PRImER

Interviews in the social sciences

Eleanor Knott ✉, Aliya Hamid Rao , Kate Summers and Chana Teeger
Abstract | In-​depth interviews are a versatile form of qualitative data collection used by research-
ers across the social sciences. They allow individuals to explain, in their own words, how they
understand and interpret the world around them. Interviews represent a deceptively familiar
social encounter in which people interact by asking and answering questions. They are, however,
a very particular type of conversation, guided by the researcher and used for specific ends.
This dynamic introduces a range of methodological, analytical and ethical challenges, for novice
researchers in particular. In this Primer, we focus on the stages and challenges of designing and
conducting an interview project and analysing data from it, as well as strategies to overcome
such challenges.

Topic guide
In-​depth interviews are a qualitative research method that In this Primer, we focus on the most common type
A pre-​written interview outline follow a deceptively familiar logic of human interaction: of interview: one researcher taking a semi-​structured
for a semi-​structured interview they are conversations where people talk with each other, approach to interviewing one participant using a topic
that provides both a topic struc- interact and pose and answer questions1. An interview is guide. Focusing on how to plan research using interviews,
ture and the ability to adapt
a specific type of interaction in which — usually and pre- we discuss the necessary stages of data collection. We also
flexibly to the content and con-
text of the interview and the dominantly — a researcher asks questions about some- discuss the stages and thought-​process behind analysing
interaction between the inter- one’s life experience, opinions, dreams, fears and hopes interview material to ensure that the richness and inter-
viewer and participant. Others and the interview participant answers the questions1. pretability of interview material is maintained and com-
may refer to the topic guide as
Interviews will often be used as a standalone method municated to readers. The Primer also tracks innovations
an interview protocol.
or combined with other qualitative methods, such as in interview methods and discusses the developments we
focus groups or ethnography, or quantitative methods, expect over the next 5–10 years.
such as surveys or experiments. Although interviewing We wrote this Primer as researchers from sociol-
is a frequently used method, it should not be viewed as ogy, social policy and political science. We note our
an easy default for qualitative researchers2. Interviews disciplinary background because we acknowledge that
are also not suited to answering all qualitative research there are disciplinary differences in how interviews are
questions, but instead have specific strengths that should approached and understood as a method.
guide whether or not they are deployed in a research pro-
ject. Whereas ethnography might be better suited to try- Experimentation
ing to observe what people do, interviews provide a space Here we address research design considerations and data
for extended conversations that allow the researcher collection issues focusing on topic guide construction
insights into how people think and what they believe. and other pragmatics of the interview. We also explore
Quantitative surveys also give these kinds of insights, issues of ethics and reflexivity that are crucial throughout
but they use pre-​determined questions and scales, the research project.
privileging breadth over depth and often overlooking
harder-​to-​reach participants. Research design
In-​depth interviews can take many different shapes Participant selection. Participants can be selected and
and forms, often with more than one participant or recruited in various ways for in-​depth interview studies.
researcher. For example, interviews might be highly The researcher must first decide what defines the people
structured (using an almost survey-​like interview guide), or social groups being studied. Often, this means mov-
entirely unstructured (taking a narrative and free-​flowing ing from an abstract theoretical research question to a
approach) or semi-​structured (using a topic guide ). more precise empirical one. For example, the researcher
Researchers might combine these approaches within a might be interested in how people talk about race in con-
Department of Methodology,
London School of Economics,
single project depending on the purpose of the interview texts of diversity. Empirical settings in which this issue
London, UK. and the characteristics of the participant. Whatever form could be studied could include schools, workplaces or
✉e-​mail: [email protected] the interview takes, researchers should be mindful of the adoption agencies. The best research designs should
https://doi.org/10.1038/ dynamics between interviewer and participant and factor clearly explain why the particular setting was chosen.
s43586-022-00150-6 these in at all stages of the project. Often there are both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for

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choosing to study a particular group of people at a spe- between 12 and 20 interviews per category of partici-
cific time and place3. Intrinsic motivations relate to the pant (although researchers have reported saturation with
fact that the research is focused on an important spe- samples that are both smaller and larger than this)7–9.
cific social phenomenon that has been understudied. The idea of saturation has been critiqued by many qual-
Extrinsic motivations speak to the broader theoretical itative researchers because it assumes that meaning
research questions and explain why the case at hand is inheres in the data, waiting to be discovered — and con-
a good one through which to address them empirically. firmed — once saturation has been reached7. In-​depth
Next, the researcher needs to decide which types interview data are often multivalent and can give rise
of people they would like to interview. This decision to different interpretations. The important considera-
amounts to delineating the inclusion and exclusion cri- tion is, therefore, not merely how many participants are
teria for the study. The criteria might be based on demo- interviewed, but whether one’s research design allows
graphic variables, like race or gender, but they may also for collecting rich and textured data that provide insight
be context-​specific, for example, years of experience in into participants’ understandings, accounts, perceptions
an organization. These should be decided based on the and interpretations.
research goals. Researchers should be clear about what Sometimes, researchers will conduct interviews
characteristics would make an individual a candidate for with more than one participant at a time. Researchers
inclusion in the study (and what would exclude them). should consider the benefits and shortcomings of such
The next step is to identify and recruit the study’s an approach. Joint interviews may, for example, give
sample. Usually, many more people fit the inclusion researchers insight into how caregivers agree or debate
criteria than can be interviewed. In cases where lists of childrearing decisions. At the same time, they may be
potential participants are available, the researcher might less adaptive to exploring aspects of caregiving that par-
want to employ stratified sampling, dividing the list by ticipants may not wish to disclose to each other. In other
characteristics of interest before sampling. cases, there may be more than one person interviewing
When there are no lists, researchers will often employ each participant, such as when an interpreter is used,
purposive sampling. Many researchers consider purposive and so it is important to consider during the research
sampling the most useful mode for interview-​based design phase how this might shape the dynamics of the
research since the number of interviews to be conducted interview.
Sample
is too small to aim to be statistically representative4.
Here we refer to the
participants that take part in Instead, the aim is not breadth, via representativeness, Data collection
the study as the sample. Other but depth via rich insights about a set of participants. In Semi-​structured interviews are typically organized
researchers may refer to the addition to purposive sampling, researchers often use around a topic guide comprised of an ordered set of
participants as a participant snowball sampling. Both purposive and snowball sam- broad topics (usually 3–5). Each topic includes a set
group or dataset.
pling can be combined with quota sampling. All three of questions that form the basis of the discussion between
Stratified sampling types of sampling aim to ensure a variety of perspec- the researcher and participant (Fig. 1). These topics are
This involves dividing a tives within the confines of a research project. A goal for organized around key concepts that the researcher has
population into smaller in-​depth interview studies can be to sample for range, identified (for example, through a close study of prior
groups based on particular
being mindful of recruiting a diversity of participants research, or perhaps through piloting a small, exploratory
characteristics, for example,
age or gender, and then fitting the inclusion criteria. study)5.
sampling randomly within
each group. Study design. The total number of interviews depends on Topic guide. One common way to structure a topic
many factors, including the population studied, whether guide is to start with relatively easy, open-​ended ques-
Purposive sampling
A sampling method where the
comparisons are to be made and the duration of inter- tions (Table 1). Opening questions should be related to
guiding logic when deciding views. Studies that rely on quota sampling where explicit the research topic but broad and easy to answer, so that
who to recruit is to achieve comparisons are made between groups will require a they help to ease the participant into conversation.
the most relevant participants larger number of interviews than studies focused on one After these broad, opening questions, the topic guide
for the research topic, in terms
group only. Studies where participants are interviewed may move into topics that speak more directly to the
of being rich in information
or insights. over several hours, days or even repeatedly across years overarching research question. The interview questions
will tend to have fewer participants than those that entail will be accompanied by probes designed to elicit concrete
Snowball sampling a one-​off engagement. details and examples from the participant (see Table 1).
Researchers ask participants Researchers often stop interviewing when new inter- Abstract questions are often easier for participants to
to introduce the researcher to
others who meet the study’s
views confirm findings from earlier interviews with no answer once they have been asked more concrete ques-
inclusion criteria. new or surprising insights (saturation)4–6. As a crite- tions. In our experience, for example, questions about
rion for research design, saturation assumes that data feelings can be difficult for some participants to answer,
Quota sampling collection and analysis are happening in tandem and but when following probes concerning factual experi-
Similar to stratified sampling,
that researchers will stop collecting new data once there ences these questions can become less challenging. After
but participants are not
necessarily randomly selected. is no new information emerging from the interviews. the main themes of the topic guide have been covered, the
Instead, the researcher This is not always possible. Researchers rarely have time topic guide can move onto closing questions. At this
determines how many people for systematic data analysis during data collection and stage, participants often repeat something they have
from each category of they often need to specify their sample in funding pro- said before, although they may sometimes introduce a
participants should be
recruited. Recruitment can
posals prior to data collection. As a result, researchers new topic.
happen via snowball or often draw on existing reports of saturation to estimate Interviews are especially well suited to gaining a
purposive sampling. a sample size prior to data collection. These suggest deeper insight into people’s experiences. Getting these

