Qualitative Interviewing

The book describes in-depth qualitative interviewing from the very beginning to last step, from its underlying philosophy and assumptions to project design, analysis and write up. In responsive interviewing, the stages of research-design, data gathering, and analysis-are intimately linked. Researchers perform analysis throughout their projects, not just at the end, so that as they learn more, they can modify both the research problem they are exploring and the questions they ask.

The book assumes no prior knowledge or experience, and the authors’ tone is conversational, revealing that interviewers can make mistakes, recover from them and still obtain rich and meaningful information.

Author Biography

Herbert J. Rubin is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of Applied Social Research and (with Irene Rubin) four editions of Community Organizing and Development. He has written articles based on in-depth interviewing that explore rural development in Thailand, suburban land-use fights, cooperative housing and economic and community development. Both his monograph on Thailand, The Dynamics of Development in Rural Development and his book on community renewal in the United States, Renewing Hope within Neighborhoods of Despair: The Community-based Development Model, are based on participant observation and hundreds of in-depth interviews. He is currently using open ended in depth interviews as well as participant observation to study organizations that advocate for the poor.

Irene S. Rubin is Professor Emeritus of Public Administration at Northern Illinois University.  She is the author of Running in the Red: The Political Dynamics of Urban Fiscal Stress, Shrinking the Federal Government, Class Tax and Power: Municipal Budgeting in the United States, and Balancing the Federal Budget: Eating the Seed Corn or Trimming the Herds, all four of which rely extensively on qualitative interviews.  She has written journal articles about citizen participation in local level government in Thailand, how universities adapt when their budgets are cut, and fights between legislative staffers and elected and appointed officials about unworkable policy proposals, all based on qualitative interviews.  She is in the middle of an interviewing project about how local officials view and use contracts with the private sector and with other governmental units to provide public services.