Objectives: After completing this class, you will be able to:

• Identify situations in which the use of individual interviews as a data collection method is appropriate
• Analyze the strengths and weaknesses in interview protocols in reported research
• Evaluate the data analysis and interpretation of results from personal interviews
• Assess the impact of weaknesses in interview protocol, analysis and interpretation on your ability to apply the research findings in your work
• Develop interview protocols, including all instrumentation needed to conduct the interview, analyze the results, and interpret the findings
• Test the protocol and instruments, using qualitative and quantitative techniques to assess the validity and reliability of procedures and instruments

Assigned Readings

Bryman Ch. 8 and 18 in Third Ed.

Paley, J. (2010). Qualitative interviewing as measurement. Nursing Philosophy 11(1), 112-126.

Warren, C.A.B. (2001). Qualitative interviewing. In J. F. Gubrium & J.A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research. Context and method (pp. 83-102). London: Sage Publications. e-reserve

Resources if you do not know much about qualitative data analysis.

Remember that you need to explain how you will analyze your data in your semester project. Also please note that there are many types of qualitative data analysis. -- content analysis, thematic analysis, fuzzy set analysis, etc. These differ greatly. Content analysis, discourse analysis, and thematic analysis are very different things. Please do not assume that there is "one general way" to analyze data qualitatively. I include below a few links to brief (introductory) descriptions to a few types of qualitative analysis.

Methods of Data Analysis in Qualitative Research This is a good overview of several types of qualitative analysis. Very introductory, but lets you know how they differ.

General Inductive Approach This gives an introduction to inductive approaches to qualitative analysis. Thematic analysis, for example, is an inductive approach.

Swisher, M.E. (2007) Comments on qualitative data analysis. This is really a combination of thematic analysis and categorization. I use this a lot.

Research Review Articles

Berg, B.L. (2007). The dramaturgical interview, Pp. 114-136 in Qualitative research methods for the social sciences, Sixth Ed.. Allyn & Bacon, New York. Get from Dr. Swisher

Herzog, H. (2005) On home turf: Interview location and its social meaning. Qualitative Sociology 28(1), 25-47.

Nunkoosing, K. (2005) The problems with interviews. Qualitative Health Research 15(5), 698-706.

Ogden, J. & Cornwell, D. (2010) The role of topic, interviewee and question in predicting rich interview data in the field of health research. Sociology of Health & Illness 32(7), 1059-1071.

Other Resources

Baker, C. (2004) Membership categorization and interview accounts. In D. Silverman (ed.), Qualitative Research: Theory, Method & Practice. Sage, Thousand Oaks, p. 162-176.

Brick, J.M., Edwards, W.S., & Lee, S. (2007). Sampling telephone numbers and adults, interview length and weighting in the California health survey interview survey cell phone pilot study. Public Opinion Quarterly 71(5), 793-813.

Cicco-Bloom, B. & Crabtree, B.F. (2006). Making sense of qualitative research. The qualitative research interview. Medical Education 40(4), 314-321

Fontana, A. (2001). Postmodern trends in interviewing. In J. F. Gubrium & J.A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research. Context and method (pp. 161-175). London: Sage Publications. Get from Dr. Swisher.

Goldman, R., Hunt, M.K., Allen, J.D. et al. (2003) The life history interview method: applications to intervention development. Health Education and Behavior 30(5), 564-581.

Gubrium, J. & Holstein, J. (2002) Handbook of Interview Research. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage.

Hill, C., Memon A. & McGeorge, P. (2008). The role of confirmation bias in suspect interviews: A systematic evaluation. Legal & Criminalogical Psychology 13(2), 357-371.

Holstein, J.A. & Gubrium, J.F. (2004) The active interview. In D. Silverman (ed.), Qualitative Research: Theory, Method & Practice. Sage, Thousand Oaks, p. 140-161.

Jacobvitz, D., Curran, M. & Moller, N. (2002) Measurement of adult attechment: the place of self-report and interview methodologies. Attachment & Human Development 4(2), 207-215.

Lee, R.M. (1993). Doing research on sensitive topics. London, Sage Publications. Read pages 97-118, Asking sensitive questions: interviewing. Get copy from Dr. Swisher.

McCarthy, J.R., Holland, J. & Gillies, V. (2003). Multiple perspectives on the "family" lives of young people: methodological and theoretical issues in case study research. Social Research Methodology 6(1), 1-23.

