Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data

by Herbert J. Rubin, Irene S. Rubin

This introduction to the theory and practice of qualitative interviewing shows researchers how design research based on interview data; stimulate conversation; absorb what is being said; and stimulate, analyze and present an informed description of the data. The authors emphasize the importance of cultural, contextual and personal influences on the sharing and unveiling of meaning. They also link qualitative interviewing techniques with theories of how people communicate meaning.

Genres: Nonfiction, Research Methods, Research, Reference, Textbooks, Social Science, School

312 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 1995

Reviews

[Travis Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was fine. Definitely an academic read.

[Maged Zakher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great!

[Naoki Ferrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my fave book regarding qualitative interviewing. The author gave some descriptive details on reasons and type of research which should employ qualitative method. Rubin also points out a few general example on interview guide and how to structure your data presentation. After reading this book, i found that social study is about exploring social occurrence in the real world and try to explain it to audience particularly the one who will read your writings. There's nothing wrong and right, thus there's no one size fits all model that could be used. This insight however, somehow makes me edgy and realize that social study is indeed very interesting due to its dynamic and fluidity.

[livewugreactions · Rating 4 out of 5]

For pragmatic purposes I think it's an extremely useful text, looking at how to get good interviews and make your participants feel at ease in the interview. It's a very "interview as research instrument" type of approach though as Talmy would put it and I take a more critical stance, but for most people who aren't linguists it'll be really useful.

[Marine Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very insightful book into conducting interviews. I found it easy to read and most of the information given relevant to my tasks. A must-read if you would like to improve your interviewing skills in an academic context

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook for class. Nothing remarkable.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some practical tips here, but some information is now outdated. That’s on me, for reading a book almost twenty years after publication.

[ERBA PUTRA]

i want to read

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was easy to read but very similar to other qualitative research guides I’ve read. I found chapters 9, 10, and 12 to be the most useful.

[Rachel Nicole Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nice supplemental reading to go along with my classes for this quarter ♥️

~xo,
Rach

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you've spent much of any time reading about (or doing) qualitative interviewing, this book will be review, providing limited new content or ideas. If you're new to in-depth qualitative interviewing Rubin and Rubin's book is an easy-to-read introduction providing step-by-step suggestions for framing and conducting your work. On the whole I'm a bit torn because the Rubins provide many examples to demonstrate their points -- which is good -- but I found many of the examples too long or focused on work that I didn't care about and couldn't easily relate to my own work (which is my issue, not the authors'). And, both Herb and Irene's work seems to focus on concrete questions with concrete answers rather than slightly more abstract, conceptual questions. While this may be exactly what some readers need, for my work, which is more ideological, other resources are more helpful in guiding how I frame and conduct my research.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

AKA the art of skewing conversation to hear the data that you want to hear...

Actually, a very good book on objective interviewing. Great book for those of us out there doing customer use cases.