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a
T1: socioeconomic background • Family background
• Parents’ employment
• Educational and occupational trajectory
T2: becoming unemployed • Nature of last job
• How participant lost their job
• Feelings associated with job loss
T3: job search • Is participant actively looking for a job? How?
• What support systems are in place?
• What challenges are faced?

T4: family and social effects • How has this change in employment status affected
participant’s role and relationships at home?

• Has there been a shift in social relations and

activities undertaken? What about financial
implications for both spheres?

b What does an
average day
look like now?
Tell me about How have
your last job things been at
T3 home since you
lost your job?
T2
T4
Tell me
about where
you grew up
If you could give
your former self
T1 some advice,
what would it be?

Beginning/ End: reflecting on the

introduction experience of becoming
unemployed

Fig. 1 | How to develop a topic guide arc. a | Elaborated topics the researcher wants to cover in the interview and example
questions. b | An example topic arc. Using such an arc, one can think flexibly about the order of topics. Considering the
main question for each topic will help to determine the best order for the topics. After conducting some interviews,
the researcher can move topics around if a different order seems to make sense.

insights largely depends on the participants’ willing- embarking on the first interview. It is fine to carry a printed-​
ness to talk to the researcher. We recommend designing out copy of the topic guide but memorizing the topic
open-​ended questions that are more likely to elicit an guide ahead of the interviews can often make the inter-
elaborated response and extended reflection from par- viewer feel well prepared in guiding the participant
ticipants rather than questions that can be answered with through the interview process.
yes or no. Although the topic guide helps the researcher stay
Questions should avoid foreclosing the possibility on track with the broad areas they want to cover, there
that the participant might disagree with the premise of is no need for the researcher to feel tied down by the
the question. Take for example the question: “Do you topic guide. For instance, if a participant brings up a
support the new family-​friendly policies?” This question theme that the researcher intended to discuss later or
minimizes the possibility of the participant disagreeing a point the researcher had not anticipated, the researcher
with the premise of this question, which assumes that may well decide to follow the lead of the participant.
the policies are ‘family-​friendly’ and asks for a yes or The researcher’s role extends beyond simply stating the
no answer. Instead, asking more broadly how a partic- questions; it entails listening and responding, making
ipant feels about the specific policy being described as split-​second decisions about what line of inquiry to pur-
‘family-​friendly’ (for example, a work-​from-​home policy) sue and allowing the interview to proceed in unexpected
allows them to express agreement, disagreement or directions.
impartiality and, crucially, to explain their reasoning10.
For an uninterrupted interview that will last between Optimizing the interview. The ideal place for an inter-
90 and 120 minutes, the topic guide should be one to two view will depend on the study and what is feasible for
single-​spaced pages with questions and probes. Ideally, participants. Generally, a place where the participant and
the researcher will memorize the topic guide before researcher can both feel relaxed, where the interview can

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Table 1 | Types of interview questions (developed from Kvale and Brinkmann80) interview fits in with previous interviews, for example,
where the participant’s responses concur or diverge from
Type of Example other responses. The third part consists of a methodolog-
question
ical section where the researcher notes their perception
Introductory Can you tell me about … (something specific)? of their relationship with the participant. The interview
Follow-​up Non-​verbal cues: mmm..., nod memo allows the researcher to think critically about their
Verbal cues: repeat back keywords to participants, ask for reflection positionality and practice reflexivity — key concepts for
or unpacking of point just made an ethical and transparent research practice in qualitative
Probing Can you say a little more about X? methodology11,12.
Why do you think X…? (for example, Why do you think X is that way?
Why do you think X is important?) Ethics and reflexivity
All elements of an in-​depth interview can raise ethical
Specifying Can you give me an example of X?
challenges and concerns. Good ethical practice in inter-
Abstract How did you feel when X happened? view studies often means going beyond the ethical proce-
Indirect How do you think other people view X? dures mandated by institutions13. While discussions and
Structuring Thank you for that. I’d like to move to another topic…
requirements of ethics can differ across disciplines, here
we focus on the most pertinent considerations for inter-
Direct (later When you mention X, are you thinking like Y or Z? views across the research process for an interdisciplinary
stages)
audience.
Interpreting So, what I have gathered is that…
Ending I have asked all the questions I had, but I wanted to check whether Ethical considerations prior to interview. Before con-
there is something else about your experience/understanding we ducting interviews, researchers should consider harm
haven’t covered? minimization, informed consent, anonymity and
Do you have any questions for me? confidentiality, and reflexivity and positionality. It is
Listening (non-​verbal) We note that waiting and listening can also leave space important for the researcher to develop their own eth-
for participants to open up or discuss more without verbal prompting ical sensitivities and sensibilities by gaining training in
Silence (non-​verbal) interview and qualitative methods, reading methodo­
Adapted with permission from ref.80, Sage Publications. logical and field-​specific texts on interviews and ethics
and discussing their research plans with colleagues.
be uninterrupted and where noise or other distractions Researchers should map the potential harm to con-
are limited is ideal. But this may not always be possi- sider how this can be minimized. Primarily, researchers
ble and so the researcher needs to be prepared to adapt should consider harm from the participants’ perspective
their plans within what is feasible (and desirable for (Box 1). But, it is also important to consider and plan
participants). for potential harm to the researcher, research assistants,
Another key tool for the interview is a recording gatekeepers, future researchers and members of the
device (assuming that permission for recording has been wider community14. Even the most banal of research
given). Recording can be important to capture what the topics can potentially pose some form of harm to the
participant says verbatim. Additionally, it can allow participant, researcher and others — and the level of
the researcher to focus on determining what probes and harm is often highly context-​dependent. For example,
follow-​up questions they want to pursue rather than a research project on religion in society might have very
focusing on taking notes. Sometimes, however, a par- different ethical considerations in a democratic versus
ticipant may not allow the researcher to record, or the authoritarian research context because of how openly or
recording may fail. If the interview is not recorded we not such topics can be discussed and debated15.
suggest that the researcher takes brief notes during the The researcher should consider how they will
interview, if feasible, and then thoroughly make notes obtain and record informed consent (for example, writ-
immediately after the interview and try to remember ten or oral), based on what makes the most sense for
the participant’s facial expressions, gestures and tone their research project and context16. Some institutions
of voice. Not having a recording of an interview need might specify how informed consent should be gained.
not limit the researcher from getting analytical value Regardless of how consent is obtained, the participant
from it. must be made aware of the form of consent, the inten-
As soon as possible after each interview, we recom- tions and procedures of the interview and potential
mend that the researcher write a one-​page interview forms of harm and benefit to the participant or com-
memo comprising three key sections. The first section munity before the interview commences. Moreover, the
should identify two to three important moments from participant must agree to be interviewed before the inter-
the interview. What constitutes important is up to the view commences. If, in addition to interviews, the study
researcher’s discretion9. The researcher should note contains an ethnographic component, it is worth read-
down what happened in these moments, including ing around this topic (see, for example, Murphy and
the participant’s facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice Dingwall17). Informed consent must also be gained for
and maybe even the sensory details of their surround- how the interview will be recorded before the interview
ings. This exercise is about capturing ethnographic detail commences. These practices are important to ensure the
from the interview. The second part of the interview participant is contributing on a voluntary basis. It is also
memo is the analytical section with notes on how the important to remind participants that they can withdraw

