Depth Interviewing as Science and Art

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Kathleen Gerson
Keyword(s):  
Social Contexts ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Life Trajectories ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
The Social ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Original Question ◽  
Depth Interviews

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.

The Science and Art of Interviewing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Gerson ◽  
Sarah Damaske
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
The Social ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Hidden Patterns ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Depth Interviews

Qualitative interviewing is one of the most widely used methods in social research, but it is arguably the least well understood. To address that gap, this book offers a theoretically rigorous, empirically rich, and user-friendly set of strategies for conceiving and conducting interview-based research. Much more than a how-to manual, the book shows why depth interviewing is an indispensable method for discovering and explaining the social world—shedding light on the hidden patterns and dynamics that take place within institutions, social contexts, relationships, and individual experiences. It offers a step-by-step guide through every stage in the research process, from initially formulating a question to developing arguments and presenting the results. To do this, the book shows how to develop a research question, decide on and find an appropriate sample, construct an interview guide, conduct probing and theoretically focused interviews, and systematically analyze the complex material that depth interviews provide—all in the service of finding and presenting important new empirical discoveries and theoretical insights. The book also lays out the ever-present but rarely discussed challenges that interviewers routinely encounter and then presents grounded, thoughtful ways to respond to them. By addressing the most heated debates about the scientific status of qualitative methods, the book demonstrates how depth interviewing makes unique and essential contributions to the research enterprise. With an emphasis on the integral relationship between carefully crafted research and theory building, the book offers a compelling vision for what the “interviewing imagination” can and should be.

scholarly journals Narratives of Change: Identity and Recognition Dynamics in the Process of Moving Away From a Life Dominated by Drug Use

2021 ◽  
pp. 009145092110270
Author(s):  
Inger Eide Robertson ◽  
Hildegunn Sagvaag ◽  
Lillian Bruland Selseng ◽  
Sverre Nesvaag
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Recovery Process ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Positive Identity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Changing Practices ◽  
Struggle For Recognition ◽  
Depth Interviews

The concepts of identity and recovery capital are recognized as being an embedded part of moving away from a life dominated by drug use. However, the link between these two concepts and the effect of broader social structures, and the normative assumptions underpinning the condition of recovery, is less explored. This article focuses on the social practices of everyday life in the foreground of identity formation, meaning that “who I am” is an inseparable part of “what I do.” A narrative approach was employed to analyze qualitative follow-up data extracted from 48 in-depth interviews with 17 males and females with drug-using experience that were conducted posttreatment on three separate occasions over a period of 2.5 years. Theories of identity formation were employed to analyze the interdependent dynamic between social structure, persona and social resources, and way of life and identity. The analyses identified four narratives related to how people present themselves through the process of changing practices. Following the work of Honneth, we argue that the positive identity formation revealed in these narratives is best understood as a struggle for recognition via the principle of achievement. However, the participants’ self-narratives reflected cultural stories—specified as formula stories—of “normality,” “addiction,” and the “addict,” which work into the concepts of self and confine options of storying experiences during the recovery process. This study demonstrate that the process of recovery is culturally embedded and constitutes a process of adaption to conventional social positions and roles. We suggest challenging dominant discourses related to “addiction as a disease” and “normality” in order to prevent stigma related to drug use and recovery. In so doing, it may contribute to broaden conditions for identity (trans)formation for people in recovery.

Dangerous vulnerability: Simultaneous prohibition and coercion in Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110514
Author(s):  
Einat Lavee ◽  
Tal Meler ◽  
Madlen Shamshoum
Keyword(s):  
Single Mothers ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Women Migrants ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Domestic Affairs ◽  
Depth Interviews

The objective of this study is to broaden understanding of how vulnerability is shaped more by social, cultural, and religious institutions than by individual life circumstances, exploring the case of Palestinian-Israeli single mothers’ relationships with men. Research often determines the vulnerability of a group, such as women migrants from an ethnic minority, by specific demographic characteristics. This common assumption has been challenged by calls to understand vulnerability as social processes intersecting with the action of the state and other social institutions. The study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes through which Palestinian-Israeli single mothers are simultaneously forbidden from and coerced into having relationships with men, drawing on a systematic analysis of data from semi-structured, in-depth interviews of 36 Palestinian-Israeli single mothers. The analysis exposed several mechanisms which forbid single mothers from having relationships with men, alongside mechanisms that permit, often even coerce, such relationships. These mechanisms are embedded in interrelated structural factors—massive differences in gender power relations, vast gender economic disparities, inability of most single mothers to support their families independently, and state policy of non-intervention in domestic affairs of ethnic minorities, and create a state of “dangerous vulnerability.”

