Interviews with Whom?

Chapter 3 considers the principles underlying the selection of an appropriate sample for depth interviewing and the range of strategies available to identify and recruit participants in that sample. Rather than claiming representativeness, as a quantitative researcher might, a depth interviewer aims to select a sample capable of yielding theoretically generalizable insights—an approach called theoretical sampling. Theoretical sampling focuses on finding a variety of participants who are well positioned to reveal the practices, mechanisms, and relationships the research seeks to explain. The chapter then looks at the range of strategies for finding a good sample and deciding whom to include and whom to exclude. Whether the sampling strategy involves recruiting randomly selected participants, snowball sampling, seeking volunteers, or some combination, a good sample contains both the core controls and the built-in comparisons needed to answer the study questions and develop an explanation for the outcomes.

Analyzing Interviews

Chapter 6 describes the process of analyzing interview transcripts, which involves a search for the patterns concealed within the complex material that these transcripts contain. Analyzing interview data involves a number of methodological strategies. These include immersing oneself in the findings; developing concepts and organizing the material conceptually; attending to non-relationships and contradictory findings; and applying the basic rules of the logic of inquiry, such as conducting a comparative analysis and examining the time order of events and responses to events. All these steps provide ways to impose order on messy material, which then increases the chances of making empirical discoveries and theoretical breakthroughs. The chapter provides a step-by-step consideration of how coding and categorizing can be used to make sense out of the material. By dividing the analytic process into separate concrete steps, analysis becomes more manageable, less intimidating, and more fun. This systematic approach also increases confidence in the findings, enhances their credibility, and raises the potential for making theoretical breakthroughs.

Conducting Interviews

Chapter 5 guides the reader through the process of conducting interviews. From gaining trust to discussing the core issues to reaching a close, each stage poses distinct challenges. The beginning goal is to make a personal connection and establish trust so that the rest of the interview can flow comfortably, effectively, and enjoyably. The heart of the interview—and the lengthiest stage—consists of asking the core substantive questions and following where they lead, which is often in unexpected directions. The final stage requires bringing the interview to a close, taking care that each participant feels satisfied with the experience and ready to finish. Success at all these stages depends on close attention and careful listening—to what participants say, to how they say it, and even to matters about which they are reluctant to speak. Active listening is integral to building a collaborative process that takes the interview where each person’s responses lead. The chapter also considers practical matters such as the best settings for interviews and how to record the interactions. Additionally, it considers the ethical issues involved in interviewing, including such core principles as ensuring privacy, confidentiality, and respect. Following these principles protects interviewees and creates a safe environment that enhances open communication.

Constructing an Interview Guide

Chapter 4 focuses on constructing an interview guide or questionnaire. A well-developed guide ensures that each area of interest will receive the coverage it needs and will do so for every participant in a comparable, though not necessarily identical, way. The forethought required to construct an interview guide focuses attention on what information is crucial to collect, what is useful but discretionary, and what is not relevant. Constructing an interview guide allows interviewers to impose rigor on a process that can otherwise become haphazard, while also ensuring flexibility and enhancing trust during the interview. The chapter then explains how to develop good questions and link them together to create a coherent organization that helps each participant understand the questions, follow the narrative flow, and respond in thoughtful ways as the interview proceeds. These design decisions include deciding how to word questions, how to sequence questions and their appropriate follow-ups and probes, and how to weave clusters of questions into a well-organized interview that participants find sensible and meaningful.

Depth Interviewing as Science and Art

Chapter 1 outlines the key principles that guide interview-based research and highlights the unique contributions this can yield. Conducting depth interviews places each participant’s voice at the heart of the study, giving participants an opportunity to tell their stories in their own words and to think more deeply about their experiences than is usually possible with other methods. Through careful questioning, concentrated listening, and focused follow-up probing, interviewers invite further exploration that encourages people to share their life experiences, describe the social contexts surrounding these experiences, and consider their personal reactions to them, including the meaning they attribute to life events and the accounts, motivations, and actions these events engender. Then, through systematic analysis of how each piece of information stands in relationship to the other information offered by that participant and all the others, it becomes possible to chart the dynamic processes that shape life trajectories and link individual actions to larger social structures. This enables interviewers to address their original question(s) and any new ones that emerge to discover empirical patterns and develop theoretical insights.

Pulling It All Together

Chapter 7 addresses the challenges of presenting an argument with interview material. Since the volume and complexity of interview data make it challenging to present in written or oral form, the chapter offers strategies that help bring focus and order to the process. From the introduction to the presentation of findings to the closing arguments, the goal is to tell a convincing and compelling story that builds a strong case about how to solve the empirical and theoretical puzzles the interviews have addressed. Instead of highlighting examples primarily because they are “colorful,” it is important to select cases and quotes that best represent the larger patterns and core elements of your argument in order to build a powerful case supported by the findings. It is not sufficient to list quotes and assume their significance is obvious. The challenge is to present each piece of evidence in a textual context that makes its meaning clear and its significance unambiguous. The chapter then steps back to summarize the ways depth interviewing provides indispensable findings that lead to theoretical insights only it can provide. The key is to meld a systematic approach, rooted in the logical principles of scientific inquiry, with the investigation of unexplored research terrain that calls out for new analytic and empirical discoveries.

Getting Started

Chapter 2 discusses how to formulate research questions and construct an appropriate research design by outlining the kinds of questions that the interviewing method is especially—often uniquely—able to answer. Even before a researcher decides whom to interview and what to ask, the chapter helps assess whether interviewing is the right method to use. Once a researcher is committed to conducting interviews, the chapter then shows how to ground the research theoretically and devise a design that will yield theoretically relevant discoveries. This journey starts by using the existing literature to formulate a question or questions that address noteworthy yet unresolved empirical and theoretical puzzles. Formulating such a question requires focusing on specific empirical phenomena and/or theoretical debates and then asking what forms they take, how they emerge, and why they take the forms they do. The chapter then details the kinds of questions that interviewing is well equipped to answer, highlighting many examples from classic and recent studies. Once developed, these core questions set the stage for constructing a research design that maximizes the chances of answering them and contributing new empirical and theoretical knowledge.