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their consent at any time during the interview and for a anonymity and confidentiality, data should be stored
specified period after the interview (to be decided with in a way that does not compromise this. For example,
the participant). The researcher should indicate that par- researchers should consider removing names and any
ticipants can ask for anything shared to be off the record other unnecessary personal details from interview tran-
and/or not disseminated. scripts, password-​protecting and encrypting files and
In terms of anonymity and confidentiality, it is stand- using pseudonyms to label and store all interview data.
ard practice when conducting interviews to agree not to It is also important to address where interview data are
use (or even collect) participants’ names and personal taken (for example, across borders in particular where
details that are not pertinent to the study. Anonymizing interview data might be of interest to local authorities)
can often be the safer option for minimizing harm to and how this might affect the storage of interview data.
participants as it is hard to foresee all the consequences of Examining how the researcher will represent partic-
de-​anonymizing, even if participants agree. Regardless ipants is a paramount ethical consideration both in the
of what a researcher decides, decisions around anonym- planning stages of the interview study and after it has
ity must be agreed with participants during the process been conducted. Dissemination strategies also need to
of gaining informed consent and respected following the consider questions of anonymity and representation. In
interview. small communities, even if participants are given pseu-
Although not all ethical challenges can be foreseen donyms, it might be obvious who is being described.
or planned for18, researchers should think carefully — Anonymizing not only the names of those participat-
before the interview — about power dynamics, partic- ing but also the research context is therefore a standard
ipant vulnerability, emotional state and interactional practice19. With particularly sensitive data or insights
dynamics between interviewer and participant, even about the participant, it is worth considering describing
when discussing low-​risk topics. Researchers may then participants in a more abstract way rather than as spe-
wish to plan for potential ethical issues, for example by cific individuals. These practices are important both for
preparing a list of relevant organizations to which par- protecting participants’ anonymity but can also affect the
ticipants can be signposted. A researcher interviewing ability of the researcher and others to return ethically to
a participant about debt, for instance, might prepare in the research context and similar contexts20.
advance a list of debt advice charities, organizations and
helplines that could provide further support and advice. Reflexivity and positionality. Reflexivity and posi-
It is important to remember that the role of an inter- tionality mean considering the researcher’s role and
viewer is as a researcher rather than as a social worker assumptions in knowledge production13. A key part of
or counsellor because researchers may not have relevant reflexivity is considering the power relations between
and requisite training in these other domains. the researcher and participant within the interview
setting, as well as how researchers might be perceived
Ethical considerations post-​interview. Researchers by participants. Further, researchers need to consider
should consider how interview data are stored, analysed how their own identities shape the kind of knowledge
and disseminated. If participants have been offered and assumptions they bring to the interview, including
how they approach and ask questions and their analysis
of interviews (Box 2). Reflexivity is a necessary part of
Box 1 | Mapping potential forms of harm developing ethical sensibility as a researcher by adapt-
• Social: researchers should avoid causing any relational detriment to anyone in the
ing and reflecting on how one engages with participants.
course of interviews, for example, by sharing information with other participants or Participants should not feel judged, for example, when
causing interview participants to be shunned or mistreated by their community as a they share information that researchers might disagree
result of participating. with or find objectionable. How researchers deal with
• Economic: researchers should avoid causing financial detriment to anyone, for uncomfortable moments or information shared by
example, by expecting them to pay for transport to be interviewed or to potentially participants is at their discretion, but they should con-
lose their job as a result of participating. sider how they will react both ahead of time and in the
• Physical: researchers should minimize the risk of anyone being exposed to violence as moment.
a result of the research both from other individuals or from authorities, including police. Researchers can develop their reflexivity by consid-
• Psychological: researchers should minimize the risk of causing anyone trauma (or ering how they themselves would feel being asked these
re-​traumatization) or psychological anguish as a result of the research; this includes interview questions or represented in this way, and
not only the participant but importantly the researcher themselves and anyone that then adapting their practice accordingly. There might
might read or analyse the transcripts, should they contain triggering information. be situations where these questions are not appropriate
• Political: researchers should minimize the risk of anyone being exposed to political in that they unduly centre the researchers’ experiences
detriment as a result of the research, such as retribution. and worldview. Nevertheless, these prompts can provide
• Professional/reputational: researchers should minimize the potential for reputational a useful starting point for those beginning their reflexive
damage to anyone connected to the research (this includes ensuring good research journey and developing an ethical sensibility.
practices so that any researchers involved are not harmed reputationally by being Reflexivity and ethical sensitivities require active
involved with the research project). reflection throughout the research process. For exam-
The task here is not to map exhaustively the potential forms of harm that might pertain ple, researchers should take care in interview memos and
to a particular research project (that is the researcher’s job and they should have the their notes to consider their assumptions, potential pre-
expertise most suited to mapping such potential harms relative to the specific project) conceptions, worldviews and own identities prior to and
but to demonstrate the breadth of potential forms of harm.
after interviews (Box 2). Checking in with assumptions

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Box 2 | Aspects to reflect on reflexively Preparing data

