Interviewing As Qualitative Research

Irving Seidman is professor emeritus in the College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst. He welcomes communication from readers who want to discuss questions they might have about interviewing as qualitative research. Robert W. Maloy, author of the new Chapter 9, is a senior lecturer in the College of Education, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

• ContentsPreface  ixAcknowledgments  xiIntroduction: How I Came to Interviewing  11.  Why Interview?  6The Purpose of Interviewing  8Interviewing: “The” Method or “A” Method?  8Why Not Interview?  10Conclusion  12Note  122.  A Structure for In-Depth, Phenomenological Interviewing  14What Makes Interviewing Phenomenological and Why Does It Matter?  16Phenomenological Theme One: The Temporal and Transitory Nature of Human Experience  16Phenomenological Theme Two: Whose Understanding Is It? Subjective Understanding  17Phenomenological Theme Three: Lived Experience as the Foundation of “Phenomena”  18Phenomenological Theme Four: The Emphasis on Meaning and Meaning in Context  19How Do These Phenomenological Themes Matter?  20The Three-Interview Series  21Respect the Structure  24Alternatives to the Structure and Process  25Length of Interviews  26Spacing of Interviews  27Whose Meaning Is It? Validity and Reliability  28Experience the Process Yourself  323.  Proposing Research: From Mind to Paper to Action  34Research Proposals as Rites of Passage  34Commitment  35From Thought to Language  36What Is to Be Done?  37Questions to Structure the Proposal  37Rationale  42Working With the Material  43Piloting Your Work  44Conclusion  454.  Establishing Access to, Making Contact With, and Selecting Participants  46The Perils of Easy Access  46Access Through Formal Gatekeepers  49Informal Gatekeepers  51Accessing Children  51Access and Hierarchy  53Making Contact  53Make a Contact Visit in Person  54Building the Participant Pool  56Some Logistical Considerations  56Selecting Participants  58Snares to Avoid in the Selection Process  61How Many Participants Are Enough?  625.  The Path to Institutional Review Boards and Informed Consent  64The Belmont Report  64The Establishment of Local Institutional Review Boards  65The Informed Consent Document  67Seven Key Sections of an Informed Consent Document  68Special Conditions for Children (Contributed by Julie Simpson)  80Informed Consent When Using Technology to Interview (Contributed by Julie Simpson)  81Informed Consent When Interviewing Abroad (Contributed by Julie Simpson)  82The Complexities of Affirming the IRB Review Process and Informed Consent  846.  Technique Isn’t Everything, but It Is a Lot  87Listen More, Talk Less  87Follow Up on What the Participant Says  90Listen More, Talk Less, and Ask Real Questions  93Follow Up, but Don’t Interrupt  94Two Favorite Approaches  95Ask Participants to Reconstruct, Not to Remember  97Keep Participants Focused and Ask for Concrete Details  97Do Not Take the Ebbs and Flows of Interviewing Too Personally  97Limit Your Own Interaction  98Explore Laughter  99Follow Your Hunches  99Use an Interview Guide Cautiously  100Tolerate Silence  101Conclusion  1027.  Interviewing as a Relationship  103Interviewing as an “I–Thou” Relationship  103Rapport  104Social Group Identities and the Interviewing Relationship  107Distinguish Among Private, Personal, and Public Experience  116Avoid a Therapeutic Relationship  117Reciprocity  118Equity  119Interviewing Online or by Telephone and the Relationship Between Participant and Interviewer  1208.  Analyzing, Interpreting, and Sharing Interview Material  124Managing the Data  124Keeping Interviewing and Analysis Separate: What to Do Between Interviews  125Recording Interviews  126Transcribing Interviews  127Studying, Reducing, and Analyzing the Text  128Sharing Interview Data: Profiles and Themes  130Making and Analyzing Thematic Connections  136Interpreting the Material  140Note  1419.  Using AI as an In-Depth Interviewing Researcher  143Robert W. MaloyGenerative AI’s Revolutionary Uniqueness  144Using AI as an In-Depth Interviewing Researcher  145Risks of AI in Research  147Using AI for In-Depth Interviewing  149A Pilot In-Depth Interview With and Without AI  152Comparing Non-AI-Generated and AI-Generated Interview Analysis  156The Ethics of Using AI in Your Research  157Conclusion  15910.  The Ethics of Doing Good Work  161Doing Good Work  161The Reciprocity Implicit in Treating Participants With Dignity  165Conclusion  166Appendix: Two Profiles  167Nanda: A Cambodian Survivor of the Pol Pot Era  167Betty: A Long-Time Day Care Provider  174References  179Index  201About the Authors  212