InterViews

“I greatly value [this book] because [it] articulates the philosophical and methodological approach to validity in qualitative interview research like no other text . . . We consider it our qualitative interview method bible.”

“The text is well organized and I am always amazed that Kvale and Brinkmann do have an answer to anything that has to do with interviewing.”

“Kvale and Brinkman’s text is well organized, clearly written, and introduces readers to the world of qualitative interview research. The authors guide readers thinking conceptually as well as practically to design and implement interview studies with clearly articulated concepts and discussions . . . The book has good, in-depth coverage with the kind of theoretical grounding we emphasize in our qualitative research program.”

“The text is well written and the guidelines provided are easy to use. This book is of immense value to researchers and academics, as well as to students. [It] provides practical insight into the interview process [and] provides rich information on the planning, executing and analysis of interviews.”

“The text is beautifully organized.  The third edition builds upon the strengths of the first two, in which the authors balance the apparent paradox between learning interviewing as a “craft” . . . and learning from a textbook . . . There are no comparable books to this one! In the preface Brinkman writes, ‘I hope to have struck a balance between a respect for well proven practices of the craft of interviewing on the one hand and innovations, and provocations even, on the other.’  He has.” 

“This text provides a deep dive on qualitative interviewing, missing from many works on qualitative research. [It] is useful in that it situates interviews paradigmatically while also providing an historical treatment of interviews across disciplines. The text is well organized and approachable for novices and experts seeking richer understandings of interviewing.”

Svend Brinkmann is professor of psychology in the Department of Communication and Psychology at the University of Aalborg, Denmark, where he serves as co-director of the Center for Qualitative Studies with Lene Tanggaard. His research is particularly concerned with philosophical, moral, and methodological issues in psychology and other human and social sciences. He is author and co-author of numerous articles and books, including John Dewey: Science for a Changing World, Qualitative Inquiry in Everyday Life, and Qualitative Interviewing.

Steinar Kvale (1938-2008) was professor of educational psychology and director of the Centre of Qualitative Research at the University of Aarhus, and adjunct faculty at Saybrook Institute, San Francisco. He was born in Norway and graduated from the University of Oslo. He continued his studies at the University of Heidelberg with an Alexander von Humboldt scholarship and was a visiting professor at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, and West Georgia University, Carrolton, and the University of Bergen. His long-term concern was with the implications of such continental philosophies as phenomenology, hermeneutics, and dialectics for psychology and education.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Interview Research Chapter 2: Characterizing Qualitative Research Interviews Chapter 3: Epistemological Issues of Interviewing Chapter 4: Ethical Issues of Interviewing Chapter 5: The Qualitative Research Interview as Context Chapter 6: Thematizing and Designing an Interview Study Chapter 7: Conducting an Interview Chapter 8: Interview Variations Chapter 9: Interview Quality Chapter 10: Transcribing Interviews Chapter 11: Preparing for Interview Analysis Chapter 12: Interview Analyses Focusing on Meaning Chapter 13: Interview Analyses Focusing on Language Chapter 14: Eclectic and Theoretical Analyses of Interviews Chapter 15: The Social Construction of Validity Chapter 16: Reporting Interview Knowledge Chapter 17: Conversations about Interviews