Data preparation is an important step in the data analy-
For reflexive engagement, and understanding the power relations being sis process. The researcher should first determine what
co-​constructed and (re)produced in interviews, it is necessary to reflect, at a minimum, comprises the corpus of material and in what form it will
on the following. it be analysed. The former refers to whether, for example,
• Ethnicity, race and nationality, such as how does privilege stemming from race or alongside the interviews themselves, analytic memos or
nationality operate between the researcher, the participant and research context observational notes that may have been taken during
(for example, a researcher from a majority community may be interviewing a member
data collection will also be directly analysed. The latter
of a minority community)
refers to decisions about how the verbal/audio interview
• Gender and sexuality, see above on ethnicity, race and nationality
data will be transformed into a written form, making it
• Social class, and in particular the issue of middle-​class bias among researchers when suitable for processes of data analysis. Typically, inter-
formulating research and interview questions
view audio recordings are transcribed to produce a writ-
• Economic security/precarity, see above on social class and thinking about the ten transcript. It is important to note that the process
researcher’s relative privilege and the source of biases that stem from this
of transcription is one of transformation. The verbal
• Educational experiences and privileges, see above interview data are transformed into a written transcript
• Disciplinary biases, such as how the researcher’s discipline/subfield usually approaches through a series of decisions that the researcher must
these questions, possibly normalizing certain assumptions that might be contested by make. The researcher should consider the effect of mis-
participants and in the research context
hearing what has been said or how choosing to punctuate
• Political and social values a sentence in a particular way will affect the final analysis.
• Lived experiences and other dimensions of ourselves that affect and construct our Box 3 shows an example transcript excerpt from an
identity as researchers interview with a teacher conducted by Teeger as part of
her study of history education in post-​apartheid South
can be a way of making sure that researchers are pay- Africa24 (Box 3) . Seeing both the questions and the
ing close attention to their own theoretical and analy­ responses means that the reader can contextualize what
tical biases and revising them in accordance with what the participant (Ms Mokoena) has said. Throughout the
they learn through the interviews. Researchers should transcript the researcher has used square brackets,
return to these notes (especially when analysing inter- for example to indicate a pause in speech, when Ms
view material), to try to unpack their own effects on the Mokoena says “it’s [pause] it’s a difficult topic”. The
research process as well as how participants positioned transcription choice made here means that we see that
and engaged with them. Ms Mokoena has taken time to pause, perhaps to search
for the right words, or perhaps because she has a slight
Results apprehension. Square brackets are also included as an
In this section, we discuss the next stage of an interview overt act of communication to the reader. When Ms
study, namely, analysing the interview data. Data analy- Mokoena says “ja”, the English translation (“yes”) of the
sis may begin while more data are being collected. Doing word in Afrikaans is placed in square brackets to ensure
so allows early findings to inform the focus of further that the reader can follow the meaning of the speech.
data collection, as part of an iterative process across the Decisions about what to include when transcribing
research project. Here, the researcher is ultimately work- will be hugely important for the direction and pos-
ing towards achieving coherence between the data col- sibilities of analysis. Researchers should decide what
lected and the findings produced to answer successfully they want to capture in the transcript, based on their
the research question(s) they have set. analytic focus. From a (post)positivist perspective25,
The two most common methods used to analyse the researcher may be interested in the manifest con-
interview material across the social sciences are thematic tent of the interview (such as what is said, not how it
analysis21 and discourse analysis22. Thematic analysis is is said). In that case, they may choose to transcribe
Thematic analysis a particularly useful and accessible method for those intelligent verbatim. From a constructivist perspective25,
A method for developing,
starting out in analysis of qualitative data and interview researchers may choose to record more aspects of speech
analysing and interpreting
patterns across data by coding material as a method of coding data to develop and inter- (including, for example, pauses, repetitions, false starts,
in order to develop themes. pret themes in the data21. Discourse analysis is more spe- talking over one another) so that these features can be
cialized and focuses on the role of discourse in society analysed. Those working from this perspective argue
Discourse analysis by paying close attention to the explicit, implicit and that to recognize the interactional nature of the inter-
An approach that interrogates
the explicit, implicit and
taken-​for-​granted dimensions of language and power22,23. view setting adequately and to avoid misinterpretations,
taken-​for-​granted dimensions Although thematic and discourse analysis are often dis- features of interaction (pauses, overlaps between speak-
of language as well as the cussed as separate techniques, in practice researchers ers and so on) should be preserved in transcription and
contexts in which it is might flexibly combine these approaches depending therefore in the analysis10. Readers interested in learning
articulated to unpack its
on the object of analysis. For example, those intending more should consult Potter and Hepburn’s summary
purposes and effects.
to use discourse analysis might first conduct thematic of how to present interaction through transcription of
Intelligent verbatim analysis as a way to organize and systematize the data. interview data26.
A form of transcription that The object and intention of analysis might differ (for The process of analysing semi-​structured inter-
simplifies what has been said example, developing themes or interrogating language), views might be thought of as a generative rather than
by removing certain verbal and
non-​verbal details that add no
but the questions facing the researcher (such as whether an extractive enterprise. Findings do not already exist
further meaning, such as ‘ums to take an inductive or deductive approach to analysis) within the interview data to be discovered. Rather,
and ahs’ and false starts. are similar. researchers create something new when analysing the

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Deductive approach
data by applying their analytic lens or approach to the of transforming data to produce analytic insights. The
The analytic framework, transcripts. At a high level, there are options as to what basic practice of coding involves highlighting a seg-
theoretical approach and often researchers might want to glean from their interview ment of text (this may be a sentence, a clause or a longer
hypotheses, are developed data. They might be interested in themes, whereby excerpt) and assigning a label to it. The aim of the label is
prior to examining the
data and then applied to
they identify patterns of meaning across the dataset21. to communicate some sort of summary of what is in the
the dataset. Alternatively, they may focus on discourse(s), looking to highlighted piece of text. Coding is an iterative process,
identify how language is used to construct meanings and whereby researchers read and reread their transcripts,
Inductive approach therefore how language reinforces or produces aspects of applying and refining their codes, until they have a
The analytic framework and
the social world27. Alternatively, they might look at the coding frame (a set of codes) that is applied coherently
theoretical approach is
developed from analysing
data to understand narrative or biographical elements28. across the dataset and that captures and communicates
the data. A further overarching decision to make is the extent the key features of what is contained in the data as it
to which researchers bring predetermined framings or relates to the researchers’ analytic focus.
Abductive approach understandings to bear on their data, or instead begin What one codes for is entirely contingent on the focus
An approach that combines
deductive and inductive
from the data themselves to generate an analysis. One way of the research project and the choices the researcher
components to work of articulating this is the extent to which researchers take makes about the approach to analysis. At first, one might
recursively by going back a deductive approach or an inductive approach to analysis. apply descriptive codes, summarizing what is contained
and forth between data and One example of a truly inductive approach is grounded in the interviews. It is rarely desirable to stop at this
existing theoretical frameworks
theory, whereby the aim of the analysis is to build point, however, because coding is a tool to move from
(also described as an iterative
approach). This approach is
new theory, beginning with one’s data6,29. In practice, describing the data to interpreting the data. Suppose the
increasingly recognized not researchers using thematic and discourse analysis often researcher is pursuing some version of thematic analysis.
only as a more realistic but combine deductive and inductive logics and describe In that case, it might be that the objects of coding are
also more desirable third their process instead as iterative (referred to also as an aspects of reported action, emotions, opinions, norms,
alternative to the more
abductive approach)30,31. For example, researchers may relationships, routines, agreement/disagreement and
traditional inductive versus
deductive binary choice. decide that they will apply a given theoretical framing, or change over time. A discourse analysis might instead
begin with an initial analytic framework, but then refine code for different types of speech acts, tropes, linguis-
or develop these once they begin the process of analysis. tic or rhetorical devices. Multiple types of code might
be generated within the same research project. What is
From data to codes important is that researchers are aware of the choices
Coding data is a key building block shared across many they are making in terms of what they are coding for.
approaches to data analysis. Coding is a way of organ- Moreover, through the process of refinement, the aim
izing and describing data, but is also ultimately a way is to produce a set of discrete codes — in which codes
are conceptually distinct, as opposed to overlapping. By
Box 3 | Excerpt of interview transcript (from Teeger24) using the same codes across the dataset, the researcher
can capture commonalities across the interviews. This
Interviewer: Maybe you could just start by talking about what it’s like to teach apartheid
process of refinement involves relabelling codes and
history.
reorganizing how and where they are applied in the
Ms Mokoena:It’s a bit challenging. You’ve got to accommodate all the kids in the class. dataset.
You’ve got to be sensitive to all the racial differences. You want to emphasize the
wrongs that were done in the past but you also want to, you know, not to make kids feel From coding to analysis and writing
like it’s their fault. So you want to use the wrongs of the past to try and unite the kids …
Data analysis is also an iterative process in which
Interviewer:So what kind of things do you do? researchers move closer to and further away from the
Ms Mokoena:Well I normally highlight the fact that people that were struggling were data. As they move away from the data, they synthesize
not just the blacks, it was all the races. And I give examples of the people … from all their findings, thus honing and articulating their analytic
walks of life, all races, and highlight how they suffered as well as a result of apartheid, insights. As they move closer to the data, they ground
particularly the whites… . What I noticed, particularly my first year of teaching these insights in what is contained in the interviews. The
apartheid, I noticed that the black kids made the others feel responsible for what link should not be broken between the data themselves
happened…. I had a lot of fights…. A lot of kids started hating each other because, you and higher-​order conceptual insights or claims being
know, the others are white and the others were black. And they started saying, “My
made. Researchers must be able to show evidence for
mother is a domestic worker because she was never allowed an opportunity to get good
education.”…
their claims in the data. Figure 2 summarizes this itera-
tive process and suggests the sorts of activities involved
Interviewer:I didn’t see any of that now when I was observing. at each stage more concretely.
Ms Mokoena:… Like I was saying I think that because of the re-​emphasis of the fact At the stage of synthesizing, there are some common
that, look, everybody did suffer one way or the other, they sort of got to see that it was quandaries. When dealing with a dataset consisting of
everybody’s struggle… . They should now get to understand that that’s why we’re called multiple interviews, there will be salient and minority
a Rainbow Nation. Not everybody agreed with apartheid and not everybody suffered. statements across different participants, or consensus or
Even all the blacks, not all blacks got to feel what the others felt. So ja [yes], it’s [pause] it’s dissent on topics of interest to the researcher. A strength
a difficult topic, ja. But I think if you get the kids to understand why we’re teaching
of qualitative interviews is that we can build in these
apartheid in the first place and you show the involvement of all races in all the different
sides, then I think you have managed to teach it properly. So I think because of my nuances and variations across our data as opposed to
inexperience then — that was my first year of teaching history — so I think I — maybe I aggregating them away. When exploring and reporting
over-​emphasized the suffering of the blacks versus the whites [emphasis added]. data, researchers should be asking how different findings
are patterned and which interviews contain which codes,
Reprinted with permission from ref.24, Sage Publications.
themes or tropes. Researchers should think about how