scholarly journals Community Experience In Protecting Early-Teenagers From Initiation Of Smoking: An Indonesian Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 407-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumboyono Kumboyono ◽  
Achir Yani S. Hamid ◽  
Junaiti Sahar ◽  
Saptawati Bardosono
Keyword(s):  
Role Models ◽  
Sampling Method ◽  
Smoking Habit ◽  
School Nurses ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Descriptive Phenomenology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Depth Interviews

Background: Initiation of smoking habit often occurs in early teens due to the interaction of teenagers with the social environment. The community has an important role in protecting teenagers from the habit of smoking. Objective: The research was aimed to explore the experience of the community in protecting the early-teenagers from smoking habit from the perspective of Indonesian people. Materials and Methods: The qualitative study used the descriptive phenomenology approach on 100 participants (early-teenagers, parents, teachers, and school nurses) who were selected through snowball sampling method. Data collection was carried out through in-depth interviews using open-ended questions. The data were analysed manually using the data source triangulation method. Results: Six research topics were concluded: 1) screening of habits related to health, 2) smoking bans, 3) punishment for smoking habit, 4) smoke-free counseling, 5) evaluation of efforts done, and 6) follow-up of smoking-free programs. Conclusion: The results of the study indicated the importance of consistent efforts to prevent the initiation of smoking habit in early-teenagers both at school and at home. The communities around them at school and home need to have people with healthy non-smoking habit as good role models for the teens.

Individual pastime or focused social interaction: Gendered gaming practices among Danish youth

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1444-1464
Author(s):  
Anne Mette Thorhauge ◽  
Andreas Gregersen
Keyword(s):  
Social Play ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article outlines how gaming and video gameplay among Danish youth can be integral parts of everyday practices. The article is based on a mixed-methods study of video gameplay patterns among Danish children and young people aged 10–18 years. The study included a survey with a stratified random sample ( N = 1560), follow-up in-depth interviews using purposive sampling from the survey respondents ( N = 19) and focus group interviews with boys and girls ( N = 2). We argue that pronounced differences in boys’ and girls’ gameplay patterns and preferences can be explained by the different ways in which gameplay is embedded into the social patterns of everyday life with family and friends. We identify two predominant gaming practices, one organised around competitive social play in teams and another around non-competitive solo play. These findings are discussed in the context of practice theory and existing work on gender and video games.

scholarly journals Older Men’s Social Integration After Prison

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 2153-2173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Wyse
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Public Benefits ◽  
The Social ◽  
Conventional Content Analysis ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study explores the social integration processes older men experience following prison release. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and brief surveys were conducted with 20 men, 50 years of age and older, recently released from prison in a large, Eastern U.S. city. A follow-up interview was conducted with each participant. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze these data. Results show that while men are able to connect with and rely upon some family members and establish basic public benefits, older men’s release experience is nonetheless marked by pervasive disconnection from key desired social relationships and roles. Policies and programs designed to facilitate older men’s social integration are discussed.

scholarly journals Doing it for the ‘Gram: How Instagram affects values, and what it means for mental and ecological wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Vautier
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Extrinsic Values

<p>What would it mean to cultivate a culture of thriving people on a thriving planet? Research has shown that intrinsic values are a significant predictor of both environmentally responsible behaviour and mental wellbeing. However, in modern Western culture, extrinsic, self-promotional values continue to grow in prominence. In order to examine how a specific social context may be exacerbating extrinsic values, counter to mental and ecological wellbeing, this study looks at the social media platform Instagram. Through in-depth interviews of young adults in Aotearoa New Zealand, this study examines their experiences of Instagram in order to ascertain if and how it may promote extrinsic values. Results were analysed through Self Determination Theory, which states that environments which thwart basic human needs of relatedness, competence and autonomy will incentivise extrinsic values. While in some cases, Instagram increased access to relatedness, participants also experienced thwarted relatedness when interactions became motivated predominantly by posting them, and thus self-promoting, on the platform. Participants also consistently reported feeling incompetent when comparing themselves to others' images, which, particularly when adjacent to advertising, as in the case of Instagram, is likely to lead to materialistic tendencies. Participants were also aware of, and in some cases responded to, Instagram signals as to what type of content would gain more 'likes,' adjusting their behaviour in order to succeed in a 'marketplace' infrastructure, thereby limiting autonomy. In doing so, intrinsically motivated experiences were overtaken by an extrinsic desire to portray them to others. These examples indicate Instagram’s infrastructural incentives toward extrinsic values, which counter societal goals of mental and ecological wellbeing. Pervasive messaging within social contexts such as Instagram needs to shift away from promoting extrinsic values in order to respond adequately to the current ecological challenges and create conditions conducive to mental wellbeing.</p>

scholarly journals Contemporary College Students’ Reflections on Their High School Peer Crowds

