Interviewees with an agenda – Learning from a 'failed' interview
(2013) In Qualitative Research 13(6). p.717-734- Abstract
- Social constructionists consider interviews as mutually co-constructing meaning. But what if the interlocutors do not seem to agree on what they construct? What if the interviewee has a particularly strong agenda, far from the intended research topic? Are these ‘failed’ interviews? We address this issue using a ‘deviant’ interview in a study of ‘being a neighbour’. First, we add to the discussion of interviewees’ category representativeness by acknowledging a situation when the interviewee insists on representing a category not intended by the researcher. Second, we address the notion of asymmetries of power, where it is often assumed that the interviewer has the upper hand. Through this case, we argue that the opposite may well be true.... (More)
- Social constructionists consider interviews as mutually co-constructing meaning. But what if the interlocutors do not seem to agree on what they construct? What if the interviewee has a particularly strong agenda, far from the intended research topic? Are these ‘failed’ interviews? We address this issue using a ‘deviant’ interview in a study of ‘being a neighbour’. First, we add to the discussion of interviewees’ category representativeness by acknowledging a situation when the interviewee insists on representing a category not intended by the researcher. Second, we address the notion of asymmetries of power, where it is often assumed that the interviewer has the upper hand. Through this case, we argue that the opposite may well be true. Finally, we argue that cases where the interviewee pursues a strong agenda may suggest new research areas. After all, strong efforts of resistance may indicate deeper cultural concerns. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/2426483
- author
- Jacobsson, Katarina LU and Åkerström, Malin LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- asymmetries of power, category representativeness, interviewing, interviewees, failed interview, multi-ethnic neighbourhood, sociology, sociologi
- in
- Qualitative Research
- volume
- 13
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 717 - 734
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000328677900006
- scopus:84889053191
- ISSN
- 1741-3109
- DOI
- 10.1177/1468794112465631
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 67cb3178-7708-45c6-b992-a235dfb4d084 (old id 2426483)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:36:52
- date last changed
- 2022-03-06 20:13:36
@article{67cb3178-7708-45c6-b992-a235dfb4d084,
abstract = {{Social constructionists consider interviews as mutually co-constructing meaning. But what if the interlocutors do not seem to agree on what they construct? What if the interviewee has a particularly strong agenda, far from the intended research topic? Are these ‘failed’ interviews? We address this issue using a ‘deviant’ interview in a study of ‘being a neighbour’. First, we add to the discussion of interviewees’ category representativeness by acknowledging a situation when the interviewee insists on representing a category not intended by the researcher. Second, we address the notion of asymmetries of power, where it is often assumed that the interviewer has the upper hand. Through this case, we argue that the opposite may well be true. Finally, we argue that cases where the interviewee pursues a strong agenda may suggest new research areas. After all, strong efforts of resistance may indicate deeper cultural concerns.}},
author = {{Jacobsson, Katarina and Åkerström, Malin}},
issn = {{1741-3109}},
keywords = {{asymmetries of power; category representativeness; interviewing; interviewees; failed interview; multi-ethnic neighbourhood; sociology; sociologi}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{717--734}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Qualitative Research}},
title = {{Interviewees with an agenda – Learning from a 'failed' interview}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468794112465631}},
doi = {{10.1177/1468794112465631}},
volume = {{13}},
year = {{2013}},
}