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InterViews
Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing

Third Edition


May 2014 | 424 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
The Third Edition of Brinkmann and Kvale’s InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing, offers readers comprehensive and practical insight into the many factors that contribute to successful interviews. The book invites readers on a journey through the landscape of interview research, providing the “hows” and “whys” of research interviewing, and outlines paths for students to follow on the way to research goals. Thoroughly updated to account for all recent developments in qualitative interviewing, the New Edition expands its focus on the practical, epistemological, and ethical issues involved in interviewing, while maintaining the fluid and logical structure it has become known for throughout the text.
 
List of Boxes, Figures, and Tables
 
Preface to the Third Edition
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction
 
1. Introduction to Interview Research
Conversation as Research

 
Three Interview Sequences

 
Interview Research in History and in the Social Sciences

 
The Interview Society

 
Methodological and Ethical Issues in Research Interviewing

 
Overview of the Book

 
Interviewing as a Craft

 
Interviewing as a Social Production of Knowledge

 
Interviewing as a Social Practice

 
Part I: Conceptualizing the Research Interview

 
Part II: Seven Stages of Research Interviewing

 
Concluding Perspectives

 
 
PART I. Conceptualizing the Research Interview
 
2. Characterizing Qualitative Research Interviews
A Qualitative Research Interview on Learning

 
Phenomenology and the Mode of Understanding in a Qualitative Research Interview

 
Power Asymmetry in Qualitative Research Interviews

 
Philosophical Dialogues, Therapeutic Conversations, and Research Interviews

 
Therapeutic Interviews and Research Interviews

 
Qualitative Interviews as Research Instruments and Social Practices

 
 
3. Epistemological Issues of Interviewing
The Interviewer as a Miner or as a Traveler

 
Interviews in a Postmodern Age

 
Seven Features of Interview Knowledge

 
Knowledge and Interviews in a Positivist Conception

 
A Rehabilitation of Classical Positivism?

 
Methodological Positivism

 
Qualitative Interviewing Between Method and Craft

 
Research Interviewing: Method or Personal Skills

 
The Craft of Research Interviewing

 
Learning the Craft of Research Interviewing

 
 
4. Ethical Issues of Interviewing
Interviewing as a Moral Inquiry

 
Ethical Issues Throughout an Interview Inquiry

 
Ethical Positions: Rules and Procedures or Personal Virtues?

 
Ethical Guidelines

 
Informed Consent

 
Confidentiality

 
Consequences

 
The Role of the Researcher

 
Learning Ethical Research Behavior

 
 
5. The Qualitative Research Interview as Context
Interviewers and Interviewees

 
The Interviewer

 
The Interviewee

 
Bodies and Nonhumans

 
Nonhumans and Surroundings

 
 
PART II. Seven Stages of an Interview Investigation
 
6. Thematizing and Designing an Interview Study
Seven Stages of an Interview Inquiry

 
Thematizing an Interview Study

 
Designing an Interview Study

 
Mixed Methods

 
 
7. Conducting an Interview
A Class Interview About Grades

 
Setting the Interview Stage

 
Scripting the Interview

 
Interviewer Questions

 
The Art of Second Questions

 
 
8. Interview Variations
Interview Subjects

 
Interviewing Subjects Across Cultures

 
Interviews With Children

 
Interviews With Elites

 
Interview Forms

 
Computer-Assisted Interviews

 
Focus Group Interviews

 
Factual Interviews

 
Conceptual Interviews

 
Narrative Interviews

 
Discursive Interviews

 
Confrontational Interviews

 
 
9. Interview Quality
Hamlet’s Interview

 
Interview Quality

 
The Interview Subject

 
Interviewer Qualifications

 
Standard Objections to the Quality of Interview Research

 
Leading Questions

 
 
10. Transcribing Interviews
Oral and Written Language

 
Recording Interviews

 
Transcribing Interviews

 
Transcription Reliability, Validity, and Ethics

 
 
11. Preparing for Interview Analysis
The 1,000-Page Question

 
A Method of Analyzing the Question?