Miller, J. & Glassner, B. (2004) The "inside" and the "outside": finding realities in interviews. In D. Silverman (ed.), Qualitative Research: Theory, Method & Practice. Sage, Thousand Oaks, p. 125-139.

Murphy, J. (2005). Enabling frail older people with a communication difficulty to express their views: the use of Talking Mats (TM) as an interview tool. Health & Social Care in the Community 13(2), 95-107.

Ogden, J. & Cornwell, D. (2010). The role of topic, interviewee and question in predicting rich interview data in the field of health research. Sociology of Health & Illness 32(7), 1059-1071.

Orbach, Y., Hershkowitz, I., Lamb, M.E. et al. (2000) Assessing the value of structured protocols for forensic interviews of alleged child abuse victims. Child Abuse & Neglect 24(6), 733-752.

Ozhayat, E.B., Gotfredsen, K., Elverdam, B. & Owall, B. (2009). Patient-generated aspects in oral rehabilitation decision making I. Comparison of traditional history taking and an individual systematic interview method. Journal of Oral Rehabilitation 36(1), 726-736.

Papadopoulos, I., Scanlon, K. & Lees, S. (2002). Reporting and validating research findings through reconstructed stories. Disability & Society 17(3), 269-281.

Poland, B. & Pederson, A. (1998). Reading between the lines: interpreting silence in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry 42(2), 293-213.

Power, E.M. (2004) Toward understanding in postmodern interview analysis: Interpreting the contradictory remarks of a research participant. Qualitative Health Research 14(6), 858-865.

Ryen, A. (2001). Cross-cultural interviewing. In J. F. Gubrium & J.A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research. Context and method (pp. 335-354). London: Sage Publications. Get from Dr. Swisher.

Scanlan, T.K., Russell, D.G., Magyar, M. & Scanlan, L.A. (2009). Project on Elite Athlete Commitment (PEAK): III. An examination of the external validity across gender, and the expansion and clarification of the sport commitment model. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology 31(6), 685-706.

Thompson, B. (2008). How college freshmen communicate student academic support: A grounded theory study. Communication Education 57(1), 123-144.

Tran, T. & Blackman, M.C. (2006). The dynamics and validity of the group selection interview. Journal of Social Psychology 146(2), 183-201.

Yoshihama, M., Gillespie, B., Hammock, A.C., Belli, R.F. & Tolman, R.M. (2005). Does the life history calendar method facilitate the recall of intimate partner violence? Comparison of two methods of data collection. Social Work Research 29(3), 151-163.

Zuwallack, R. (2009). Piloting data collection via cell phones: Results, experiences, and lessons learned. Field Methods 21(4), 388-406.

Some Studies Using Interviews

Anderson, J.A., Meyer, R.D., Sullivan, W.P. & Wright, E.R. (2005) Impact of a system of care on a community's children's social services system. Journal of Child & Family Studies 14(4), 505-520.

Anooshian, L.J. (2005) Violence and aggression in the lives of homeless children. Journal of Family Violence 20(6), 373-387.

Baxter, S.D., Thompson, W.O., Litaker, M.S. et al. (2003) Accuracy of fourth-graders' dietary recalls of school breakfast and school lunch validated with observations: in-person versus telephone interviews. Journal of Nutritional Education and Behavior 35, 124-134.

Duner, A. & Nordstrom, M. (2005) Intentions and strategies among elderly people: coping in everyday life. Journal of Aging Studies 19(4), 437-451.

Estomba, D., Ladio, A. & Lozada, M. (2006) Medicinal wild plant knowledge and gathering patterns in a Mapuche community from North-Western Patagonia. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 103(1), 109-119.

Inglis, V., Ball, K. & Crawford, D. (2005) Why do women of low socioeconomic status have poorer dietary behaviours than women of higher socioeconomic status? A qualitative exploration. Appetite 45(3), 334-343.

Malson, H. (1999) Women under erasure: anorexic bodies in postmodern context. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology 9 (1), 137-153.

Sutherland, D. & Dennick, R. (2002) Exploring culture, language and the perception of the nature of science. International Journal of Science Education 24(1), 1-25.

Worster, A.M. & Abrams, E. (2005) Sense of place among New England commercial fishermen and organic farmers: implications for socially constructed environmental education. Environmental Education Research 11(5), 525-535.