Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-281) and indexes.

Listening, hearing, and sharing social experiences -- Why we do what we do : philosophy of qualitative interviewing -- Design : choosing topics and anticipating data analysis -- Continuing the design : making the research credible -- Conversational partnerships -- The responsive interview as an extended conversation -- Structuring the interview -- Designing main questions and probes -- Preparing follow up questions -- The first phase of analysis : preparing transcripts and coding data -- Analyzing coded data -- Presenting the results.

"This practical, user-friendly text takes the novice researcher through all of the steps of an interviewing project, beginning with picking a viable and absorbing topic, gaining the confience of interviewees, preparing questions, and the final analysis and write-up." "A core purpose of the book is building confidence in beginning researchers so they can begin to interview right away and experience the excitement of learning about others' lives and stories. Examples from the authors' own interviews and those of professional colleagues create an engaging first-hand feel. For more experienced researchers the book examines debates in the literature on what can be learned with what kind of certainty and the appropriate role of the author in the final text."--BOOK JACKET.

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