Interview As A Method For Qualitative Research
"Definition" - The qualitative research interview seeks to describe and the meanings of central themes in the life world of the subjects. The main task in interviewing is to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say.(Kvale,1996)
Interviewing, when considered as a method for conducting qualitative research, is a technique used to understand the experiences of others. Interviewing differs from other methods of data collection in that it is often more exploratory in nature, and allows for more flexibility. Interviewing stems from the desire to know more about the people around us and to better understand how the people around us view the world we live in: “At the heart of interviewing research is an interest in other individuals’ stories because they are of worth.”
Thus interviewing is most effective when the goal of said research is to gain insight into the “subjective understanding” of those around us. By asking participants “why” we are enabled to not only observe their behavior but to subsequently understand the meaning that underlies that behavior, and to have this meaning explained to us in the participant’s own words
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