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1. Recalling research 2. Immersing 3. Coding 4. Interpreting 5. Synthesizing and 6. Writing

questions memoing

• What might you • Re-read the • Develop codes/labels • How do the codes let • How will you draw
code for? interview several for data you unpack the data? the data together?
times
• What might you • Think about how you • What do the codes • On what is it
be looking for in are organizing codes, mean? cohering?
the data? e.g. in hierarchies, in
groups or a flat • What supporting • What differences
structure evidence can you use appear?
for the codes?
• Make notes of
• How will you unpack thoughts along the
this supporting way (memos)
evidence?

Fig. 2 | The iterative nature of analysing interview data. As well as going through steps 1 to 6 in order, the researcher will
also go backwards and forwards between stages. Some stages will themselves be a forwards and backwards processing of
coding and refining when working across different interview transcripts.

these variations fit within the longer flow of individual might be shaping our analytical choices and whether these
interviews and what these variations tell them about the are choices that we do indeed want to make.
nature of their substantive research interests.
A further consideration is how to approach analysis Applications
within and across interview data. Researchers may look This section reviews how and why in-​depth interviews
at one individual code, to examine the forms it takes have been used by researchers studying gender, educa-
across different participants and what they might be able tion and inequality, nationalism and ethnicity and the
to summarize about this code in the round. Alternatively, welfare state. Although interviews can be employed as
they might look at how a code or set of codes pattern a method of data collection in just about any social sci-
across the account of one participant, to understand the ence topic, the applications below speak directly to the
code(s) in a more contextualized way. Further analysis authors’ expertise and cutting-​edge areas of research.
might be done according to different sampling character-
istics, where researchers group together interviews based Gender
on certain demographic characteristics and explore these When it comes to the broad study of gender, in-​depth
together. interviews have been invaluable in shaping our under-
When it comes to writing up and presenting inter- standing of how gender functions in everyday life. In a
view data, key considerations tend to rest on what is study of the US hedge fund industry (an industry dom-
often termed transparency. When presenting the find- inated by white men), Tobias Neely was interested in
ings of an interview-​based study, the reader should be understanding the factors that enable white men to pros-
able to understand and trace what the stated findings are per in the industry33. The study comprised interviews
based upon. This process typically involves describing with 45 hedge fund workers and oversampled women of
the analytic process, how key decisions were made and all races and men of colour to capture a range of experi­
presenting direct excerpts from the data. It is important ences and beliefs. Tobias Neely found that practices of
to account for how the interview was set up and to con- hiring, grooming and seeding are key to maintaining
sider the active part that the researcher has played in white men’s dominance in the industry. In terms of hir-
generating the data32. Quotes from interviews should not ing, the interviews clarified that white men in charge
be thought of as merely embellishing or adding inter- typically preferred to hire people like themselves, usu-
est to a final research output. Rather, quotes serve the ally from their extended networks. When women were
important function of connecting the reader directly to hired, they were usually hired to less lucrative positions.
the underlying data. Quotes, therefore, should be cho- In terms of grooming, Tobias Neely identifies how older
sen because they provide the reader with the most apt and more senior men in the industry who have power
insight into what is being discussed. It is good practice to and status will select one or several younger men as their
report not just on what participants said, but also on the protégés, to include in their own elite networks. Finally,
questions that were asked to elicit the responses. in terms of her concept of seeding, Tobias Neely describes
Researchers have increasingly used specialist qualita- how older men who are hedge fund managers provide
tive data analysis software to organize and analyse their the seed money (often in the hundreds of millions of
interview data, such as NVivo or ATLAS.ti. It is important dollars) for a hedge fund to men, often their own sons
to remember that such software is a tool for, rather than an (but not their daughters). These interviews provided an
approach or technique of, analysis. That said, software also in-​depth look into gendered and racialized mechanisms
creates a wide range of possibilities in terms of what can be that allow white men to flourish in this industry.
done with the data. As researchers, we should reflect on Research by Rao draws on dozens of interviews with
how the range of possibilities of a given software package men and women who had lost their jobs, some of the

