public domainEthical issues at seven research stages

o Thematizing- go beyond scientific value of knowledge to improving human situation (formulation of research questions)

oDesigning- obtain the subjects consent, secure confidentiality and possible consequences to the subject

o Interview situation- consider the consequences to the subject e.g. tiredness/stress etc.

o Transcription- protect the confidentiality of the intervieweeo Analysis- involve the subject in how statements are interpreted

Ethical issues at seven research stages (cont)o Verification- report knowledge that is secured and verifiedo Reporting- again issue of confidentiality

When not to use interviewWhen predicting the behavior of larger groups e.g. voting

behaviorStudying people’s behavior and their interaction with their

environment

Conducting an interviewSetting the interview stage

o Brief introo Round off with interviewer mentioning key points - debrief

Scripting the interviewo Thematically- “what” of an interview (theoretical conceptual)o Dynamically – “how” of an interview (keeping the interaction)

Interviewer questionso Brief and simple

o Introduction questions, follow-up questions, probing questions, specificying questions, direct/indirect question, structuring questions , silence and interpreting questions

The art of second questionso Identifying the key item among the many dimensions

Interview VariationsInterview subjects

oAcross cultures- cultural factors that affects relationship (i.e. observing taboo etc)

oChildren- allow them to give voice to experiences and understand their world

o Elites- power asymmetry, interviewer should be knowledgeable to gain respect

Interview Formso Factual – e.g. witness psychologyoConceptual- conceptual clarification e.g. studying kingship

structures in foreign cultureso Focus group – consist of 6-10 subjects led by a moderator meant to

bring different views without consensusoNarrative – stories told by the subject spontaneouslyoDiscursive- how knowledge and truth is created within discourses,

and the power relations of discourses

Interview Variations (cont…)Confrontational Interviews

o Brings the conflict and power dimensions of the interview conversation (Direct confrontation)

o The interviewer may challenge what the interviewee says

Interview Quality

Interview Quality (cont…)Standard Criticism of Qualitative Interviews

a. Not scientific, only reflects a common senseb. Not quantitative, only qualitative and thus not scientificc. Research interview is not objective, but subjectd. Qualitative interviews do not test hypotheses; only exploratory

and thus not scientifice. Too person-dependent and not scientificf. Interview results not trustworthy; they are biasedg. Interview results due to leading questions and thus unreliableh. Interpretation of interview results subjectivei. Depends on subjective impressionsj. Interview findings are not generalisable; there are too few

subjects

Transcribing InterviewsOral and written language

o A transcript is a translation from one narrative mode-oral discourse-into another narrative mode-written discourse

Methods of recordingo Audiotape, videotape, note-taking and remembering

Quality transcription dependsoNature of the materials and the purpose of the investigationo Time and moneyo Availability of reliable and patient typist

Analyzing interviewsModes of interview analysisAnalyses focusing on meaning

oMeaning codingoMeaning condensation-abridgement /shortening long

expressionoMeaning interpretation- e.g. critics interpretations of poem

or a film, patient’s dreams etc.Analyses focusing on language

oLinguistic analysisoConversation analysisoNarrative analysisoDiscursive analysisoDeconstruction

Analysis as bricolageono analytical method followed

Analysis as theoretical readingoReflecting theoretically on specific themes of interest

Other issues discussedReliability and validity of interview knowledge

o Bothers on method, theoretical conception

Reporting interview knowledgeoQuotes should be contextualized, rendered in readable style, be

loyal to the habitual language of an intervieweeo Findings reported as interviewso Researcher’s dialogue with the interview textso Structured in narrative modeso Dialogues with stylistically edited

Thanks you!!!!!!!!!!