Interviews and Interviewing Techniques

In this chapter, I have described different types of interviewing; identified and illustrated in more detail the central techniques of research interviewing (particularly with regard to the semistructured format); and discussed in depth several additional considerations such as design, ethics, recording, and transcription. I hope to have shown that interviewing research can be a rewarding endeavor. Good interviewing, however, is not easy and, in examining the central techniques, I have offered examples of where my own research interviewing could have been better. My technique has improved with practice, though, and my reminder to myself and to my students is that there is never the perfect interview, although there are definitely better and worse instances. I hope also to have shown that interviewing research is at an exciting methodological juncture in that we can no longer be unsophisticated about the status of interviews as data. Creative developments are required that allow interviews to be conducted and analyzed in ways that recognize their situated and coconstructed nature and at the same time are informative on the topic of the research.