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 563-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowena Crabbe ◽  
Lilla K. Pivnick ◽  
Julia Bates ◽  
Rachel A. Gordon ◽  
Robert Crosnoe
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
High School ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
College Education ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Life Trajectories ◽  
The Social ◽  
Peer Crowds ◽  
College Bound Students

High school peer crowds are fundamental components of adolescent development with influences on short- and long-term life trajectories. This study provides the perspectives of contemporary college students regarding their recent high school social landscapes, contributing to current research and theory on the social contexts of high school. This study also highlights the experiences of college-bound students who represent a growing segment of the adolescent population. Sixty-one undergraduates attending universities in two states participated in 10 focus groups to reflect on their experiences with high school peer crowds during the late 2010s. Similar to seminal research on peer crowds, we examined crowds and individuals along several focal domains: popularity, extracurricular involvement, academic orientation, fringe media, illicit risk-taking, and race ethnicity. We find that names and characteristics of crowds reflect the current demographic and cultural moment (i.e., growing importance of having a college education, racial-ethnic diversity) and identify peer crowds that appear to be particularly salient for college-bound youth. Overall, this study illuminates how the retrospective accounts of college-bound students offer insight into high school social hierarchies during a time of rapid social change.

scholarly journals “I Tried to Resist and Avoid Bad Friends”

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Gibbs ◽  
Rachel Jewkes ◽  
Yandisa Sikweyiya
Keyword(s):  
Partner Violence ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Political Context ◽  
The Social ◽  
Ipv Perpetration ◽  
Traditional Masculinity ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Relational Network

Urban informal settlements are sites of high HIV incidence and intimate partner violence (IPV). Young men in these contexts often draw on a youthful hypermasculinity that prioritize sexual dominance and displays of violence, although many aspire to a traditional masculinity, which is less violent and uses economic provision and social dominance to control women. Working with young men, we undertook a gender transformative and livelihood strengthening intervention to reduce HIV risk and IPV perpetration. We sought to understand how the wider social context shaped the project’s outcomes. We undertook thirty-eight in-depth interviews and three focus groups postintervention. We conducted thematic analysis using Campbell and Cornish’s conceptualization of social contexts: material–political context, relational–network context, and symbolic context to understand how contexts shaped outcomes. For the material–political context, livelihoods improved, but the continued high levels of unemployment meant that while men may have earned more they did not establish a new relationship to the economy; they still struggled to get jobs and only secured precarious and unfulfilling work. In the relational–network context, men’s main partners and family were supportive of men’s attempts to change, however only narrowly toward a traditional masculinity. Men’s peers were major barriers to men’s attempts to change. In the symbolic context, the accessibility of a “traditional” masculinity provided a resource for men to draw on, which contrasted with the youthful hypermasculinity. We argue that in these informal settlements the social contexts only enabled certain forms of change to occur for young men, limiting the potential for more radical gender equitable transformations.

scholarly journals Doing it for the ‘Gram: How Instagram affects values, and what it means for mental and ecological wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Vautier
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Mental Wellbeing ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
The Social ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Media Platform ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Extrinsic Values

<p>What would it mean to cultivate a culture of thriving people on a thriving planet? Research has shown that intrinsic values are a significant predictor of both environmentally responsible behaviour and mental wellbeing. However, in modern Western culture, extrinsic, self-promotional values continue to grow in prominence. In order to examine how a specific social context may be exacerbating extrinsic values, counter to mental and ecological wellbeing, this study looks at the social media platform Instagram. Through in-depth interviews of young adults in Aotearoa New Zealand, this study examines their experiences of Instagram in order to ascertain if and how it may promote extrinsic values. Results were analysed through Self Determination Theory, which states that environments which thwart basic human needs of relatedness, competence and autonomy will incentivise extrinsic values. While in some cases, Instagram increased access to relatedness, participants also experienced thwarted relatedness when interactions became motivated predominantly by posting them, and thus self-promoting, on the platform. Participants also consistently reported feeling incompetent when comparing themselves to others' images, which, particularly when adjacent to advertising, as in the case of Instagram, is likely to lead to materialistic tendencies. Participants were also aware of, and in some cases responded to, Instagram signals as to what type of content would gain more 'likes,' adjusting their behaviour in order to succeed in a 'marketplace' infrastructure, thereby limiting autonomy. In doing so, intrinsically motivated experiences were overtaken by an extrinsic desire to portray them to others. These examples indicate Instagram’s infrastructural incentives toward extrinsic values, which counter societal goals of mental and ecological wellbeing. Pervasive messaging within social contexts such as Instagram needs to shift away from promoting extrinsic values in order to respond adequately to the current ecological challenges and create conditions conducive to mental wellbeing.</p>

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