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participants’ spouses and follow-​up interviews with identification41,42. Categories often pitch identification as
about half the sample approximately 6 months after the a mutually exclusive choice; but identification might be
initial interview34. Rao used interviews to understand more complex than such categories allow. For example,
the gendered experience and understanding of unem- some might hybridize these categories or see themselves
ployment. Through these interviews, she found that the as moving between and across categories43. Hearing
very process of losing their jobs meant different things how people talk about themselves and their relation to
for men and women. Women often saw job loss as being nations, states and ethnicities, therefore, contributes sub-
a personal indictment of their professional capabilities. stantially to the study of nationalism and national and
The women interviewed often referenced how years of ethnic forms of identification.
devaluation in the workplace coloured their interpreta- One particular approach to studying these topics,
tion of their job loss. Men, by contrast, were also sad- whether via everyday nationalism or alternatives, is that
dened by their job loss, but they saw it as part and parcel of using interviews to capture both articulations and nar-
of a weak economy rather than a personal failing. How ratives of identification, relations to nationalism and the
these varied interpretations occurred was tied to men’s boundaries people construct. For example, interviews can
and women’s very different experiences in the work- be used to gather self–other narratives by studying how
place. Further, through her analysis of these interviews, individuals construct I–we–them boundaries44, includ-
Rao also showed how these gendered interpretations ing how participants talk about themselves, who partic-
had implications for the kinds of jobs men and women ipants include in their various ‘we’ groupings and which
sought to pursue after job loss. Whereas men remained and how participants create ‘them’ groupings of others,
tied to participating in full-​time paid work, job loss inserting boundaries between ‘I/we’ and ‘them’. Overall,
appeared to be a catalyst pushing some of the women to interviews hold great potential for listening to participants
re-​evaluate their ties to the labour force. and understanding the nuances of identification and the
In a study of workers in the tech industry, Hart construction of boundaries from their point of view.
used interviews to explain how individuals respond to
unwanted and ambiguously sexual interactions35. Here, Education and inequality
the researcher used interviews to allow participants to Scholars of social stratification have long noted that the
describe how these interactions made them feel and act school system often reproduces existing social inequal-
and the logics of how they interpreted, classified and ities. Carter explains that all schools have both mate-
made sense of them35. Through her analysis of these rial and sociocultural resources45. When children from
interviews, Hart showed that participants engaged in different backgrounds attend schools with different
a process she termed “trajectory guarding”, whereby material resources, their educational and occupational
they sought to monitor unwanted and ambiguously outcomes are likely to vary. Such material resources are
sexual interactions to avoid them from escalating. Yet, relatively easy to measure. They are operationalized as
as Hart’s analysis proficiently demonstrates, these very teacher-​to-​student ratios, access to computers and text-
strategies — which protect these workers sexually — also books and the physical infrastructure of classrooms and
undermined their workplace advancement. playgrounds.
Drawing on interviews, these studies have helped Drawing on Bourdieusian theory46, Carter conceptual­
us to understand better how gendered mechanisms, izes the sociocultural context as the norms, values and
gendered interpretations and gendered interactions dispositions privileged within a social space45. Scholars
foster gender inequality when it comes to paid work. have drawn on interviews with students and teachers
Methodologically, these studies illuminate the power of (as well as ethnographic observations) to show how
interviews to reveal important aspects of social life. schools confer advantages on students from middle-​class
families, for example, by rewarding their help-​seeking
Nationalism and ethnicity behaviours47. Focusing on race, researchers have revealed
Traditionally, nationalism has been studied from a how schools can remain socioculturally white even as
top-​down perspective, through the lens of the state or they enrol a racially diverse student population. In such
using historical methods; in other words, in-​depth inter- contexts, for example, teachers often misrecognize the
views have not been a common way of collecting data aesthetic choices made by students of colour, wrongly
to study nationalism. The methodological turn towards inferring that these students’ tastes in clothing and music
everyday nationalism has encouraged more scholars reflect negative orientations to schooling48–50. These
to go to the field and use interviews (and ethnography) to assessments can result in disparate forms of discipline and
understand nationalism from the bottom up: how people may ultimately shape educators’ assessments of students’
talk about, give meaning, understand, navigate and con- academic potential51.
test their relation to nation, national identification and Further, teachers and administrators tend to view
nationalism36–39. This turn has also addressed the gap left the appropriate relationship between home and school
by those studying national and ethnic identification via in ways that resonate with white middle-​class parents52.
quantitative methods, such as surveys. These parents are then able to advocate effectively for
Bourdieusian theory Surveys can enumerate how individuals ascribe to their children in ways that non-​white parents are not53.
A theoretical apparatus categorical forms of identification40. However, inter- In-​depth interviews are particularly good at tapping
that emphasizes the role of
cultural processes and capital
views can question the usefulness of such categories and into these understandings, revealing the mechanisms
in (intergenerational) social ask whether these categories are reflected, or resisted, that confer privilege on certain groups of students and
reproduction. by participants in terms of the meanings they give to thereby reproduce inequality.

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In addition, interviews can shed light on the une- highlight not only the relevance of interviews, but also
qual experiences that young people have within educa- emphasize the key added value of interviews, which
tional institutions, as the views of dominant groups are might be missed by other methods (surveys, in particu-
affirmed while those from disadvantaged backgrounds lar). Interviews can expose and question what is taken
are delegitimized. For example, Teeger’s interviews with for granted and directly engage with communities and
South African high schoolers showed how — because participants that might otherwise be ignored, obscured
racially charged incidents are often framed as jokes in or marginalized.
the broader school culture — Black students often feel
compelled to ignore and keep silent about the racism Reproducibility and data deposition
they experience54. Interviews revealed that Black stu- There is a robust, ongoing debate about reproducibility
dents who objected to these supposed jokes were coded in qualitative research, including interview studies. In
by other students as serious or angry. In trying to avoid some research paradigms, reproducibility can be a way
such labels, these students found themselves unable to of interrogating the rigour and robustness of research
challenge the racism they experienced. Interviews give claims, by seeing whether these hold up when the
us insight into these dynamics and help us see how research process is repeated. Some scholars have sug-
young people understand and interpret the messages gested that although reproducibility may be challenging,
transmitted in schools — including those that speak to researchers can facilitate it by naming the place where
issues of inequality in their local school contexts as well the research was conducted, naming participants, shar-
as in society more broadly24,55. ing interview and fieldwork transcripts (anonymized
and de-​identified in cases where researchers are not
The welfare state naming people or places) and employing fact-​checkers
In-​depth interviews have also proved to be an important for accuracy11,59,60.
method for studying various aspects of the welfare state. In addition to the ethical concerns of whether
By welfare state, we mean the social institutions relating de-​anonymization is ever feasible or desirable, it is also
to the economic and social wellbeing of a state’s citizens. important to address whether the replicability of interview
Notably, using interviews has been useful to look at how studies is meaningful. For example, the flexibility of inter-
policy design features are experienced and play out on views allows for the unexpected and the unforeseen to be
the ground. Interviews have often been paired with incorporated into the scope of the research61. However,
large-​scale surveys to produce mixed-​methods study this flexibility means that we cannot expect reproducibil-
designs, therefore achieving both breadth and depth of ity in the conventional sense, given that different research-
insights. ers will elicit different types of data from participants.
In-​depth interviews provide the opportunity to look Sharing interview transcripts with other researchers, for
behind policy assumptions or how policies are designed instance, downplays the contextual nature of an interview.
from the top down, to examine how these play out in the Drawing on Bauer and Gaskell, we propose several
lives of those affected by the policies and whose experi- measures to enhance rigour in qualitative research:
ences might otherwise be obscured or ignored. For exam- transparency, grounding interpretations and aiming for
ple, the Welfare Conditionality project used interviews to theoretical transferability and significance62.
critique the assumptions that conditionality (such as, the Researchers should be transparent when describ-
withdrawal of social security benefits if recipients did ing their methodological choices. Transparency means
not perform or meet certain criteria) improved employ- documenting who was interviewed, where and when
ment outcomes and instead showed that conditionality (without requiring de-​anonymization, for example, by
was harmful to mental health, living standards and had documenting their characteristics), as well as the ques-
many other negative consequences56. Meanwhile, com- tions they were asked. It means carefully considering
bining datasets from two small-​scale interview studies who was left out of the interviews and what that could
with recipients allowed Summers and Young to critique mean for the researcher’s findings. It also means care-
assumptions around the simplicity that underpinned the fully considering who the researcher is and how their
design of Universal Credit in 2020, for example, show- identity shaped the research process (integrating and
ing that the apparently simple monthly payment design articulating reflexivity into whatever is written up).
instead burdened recipients with additional money Second, researchers should ground their interpreta-
management decisions and responsibilities57. tions in the data. Grounding means presenting the evi-
Similarly, the Welfare at a (Social) Distance project dence upon which the interpretation relies. Quotes and
used a mixed-​methods approach in a large-​scale study extracts should be extensive enough to allow the reader
that combined national surveys with case studies and to evaluate whether the researcher’s interpretations are
in-​depth interviews to investigate the experience of claim- grounded in the data. At each step, researchers should
ing social security benefits during the COVID-19 pan- carefully compare their own explanations and interpre-
demic. The interviews allowed researchers to understand tations with alternative explanations. Doing so systemat-
in detail any issues experienced by recipients of benefits, ically and frequently allows researchers to become more
such as delays in the process of claiming, managing on a confident in their claims. Here, researchers should jus-
very tight budget and navigating stigma and claiming58. tify the link between data and analysis by using quotes to
These applications demonstrate the multi-​faceted justify and demonstrate the analytical point, while mak-
topics and questions for which interviews can be a rel- ing sure the analytical point offers an interpretation of
evant method for data collection. These applications quotes (Box 4).

