What you ask is what you get: Learning from interviewing in qualitative research
Joanne Tollefson
Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville QLD
Kim Usher
School of Nursing, Midwifery and Nutrition, James Cook University, Cairns QLD
Dawn Francis
Associate Professor, School of Education, James Cook University, Cairns QLD
Jan Owens
Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
PP: 258 - 264
Abstract
This paper outlines some important issues discovered about undertaking qualitative interviews. A description of a study that involved interviewing the authors' students is followed by discussion of aspects of the interviewing process that became apparent during analysis of those interviews.
Problems that were encountered with retrospective interviews, power differentials, question sequencing, some interview techniques, and a prior knowledge of the students are illuminated to assist other qualitative interviewers to be aware of these potential areas of difficulty.
Keywords
qualitative interviewing; questioning; research
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