Active Interviewing

Vocational teachers in the face of a major educational reform: individual ways of negotiating professional identities

“…For example, one teacher described the reform in fairly negative terms, wishing to highlight the disadvantages, with a view to improvements being made. It should thus be noted that interviewees can intentionally select what is included in their accounts and what is omitted, and furthermore that points can simply be forgotten (Holstein and Gubrium 2003;Taylor and Littleton 2006;Watson 2006). Each account should always be seen as situated and incomplete.…”

“…The interviews were interactional situations in which both interviewer and interviewee were active and able to swap thoughts; they were not situations in which the interviewer was merely the questioner and listener, and the interviewee merely the teller or passive vessel providing answers. This explains why our interviews can be called open-ended narrative interviews (Fontana and Frey 2000) or active interviews (Holstein and Gubrium 2003) rather than semi-structured interviews. Thus, the interview material should be understood as produced through a social interaction between the researcher and the participant, situated within a specific context (Holstein and Gubrium 2003;Rapley 2007).…”

“…This explains why our interviews can be called open-ended narrative interviews (Fontana and Frey 2000) or active interviews (Holstein and Gubrium 2003) rather than semi-structured interviews. Thus, the interview material should be understood as produced through a social interaction between the researcher and the participant, situated within a specific context (Holstein and Gubrium 2003;Rapley 2007).…”

Guardian angels and teachers from hell: Using metaphor as a measure of schools' experiences and expectations of General National Vocational Qualifications

“…Since scrutiny of the metaphors was specifically designed to bypass what Goodson & Walker (1989: 112) refer to as the "subject's chosen presentation of self", the possibility of the interviewee's overt response being tailored to satisfy the interviewer (Holstein & Gubrium, 1997) is reconstellated as potentially interesting data rather than presenting epistemological difficulties. Moreover,the interviewees are not being questioned in order to elicit "facts" in what Holstein and Gubrium (1997: 117) call the "'vessel-of-answers' approach", but rather to elicit statements of value, both implied and overt, which can be compared and contrasted.…”

The consideration of environmental matters in the audit of financial reports

“…Holstein and Gubrium (1998) also noted that 'the researcher' fits the characteristics indicated by Lincoln and Guba (1985), and added that the researcher is also capable "of grasping and evaluating the meaning of the differential interaction" between the instrument and respondents (p. 96). For this study, the researcher is the primary data-gathering instrument conducting and taping interviews with the respondents.…”