 
Steps and Modes of Interview Analysis

 
Computer Tools for Interview Analysis

 
Coding

 
 
12. Interview Analyses Focusing on Meaning
Meaning Condensation

 
Meaning Interpretation

 
The Issue of Multiple Interpretations

 
Hermeneutical Interpretation of Meaning

 
The Primacy of the Question in Interpretation

 
Analytic Questions Posed to an Interview Text

 
The Quest for the “Real Meaning”

 
 
13. Interview Analyses Focusing on Language
Linguistic Analysis

 
Conversation Analysis

 
Narrative Analysis

 
Discourse Analysis

 
Deconstruction

 
 
14. Eclectic and Theoretical Analyses of Interviews
Interview Analysis as Bricolage

 
Interview Analysis as Theoretical Reading

 
 
15. The Social Construction of Validity
Objectivity of Interview Knowledge

 
Reliability and Validity of Interview Knowledge

 
Validity as Quality of Craftsmanship

 
Communicative Validity

 
Pragmatic Validity

 
Generalizing From Interview Studies

 
 
16. Reporting Interview Knowledge
Contrasting Audiences for Interview Reports

 
Boring Interview Reports

 
Ethics of Reporting

 
Investigating With the Final Report in Mind

 
Standard Reports and Ways of Enhancing Them

 
Method

 
Results

 
Enriching Interview Reports

 
Journalistic Interviews

 
Dialogues

 
Therapeutic Case Histories

 
Narratives

 
Metaphors

 
Visualizing

 
Collage

 
Publishing Qualitative Research

 
 
17. Conversations about Interviews
Critiques of the Quality of Interview Knowledge

 
Developing the Craft of Research Interviewing

 
An Epistemology of Interview Knowledge

 
The Object Determines the Method

 
The Social Science Dogma of Quantification

 
Research Interviewing as Social Practice

 
Research Interviewing in a Social Context

 
Interview Ethics in a Social Context

 
 
Appendix: Learning Tasks
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Index

Key book on interviews and interview analysis, accessible and precise, both for entry-level and advanced students

Dr Michalis Kontopodis
School of Education, Roehampton University
January 18, 2016

Excellent comprehensive text

Mr Lisa Weems
Educational Admin Dept, Miami University-Oxford
July 2, 2015

In is too advanced for my students (Second year Bachelors who have to learn basics about qualitative research). I have used it in my teachings, but to adopt it would be too much for my students.

Dr Masja Van Meeteren
Department of Criminology, Leiden University
June 16, 2015

A must read for anyone undertaking research and using interviews. One of my favourite books!

Dr Bridget Ng'andu
Social Work Department, Ruskin College Oxford
June 13, 2015

I am still reviewing, and anticipate including it as a resource text for my Qualitative Research Design course.

Dr Jeton McClinton
Ed Foundations Leadership Dept, Jackson State University
June 4, 2015

useful for qualitative methods

Mr Melanie Rogers
School Of Human Health Sciences, Huddersfield University
June 3, 2015

A great approach to qualitative research, with a sound combination of methodological and theoretical knowledge alongside a vast use of examples. Highly recommended.

Dr Artur Ventura
GAGQ, University of Lisbon
March 30, 2015

I used the previous edition and really liked that book.

Dr Louise Racine
Nursing, University Of Saskatchewan
March 22, 2015

The cost of the text does not warrant the specialised nature of the text for a general module in Research Methodology. The text is, however, added to the reading list for students.

Professor Gerrit Van der Waldt
Public Management & Governance, Univesity of North-West
February 18, 2015

I have to admit that I did not read the first two editions so can not comment on any additions/improvements to this book. However, what I can comment on is this third edition as a reference book for preparing, designing and conducting interviews. And what you get with this book is a very comprehensive insight into the topic area. It is very well written and clear. Every aspect of the interview is covered and I personally found it an excellent reference book when designing interviews for my studies. Svend Brinkmann and Steinar Kvale have produced an excellent resource here. A must buy!

Mr Shane Payne
Engineering, Leicester College
January 31, 2015

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2


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ISBN: 9781452275727
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