Are you new to qualitative research or a bit rusty and in need of some inspiration? Are you doing a research project involving in-depth interviews? Are you nervous about carrying out your interviews?
This book will help you complete your qualitative research project by providing a nuts and bolts introduction to interviewing. With coverage of ethics, preparation strategies and advice for handling the unexpected in the field, this handy guide will help you get to grips with the basics of interviewing before embarking on your research. While recognising that your research question and the context of your research will drive your approach to interviewing, this book provides practical advice often skipped in traditional methods textbooks.
Written with the needs of social science students and those new to qualitative research in mind, the book will help you plan, prepare for, carry out and analyse your interviews.
Table of Content
Chapter 1: The what and why of in-depth interviewing
Chapter 2: Ethics – the need to tread carefully
Chapter 3: Developing the interview guide
Chapter 4: Selecting, finding and accessing research participants
Chapter 5: Preparing for the interview
Chapter 6: Conducting the interview
Chapter 7: Dealing with difficulties and the unexpected
Chapter 8: Transcribing, analysing and writing up the interviews
About the author
Alan Morris is an urban sociologist based in the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government, at the University of Technology, Sydney. He has a Ph D in Sociology from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. His Ph D was a major qualitative study of inner city transition in Johannesburg during the final years of apartheid. The book based on his Ph D, Bleakness and Light: Inner-City Transition in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, (1999, reprinted 2001) is viewed as one of the key South African texts in urban studies. In Australia his main research focus has been on the impact of housing tenure on older people who are dependent on the age pension for their income. His research interests include, housing, ageing, urban marginality and social policy. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and South Africa.