Despite the mostly quantitative orientation of mainstream political science, qualitative research involving some form of fieldwork has a long tradition in our discipline too: qualitative interviewing (Mosley 2013) in particular is often used either as a stand-alone method or as complementary method (in policy analysis for instance). Interviewing has a limitation though: it assumes that people can always explain what they do and why they are doing it, and that they are willing to do so in the artificial setting of a one-off conversation with a stranger. As every ethnographer can tell us though – and as we commonsensically know from everyday life – this is not always the case: people may not be able to produce articulated explanations "out of the blue"; may find it hard to relate to topics on a purely verbal level (especially if these topics relate to routinised social practices), may not be willing to talk about (taboo) topics, may have a hostile attitude towards researchers, or may simply not be able to articulate their thoughts fully (think children or people with PTSD or disabilities).

This workshop encourages researchers to think creatively beyond structured interviewing, to broaden their qualitative methods toolbox with approaches borrowed from a variety of fields: political ethnography, participatory research, therapy and social work, or arts-based research for example. By the end of the workshop, participants will have an understanding of why we should routinely think outside the box of interviewing (even if this is and will remain our primary method) and how to do so.

Details

The workshop will start with an exploration of the question "why should we think beyond interviewing (and other forms of structured "talking to people") in political research?". Drawing on ethnography and sociology, we will first get a sense of what we may miss of a situation by dropping into people's lives for a one-off interview (however long and detailed). We will discuss the importance of getting a sense of place (and culture) and establishing trust and rapport before asking questions. We will also discuss the ways to overcome barriers when dealing with populations that may be hostile to researchers altogether.

We will then explore several practicable ways for the average political scientist with limited time in the field (as opposed to ethnographers who spend months or sometimes years in the field) to enrich conversation-based methods, such as interviews and focus groups. We will broach topics such as the value of limited participant or even non-participant observation prior to interviewing; shadowing; photovoice; video ethnography and other participatory methods; the use of vignettes; participatory research design, etc.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a broad sense of methodological possibilities and feel encouraged to experiment with approaches beyond standard methods textbooks.

Audience

This workshop is intended for participants who have real qualitative research plans that they would like to think through a bit more, as well as at participants who come along out of simple curiosity for the universe of unconventional research methods.

Online Session Notes

The instructor would appreciate if participants could join with their camera on during the workshop and will be happy to take questions and comments throughout the workshop.