Interview Methods

In this interview section, I present a simulated case study and demonstrate various types of interview techniques and their limits and possibilities.

Simulated Case Study  

The purpose of this case study was to explore how a writer perceives his role as a writer and how he identifies the influences that motivate him to write.

I had interviewed this participant in very casual manner even if the interviews were in-depth, phenomenological, feminist, or otherwise. My reason for doing so was to establish a rapport with Alex and make sure that he is not feeling too awkward while we talk. Having a video camera on while talking is awkward indeed. Also, if you are interviewer is all suited up, then the dialogue tends to be on a formal tone. Alex is a very casual person and says that the best thing about being a writer is that you get to work in your bathrobe.

Keeping my knowledge of Alex in mind, I decided to approach all the interviews in a bathrobe like manner, that would put Alex at ease. Alex expresses himself far better in writing as you will see in his photoelicited journaling, so I had to figure out my best approach. As you go through the interviews, you will see places where I asked closed-ended questions, was completely offtrack from how the participant made meaning of his experiences, and where I was able to elicit rich, thick, descriptions. There is an art and science to this process and there is no such thing as a perfect interview.

What I noticed as an interviewer is that my own subjectivities and preferences played a huge role in how Alex responded to me. If I was comfortable and relaxed, so was Alex. If I was struggling, so did he. I had the most trouble with the phenomenological interview, because epistemologically, I did not believe in a single essence. So as I was modeling the interview, it was hard for me to think of ways to peel layer's of Alex's essence of writing, because it was hard for me to conceptualize what that might be. So as a strategy, I decided to conduct some on-the-spot member checks and that made me realize how off I was, which was a very enlightening and informative moment.