Interpreting Interviews

by Mats Alvesson

Through the use of eight original metaphors for understanding what may happen in interviews and what may guide the interviewee (more than telling the truth or revealing experiences), the reader is encouraged to do interviews in clever ways. This text enables you to question the interpretive nature and theoretical underpinnings of the interview method, and of the knowledge which is conveyed through it.

The updated second edition includes new content

• How to avoid traps in interviews 
• How to use interviewees with experience and insight 
• How to work creatively with generative material
• The value of repeat interviewing over time 
• The importance of supplementing interviews with other methods
• Possibilities of interview-based research accompanied by examples

This text is essential reading for upper undergraduate and postgraduate students of qualitative methods, and researchers looking to more clearly conceptualize their interviewing practice and explore its theoretical basis.

Mats Alvesson is professor at University of Bath and is also affiliated with Lund University, Stockholm School of Economics and Bayes Business School.

160 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Mats Alvesson är professor vid Lunds universitet och arbetar även vid University of Queensland, Australien, och City University, London. Han forskar och skriver om bland annat organisationskultur, ledarskap, identitet i organisationer och kvalitativ forskning och intresserar sig för fenomenet funktionell dumhet.