Eleanor Jackson Bowers, PHC RIS
 This book covers qualitative interviewing in substantial depth and, in doing so, addresses almost all facets of qualitative research methodology.
The authors guide the reader through the stages of developing a rationale for their research. It addresses: what is it that you want to know, what is the purpose of the research and how may this be achieved? How does this justify the use of interviews? What are the philosophical assumptions you have taken for granted?
The authors acknowledge that often these are not made explicit but argue that different assumptions lead to differing rationales for what needs to be known and which methods and methodologies follow from this. They briefly outline the major theoretical positions, which make this publication an ideal introduction for somebody not familiar with the use of theory in qualitative research.
Ethics in qualitative research is given extensive attention, as is validity. There is a substantial chapter on reflexivity, or critical reflection by a researcher on how the research may have been entangled in the politics and practices of the social world.
Different types of interviews are discussed in detail. This includes individual and group interviews as well as remote methods such as telephone, email and on-line interviewing. They give many examples of the advantages and disadvantages of each method and offer tips from their experiences.
Finally, they address data analysis: how and what to transcribe, the principles of thematic analysis and coding, and procedures for enhancing validity such as triangulation.
What comes across strongly is that while we may intuitively feel that interviewing is as straight forward as having a conversation, there are many learnings which come from the accumulated experience of doing interviews of different types. This book covers them all. If you are doing interviews in qualitative research you need to read this book.
Reference
King N, Horrocks C. (2010). Interviews in Qualitative Research. SAGE Publications
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