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An important step in considering alternative expla- lies in their ability to generate various sorts of depth of
nations is to seek out disconfirming evidence4,63. This insight. The experiences or views of participants that can
involves looking for instances where participants deviate be accessed by conducting interviews help us to under-
from what the majority are saying and thus bring into stand participants’ subjective realities. The challenge,
question the theory (or explanation) that the researcher therefore, is for researchers to be clear about why depth
is developing. Careful analysis of such examples can of insight is the focus and what we should aim to glean
often demonstrate the salience and meaning of what from these types of insight.
appears to be the norm (see Table 2 for examples)54.
Considering alternative explanations and paying atten- Naturalistic or artificial interviews
tion to disconfirming evidence allows the researcher to Interviews make use of a form of interaction with which
refine their own theories in respect of the data. people are familiar64. By replicating a naturalistic form
Finally, researchers should aim for theoretical trans- of interaction as a tool to gather social science data,
ferability and significance in their discussions of find- researchers can capitalize on people’s familiarity and
ings. One way to think about this is to imagine someone expectations of what happens in a conversation. This
who is not interested in the empirical study. Articulating familiarity can also be a challenge, as people come to
theoretical transferability and significance usually takes the interview with preconceived ideas about what this
the form of broadening out from the specific findings conversation might be for or about. People may draw on
to consider explicitly how the research has refined or experiences of other similar conversations when taking
altered prior theoretical approaches. This process also part in a research interview (for example, job interviews,
means considering under what other conditions, aside therapy sessions, confessional conversations, chats with
from those of the study, the researcher thinks their friends). Researchers should be aware of such potential
theoretical revision would be supported by and why. overlaps and think through their implications both in
Importantly, it also includes thinking about the limita- how the aims and purposes of the research interview are
tions of one’s own approach and where the theoretical communicated to participants and in how interview data
implications of the study might not hold. are interpreted.
Further, some argue that a limitation of interviews
Limitations and optimizations is that they are an artificial form of data collection. By
When deciding which research method to use, the key taking people out of their daily lives and asking them to
question is whether the method provides a good fit for stand back and pass comment, we are creating a distance
the research questions posed. In other words, research- that makes it difficult to use such data to say something
ers should consider whether interviews will allow them meaningful about people’s actions, experiences and
to successfully access the social phenomena necessary to views. Other approaches, such as ethnography, might
answer their question(s) and whether the interviews be more suitable for tapping into what people actually
will do so more effectively than other methods. Table 3 do, as opposed to what they say they do65.
summarizes the major strengths and limitations of inter-
views. However, the accompanying text below is organ- Dynamism and replicability
ized around some key issues, where relative strengths and Interviews following a semi-​structured format offer flex-
weaknesses are presented alongside each other, the aim ibility both to the researcher and the participant. As the
being that readers should think about how these can be conversation develops, the interlocutors can explore
balanced and optimized in relation to their own research. the topics raised in much more detail, if desired, or pass
over ones that are not relevant. This flexibility allows for
Breadth versus depth of insight the unexpected and the unforeseen to be incorporated
Achieving an overall breadth of insight, in a statistically into the scope of the research.
representative sense, is not something that is possible However, this flexibility has a related challenge of
or indeed desirable when conducting in-​depth inter- replicability. Interviews cannot be reproduced because
views. Instead, the strength of conducting interviews they are contingent upon the interaction between the
researcher and the participant in that given moment
of interaction. In some research paradigms, replica-
Box 4 | An example of grounding interpretations in data (from Rao34) bility can be a way of interrogating the robustness of
In an article explaining how unemployed men frame their job loss as a pervasive research claims, by seeing whether they hold when they
experience, Rao writes the following: “Unemployed men in this study understood are repeated. This is not a useful framework to bring to
unemployment to be an expected aspect of paid work in the contemporary United in-​depth interviews and instead quality criteria (such as
States. Robert, a white unemployed communications professional, compared the transparency) tend to be employed as criteria of rigour.
economic landscape after the Great Recession with the tragic events of September
11, 2001: Accessing the private and personal
Part of your post-9/11 world was knowing people that died as a result of terrorism. Interviews have been recognized for their strength in
The same thing is true with the [Great] Recession, right? … After the Recession you accessing private, personal issues, which participants
know somebody who was unemployed … People that really should be working. may feel more comfortable talking about in a one-​to-​one
The pervasiveness of unemployment rendered it normal, as Robert indicates.” conversation. Furthermore, interviews are likely to take
Here, the link between the quote presented and the analytical point Rao is making is a more personable form with their extended questions
clear: the analytical point is grounded in a quote and an interpretation of the quote and answers, perhaps making a participant feel more at
is offered34.
ease when discussing sensitive topics in such a context.

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Table 2 | Examples of analysis and interpretation of disconfirming evidence in interview data

Study Norm Disconfirming Further analysis Interpretation
evidence
Teeger54 Students from all racial Several Black Interviews revealed costs to The disconfirming evidence allowed Teeger
backgrounds said there is no racism students reported calling out racism at school to identify a norm in the school: that students
at school racism at school (for example, being framed do not talk about racism, rather than that
as too serious and unable racism does not exist. Indeed, the interviews
to take a joke) highlight the subtle racism involved in
denying its existence
Rao81 Unemployed men but not women A woman who also The woman’s focus Although this is an example of a participant
were expected to be ‘ideal behaved like an on job-​searching was who deviated from the trend that most
job-​seekers’ ideal job-​seeker distressing to her husband, women followed, the husband’s response
who expected her to emphasizes that there exists a specific
use her unemployment understanding of how unemployed women
to immerse herself ought to behave
in housework
Rivera82 Employers in elite industries screen Several employers Those who did not select The examples that deviated from the norm
CVs based on the prestige of did not use by educational prestige highlighted a shared emphasis on homophily
educational institutions attended educational tended not to have gone as a mechanism of evaluation, whereby
by candidates, privileging ‘super prestige as a signal to ‘super elite’ institutions employers in elite industries tend to hire
elite’ institutions (the top four in themselves people who have had similar trajectories
the USA) over other selective ones to themselves

There is a similar, but separate, argument made about different researchers. Scholars with different theoretical
accessing what are sometimes referred to as vulnerable or case-​based knowledge (or contacts) can work together
groups, who may be difficult to make contact with using to build research that is comparative and/or more than
other research methods. the sum of its parts. But such endeavours also carry with
There is an associated challenge of anonymity. There them practical and political challenges in terms of how
can be types of in-​depth interview that make it particularly resources might actually be pooled, shared or accounted
challenging to protect the identities of participants, such for. When undertaking such projects, as Morse notes, it
as interviewing within a small community, or multiple is worth thinking about the nature of the collaboration
members of the same household. The challenge to ensure and being explicit about such a choice, its advantages
anonymity in such contexts is even more important and and its disadvantages66.
difficult when the topic of research is of a sensitive nature A further tension, but also a motivation for collabo-
or participants are vulnerable. ration, stems from integrating interviews as a method in
a mixed-​methods project, whether with other qualitative
Outlook researchers (to combine with, for example, focus groups,
Increasingly, researchers are collaborating in large-​scale document analysis or ethnography) or with quanti-
interview-​b ased studies and integrating interviews tative researchers (to combine with, for example, sur-
into broader mixed-​methods designs. At the same veys, social media analysis or big data analysis). Cheek
time, interviews can be seen as an old-​fashioned (and and Morse both note the pitfalls of collaboration with
perhaps outdated) mode of data collection. We review quantitative researchers: that quality of research may
these debates and discussions and point to innovations be sacrificed, qualitative interpretations watered down
in interview-​based studies. These include the shift from or not taken seriously, or tensions experienced over the
face-​to-​face interviews to the use of online platforms, pace and different assumptions that come with different
as well as integrating and adapting interviews towards methods and approaches of research66,68.
more inclusive methodologies. At the same time, there can be real benefits of such
mixed-​methods collaboration, such as reaching differ-
Collaborating and mixing ent and more diverse audiences or testing assumptions
Qualitative researchers have long worked alone 66. and theories between research components in the same
Increasingly, however, researchers are collaborating with project (for example, testing insights from prior quan-
others for reasons such as efficiency, institutional incen- titative research via interviews, or vice versa), as long as
tives (for example, funding for collaborative research) the skillsets of collaborators are seen as equally beneficial
and a desire to pool expertise (for example, studying to the project. Cheek provides a set of questions that,
similar phenomena in different contexts67 or via differ- as a starting point, can be useful for guiding collabora-
ent methods). Collaboration can occur across disciplines tion, whether mixed methods or otherwise. First, Cheek
and methods, cases and contexts and between industry/ advises asking all collaborators about their assumptions
business, practitioners and researchers. In many settings and understandings concerning collaboration. Second,
and contexts, collaboration has become an imperative68. Cheek recommends discussing what each perspective
Cheek notes how collaboration provides both highlights and focuses on (and conversely ignores or
advantages and disadvantages68. For example, collab­ sidelines)68.
oration can be advantageous, saving time and building A different way to engage with the idea of collabora-
on the divergent knowledge, skills and resources of tion and mixed methods research is by fostering greater

