Contextualising the Research Process: Using Interviewer Notes in the Secondary Analysis of Qualitative Data

Abstract

In this paper we argue that for the secondary analysis of qualitative data to be effective, researchers need to subject any accompanying interviewer notes to the secondary analysis process. The secondary analysis of interviewer notes can provide important insight into the research process and the attitudes, experiences, and expectations of those collecting the data. Such information is essential if meaningful analyses are to be offered. Using interviewer notes from a little known research project on youth transitions form the 1960s, this paper explores how the interviewers’ experiences of the research process and their perceptions are documented in the interviewer notes.