Methodenwoche der GGG

Workshop 4: Challenges and Benefits: Mastering Qualitative Interviewing in Social Research

Target group: Beginners and advanced learners
Language: English
Available seats: 12

Workshop description:
In this workshop we deal with the practice of qualitative interviewing in social research. The interactively planned course largely consists of practical exercises, best-practice analysis and sharing among peers. Topics include:

  • overview of the principles and techniques of qualitative interviewing
  • research design linking data collection and analysis
  • interview settings, ethnographic field notes and memoing; especially its adaptation to post-pandemic research dynamics where on-site and online research practices have become more flexible
  • research ethics and informed consent
  • challenges and pitfalls of common interview settings
  • benefits and advantages of qualitative interview material


In peer-feedback sessions and practical exercises we try to enhance interview skills, receive constructive criticism, and refine interviewing techniques. By the end of the workshop, participants will have developed a comprehensive understanding of qualitative interviewing, along with practical skills to navigate interview settings, address challenges, and maximize the benefits of this approach. Both beginners and advanced interviewers are welcome and the course will focus on the needs and interests of the participants. Therefore, all participants should provide the lecturer in advance with a short abstract of their PhD project focussing on their methodological approach and questions.
Note: Perplexity AI – a generative AI-tool – was used to create the course description.

Literature:
Rosenthal, Gabriele (2018): Interpretive Social Research. An Introduction. Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen. Available online at https://doi.org/10.17875/gup2018-1103, checked on 9/9/2023.

Certificate:
For active participation – including a written assignment – PhD candidates will usually be rewarded 2 credits. If students want 3 instead of 2 credits – due to their Doctoral Degree Regulations – they should talk to you beforehand in order to plan additional assignments – e.g. 20 pages per paper instead of 10. Remember that those assignments will not be graded and should be evaluated no later than 2 months after the Week of Methods.

Instructor: Dr. Ina Alber-Armenat

Alber-Armenat_MeWo_2024_mittel
Dr. Ina Alber-Armenat is Lecturer at the Institute for Sociology at the University of Göttingen and has been teaching qualitative methods for more than 15 years in Germany and Poland. Her research areas are interpretative sociology; care, gender and migration; post-socialist societies, and civil society. She has diverse experiences in biographical research and discourse analysis and is especially interested in triangulation in the field of qualitative methodology.
More info: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/dr.+ina+alber-armenat/43663.html

Selected publications of Dr. Alber-Armenat: