The Interpretive Interview. An Interview Form Centring on Research Participants’ Constructions

Abstract

One might be tempted to ask: Is discussing qualitative interviewing with yet another name tag on it once again old wine in a new bottle? In this contribution, I argue that describing our interviewing and data analysis still needs some reflection: It is a fine cuvée (ending the vinophile metaphor here) that you might want to get a taste of herewith: Discussing qualitative interviewing deepens the understanding of the kind of interviewing Kathy Charmaz proposed while building explicitly on its traditions within social scientific hermeneutics. Charmaz was kind enough to refer to my work – so it is my honour to proceed with my thinking following our time together in Vienna. In this paper, I will focus on the way of doing qualitative interviews that in the end leads to a data quality that, to the largest extent possible, fits our exigencies in interpretively oriented research. Put in a nutshell, we are seeking an interview form that puts the interview partners at the core of the communicative act and in the drivers’ seats of the interview situation. We thus end up with interview material that is rich in stories told and connections made at the free choice of the participants. This stands in contrast to the idea that qualitative interviews should always be based on interview guidelines. The latter can be clearly differentiated from the interpretive interview style proposed here – and is per se not a bad choice as long as it fits the overall methodology and the ensuing research interests.