- Why do researchers use qualitative interviews as a methodological tool in their research projects?
- What kind of knowledge can qualitative research interviewing give us compared to other kinds of methods?
- Are there specific circumstances when qualitative research interviews are particularly well suited, and conversely:
- Are there any settings or topics when it would be better to look for other data gathering methods?
- In face of the current travel restrictions — how does one plan for online interviewing?
This PhD seminar will explore these questions, focusing on projects that are still in their planning and design phases, before the actual field work and data collection.
We will use two ongoing PhD projects as "test cases" for discussing some typical challenges relating to planning the interviews. In addition, we will hear short presentations by candidates working in other subject areas.
Anne Waldrop, dr. polit. in Social Anthropology, is Professor of Development Studies at OsloMet.
Participation and Registration
This seminar is for PhD fellows at ILOS and neigbouring departments in the Faculty of Humanities.
Please sign up here by the end of 16 December
There is the option of participating with a written assignment (2 ECTS) or without a written assignment (1 ECTS). NOTE: we only have time for 8 papers (first come, first served).
Everyone, please see the list of required readings below!
For those participating with a written assignment, please send 3-5 pages outlining your plan for qualitative interviewing/data collection *by 3 January* to: anne.waldrop@oslomet.no with cc to sarah.salameh@ilos.uio.no. Be prepared to present your plan to the others in the seminar (3-5 mins oral presentation).
Required Readings
Total of 108 pages:
- Brinkmann, Svend & Steinar Kvale (2015). Interviews. Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing, Sage: London, chapters 1, pp. 1-25, 3, pp. 55-83, 6, pp. 125-148.
- DeWalt, Kathleen & Billie R. DeWalt (2011). Participant Observation. A Guide for Fieldworkers, Altamira Press: Lanham, New York, Toronto, Plymuth UK, chapter 8: “Informal Interviewing in participant observation”, pp. 137-157.
- Deakin, Hanna & Kelly Wakefield (2013). “Skype Interviewing: Reflections of two PhD Researchers”, Qualitative Research, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 603–616.