Die Pseudo-Exploration – Überlegungen zur Technik qualitativer Interviews in der Sozialforschung / Pseudo-exploration – Thoughts on the techniques of qualitative interviews in social research

Bibliographic Data

ID8096460
AuthorsChristel Hopf (Berlin, Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung, Weimarische Str. 20 1000 Berlin 31, corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume7
Issue2
Pages97-115
Publication date1978-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueZeitschrift für Soziologie (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0340-1804 • E-ISSN: 2366-0325
PublisherDe Gruyter (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/zfsoz-1978-0201
OpenAlexW2399071948
LanguageEN
Citations received53
References cited7

The topic of the article is methods and methodology of ‘‘qualitative” research in sociology. Taking own experiences in a school administration project as an example, I try to show risks, fallacies and typical conflicts in the “qualitative interview”. This is shown to be subjected to a fundamental dilemma: the “qualitative interview” aims at a “natural” discourse but cannot fully adapt to rules of everyday communication. The roles of the interviewer and of the interviewee remain separated, and the governing influence of the interviewer is maintained. An especially restrictive form of this influence is the “bureaucratization” of the interview which, ironically, is fostered by the very features of the qualitative interview being its specific advantages, namely, openness, unstructuredness, and the like. On the other hand, to avoid “bureaucratization” of the interview does not mean successful communication. As the interviewer relies of his competence in everyday communication, new risks and tensions arise. The article is concerned with the analysis of these conflicts and offers no solutions in the technical sense

Bureaucracy · Competence (human resources · Dilemma · Epistemology · Interview · Openness to experience · Political science · Politics · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Law · Psychology · Social and Educational Sciences · Social Psychology · Sociology and Education Studies

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