Teaching interviewing in qualitative research: What can be learned from Cinematic Society?

Abstract

Sociologists Paul Atkinson and David Silverman (1997) coined the term the Interview Society to discuss the use of interviews as a central mode of understanding in late 20th century society. Although scholars have critiqued the over-use of interviews to examine research questions (Potter & Hepburn, 2005) and poorly executed interview studies (Silverman, 2017), interviews are a primary research method to understand the social world. The sheer ubiquity of interviews in contemporary society can blind us to the intricacies of interview interaction, and how interviews are used by individuals and organizations for purposes other than generating information about a topic. Rather than dismiss interviews in popular media as irrelevant to the social sciences, in this paper we explore how teachers might make use of interviews from Cinematic Society (Denzin, 2018) to highlight key issues in research interviewing, including the mechanics of asking questions and following up on what interviewees say, the ethics of representation, and the complexities of interviewer-interviewee interaction. Drawing from literature on fostering critical reflection among adults, we focus on how media interviews might be used to examine qualitative interviews (Brookfield, 1991; Mezirow & Associates, 1991). We argue for an approach to teaching interviewing that facilitates spaces for critically reflecting on others\u27 interview practices, before students apply these skills to their own practice. We explore the different purposes for which interviews are used in cinematic society, approaches to selecting media, resources to explore, and teaching strategies