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collaboration between researchers in the Global South with more control, enabling them to turn on and off the
and Global North, thus reversing trends of researchers microphone and video as they choose, for example, to
from the Global North extracting knowledge from the provide more time to reflect and disconnect if they so
Global South69. Such forms of collaboration also align wish72.
with interview innovations, discussed below, that seek That said, online interviews can also introduce new
to transform traditional interview approaches into more biases based on access to technology72. For example, in
participatory and inclusive (as part of participatory the Global South, there are often urban/rural and gen-
methodologies). der gaps between who has access to mobile phones and
who does not, meaning that some population groups
Digital innovations and challenges might be overlooked unless researchers sample mind-
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has centred the fully71. There are also important ethical considerations
question of technology within interview-​based field- when deciding between online and face-​to-​face inter-
work. Although conducting synchronous oral inter- views. Online interviews might seem to imply lower
views online — for example, via Zoom, Skype or other ethical risks than face-​to-​face interviews (for example,
such platforms — has been a method used by a small they lower the chances of identification of participants
constituency of researchers for many years, it became or researchers), but they also offer more barriers to
(and remains) a necessity for many researchers want- building trust between researchers and participants72.
ing to continue or start interview-​based projects while Interacting only online with participants might not pro-
COVID-19 prevents face-​to-​face data collection. vide the information needed to assess risk, for example,
In the past, online interviews were often framed as participants’ access to a private space to speak71. Just
an inferior form of data collection for not providing the because online interviews might be more likely to be
kinds of (often necessary) insights and forms of immer- conducted in private spaces does not mean that private
sion face-​to-​face interviews allow70,71. Online interviews spaces are safe, for example, for victims of domestic vio-
do tend to be more decontextualized than interviews lence. Finally, online interviews prompt further ques-
conducted face-​to-​face72. For example, it is harder to rec- tions about decolonizing research and engaging with
ognize, engage with and respond to non-​verbal cues71. participants if research is conducted from afar72, such as
At the same time, they broaden participation to those how to include participants meaningfully and challenge
who might not have been able to access or travel to sites dominant assumptions while doing so remotely.
where interviews would have been conducted otherwise, A further digital innovation, modulating how
for example people with disabilities. Online interviews researchers conduct interviews and the kinds of data
also offer more flexibility in terms of scheduling and time collected and analysed, stems from the use and inte-
requirements. For example, they provide more flexibility gration of (new) technology, such as WhatsApp text or
around precarious employment or caring responsibili- voice notes to conduct synchronous or asynchronous
ties without having to travel and be away from home. In oral or written interviews73. Such methods can provide
addition, online interviews might also reduce discom- more privacy, comfort and control to participants and
fort between researchers and participants, compared make recruitment easier, allowing participants to share
with face-​to-​face interviews, enabling more discussion what they want when they want to, using technology that
of sensitive material71. They can also provide participants already forms a part of their daily lives, especially for
young people74,75. Such technology is also emerging in
other qualitative methods, such as focus groups, with
Table 3 | Summary of the strengths and limitations of interviews similar arguments around greater inclusivity versus tra-
Strengths of interviews Limitations and challenges ditional offline modes. Here, the digital challenge might
of interviews be higher for researchers than for participants if they are
Depth: can obtain rich and detailed data Breadth: samples are rarely less used to such technology75. And while there might be
about individual experiences/perspectives representative and often small concerns about the richness, depth and quality of writ-
that provide a window into understanding ten messages as a form of interview data, Gibson reports
reality that the reams of transcripts that resulted from a study
Naturalistic: familiar social situation that Artificial: interviews are not a using written messaging were dense with meaning to be
reflects everyday conversations transparent window; people may analysed75.
describe things in ways they would not Like with online and face-​to-​face interviews, it is
outside the research interview context
important also to consider the ethical questions and
Dynamism: researchers can probe, Replicability: difficult to replicate challenges of using such technology, from gaining con-
be dynamic and change direction because the results are dependent
on contingent interactions sent to ensuring participant safety and attending to their
distress, without cues, like crying, that might be more
Access: interviews can tap into private or Anonymity: can be difficult to obvious in a face-​to-​face setting75,76. Attention to the
intimate aspects of people’s lives that are maintain (for participants and
difficult to observe but that they might be researchers), especially in small platform used for such interviews is also important and
willing to talk about; interviews are often communities researchers should be attuned to the local and national
successful in gaining access to marginalized context. For example, in China, many platforms are nei-
groups ther legal nor available76. There, more popular platforms
Flexible: scheduled into people’s lives rather Time-​consuming: for researchers — like WeChat — can be highly monitored by the gov-
than watching the action unfold and the (transcribing) and participants ernment, posing potential risks to participants depen­
researcher needing to be present ding on the topic of the interview. Ultimately, researchers

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should consider trade-​offs between online and offline of data collection, but as crucial voices in research design
interview modalities, being attentive to the social context and data analysis77. Participatory methods also seek to
and power dynamics involved. facilitate local change and to produce research materi-
als, whether for academic or non-​academic audiences,
The next 5–10 years including films and documentaries, in collaboration with
Continuing to integrate (ethically) this technology participants.
will be among the major persisting developments in In responding to the challenges of COVID-19, cap-
interview-​based research, whether to offer more flexi- turing the fraught situation wrought by the pandemic
bility to researchers or participants, or to diversify who and the momentum to integrate technology, participa-
can participate and on what terms. tory researchers have sought to continue data collection
Pushing the idea of inclusion even further is the from afar. For example, Marzi has adapted an existing
potential for integrating interview-​based studies within project to co-​produce participatory videos, via partic-
participatory methods, which are also innovating via inte- ipants’ smartphones in Medellin, Colombia, alongside
grating technology. There is no hard and fast line between regular check-​in conversations/meetings/interviews
researchers using in-​depth interviews and participatory with participants79. Integrating participatory methods
methods; many who employ participatory methods will into interview studies offers a route by which research-
use interviews at the beginning, middle or end phases of ers can respond to the challenge of diversifying knowl-
a research project to capture insights, perspectives and edge, challenging assumptions and power hierarchies
reflections from participants77,78. Participatory methods and creating more inclusive and collaborative partner-
emphasize the need to resist existing power and knowl- ships between participants and researchers in the Global
edge structures. They broaden who has the right and North and South.
ability to contribute to academic knowledge by includ-
ing and incorporating participants not only as subjects Published online xx xx xxxx

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