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Privileging Fieldwork Over Interviews: Consequences for Identity and Practice
Author(s) -
Kleinman Sherryl,
Stenross Barbara,
McMahon Martha
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1994.17.1.37
Subject(s) - interview , privilege (computing) , identity (music) , participant observation , qualitative research , sociology , social psychology , psychology , ethnography , gender studies , aesthetics , social science , law , political science , anthropology , philosophy
Qualitative sociologists typically privilege fieldwork over interviews. What happens to fieldworkers who now ask questions but no longer hang out? What about those who rely exclusively on intensive interviewing while participant observation remains the standard? The authors examine the negative consequences of privileging fieldwork for identity and practice, the unique contributions of in‐depth interviewing, and the differences in the tales that fieldworkers and interviewers tell. An inclusive identity anchored to the analytical assumptions fieldworkers and interviewers share would increase qualitative researchers' confidence and lead them to do better work.