Read more
In The Science and Art of Interviewing, Kathleen Gerson and Sarah Damaske offer clear, theoretically informed and empirically rich strategies for conducting interview studies. Presenting both a rationale and guide to the science-and art-of in-depth interviewing to take readers through all the steps in the research process, Gerson and Damaske show readers how to develop a research design for interviewing, decide on and find an appropriate sample, construct a
questionnaire, conduct probing interviews, and analyze the data they collect.
About the author
Kathleen Gerson is Professor of Sociology and Collegiate Professor of Arts and Science at New York University. She is the author of The Unfinished Revolution: Coming of Age in a New Era of Gender, Work, and Family (Oxford, 2011) and The Time Divide: Work, Family, and Gender Inequality (with Jerry A. Jacobs, 2004).
Sarah Damaske is Associate Professor of Sociology and Labor & Employment Relations at The Pennsylvania State University. She is the author of For the Family? How Class and Gender Shape Women's Work (Oxford, 2011).
Summary
Qualitative interviewing is among the most widely used methods in the social sciences, but it is arguably the least understood. In The Science and Art of Interviewing, Kathleen Gerson and Sarah Damaske offer clear, theoretically informed and empirically rich strategies for conducting interview studies. They present both a rationale and guide to the science-and art-of in-depth interviewing to take readers through all the steps in the research process, from the initial stage of formulating a question to the final one of presenting the results. Gerson and Damaske show readers how to develop a research design for interviewing, decide on and find an appropriate sample, construct a questionnaire, conduct probing interviews, and analyze the data they collect. At each stage, they also provide practical tips about how to address the ever-present, but rarely discussed challenges that qualitative researchers routinely encounter, particularly emphasizing the relationship between conducting well-crafted research and building powerful social theories. With an engaging, accessible style, The Science and Art of Interviewing targets a wide range of audiences, from upper-level undergraduates and graduate methods courses to students embarking on their dissertations to seasoned researchers at all stages of their careers.
Additional text
In this lively and multi-faceted book, Gerson and Damaske provide a useful and comprehensive guide to in-depth interview research — a fresh update to classic handbooks by Glaser and Strauss, Merton, Weiss, and others. Chock-full of examples from the works of contemporary scholars, The Science and Art of Interviewing will prove a valuable reference to researchers across the social sciences.
