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The Active Interview
- James A. Holstein - Marquette University, USA
- Jaber F. Gubrium - University of Missouri, USA
Volume:
37
Series:
Qualitative Research Methods
Qualitative Research Methods
April 1995 | 96 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Interviews were once thought to be the pipeline through which information was transmitted from a passive subject to an omniscient researcher. However the new `active interview' considers interviewers and interviewees as equal partners in constructing meaning around an interview. This interpretation changes a range of elements in the interview process - from the way of conceiving a sample to the ways in which the interview may be conducted and the results analyzed. In this guide, the authors outline the differences between active interviews and traditional interviews and give novice researchers clear guidelines on conducting a successful interview.
Introduction
The Active Interview in Perspective
Assigned Competence and Respondent Selection
Narrative Resources
The Active Interviewer
Constructing Meaning within the Interview
Multivocality and Multiple Respondents
Rethinking Interview Procedures
More than twenty years after publication, Holstein and Gubrium's The Active Interview is still and essential introduction to an approach to a constructionist perspective on interviewing and interview data. The authors argue convincingly and passionately that interviewers shouldn't be afraid to actively engage in the interview situation: Indeed, only an active interviewer can ensure that interviews are good and lively conversations, which is central to interview quality. The booklet is a concise and quick read that should be recommended to any student of qualitative interviewing.
Social Science , University of Vienna
August 25, 2016
A classic text, essential for anyone contemplating qualitiative research
Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University
June 28, 2013
