Conversation As Method: Analyzing the Relational World of People Who Were Raised Communally

by Ruthellen Josselson, Amia Lieblich, Hadas Wiseman

Conversation as Method is a most unique and engaging discussion among four women, all feminist scholars, who explore the different ways of knowing. The quantitative orientation of one combined with the qualitative methodology of the other three make for stimulating development of interview and exchange on how growing up communally affects relationships later on in life. All four authors have worked, independently, on issues relative to the kibbutz experience, and each brings her own perspective to this dialogue and to the active pursuit of data gathering and understanding. From the premise that knowledge is co-constructed by observer and observed and both must be clearly visible in research reports, Conversation as Method is rich social science evolving from people coming together to talk, listen, and learn from one another. Readers are also encouraged to participate in the conversation by making their own individual assessments of interpretations each author puts forth. This cutting-edge presentation is a must have for academics, researchers, and students in feminist or qualitative methodology, as well as for courses covering social/personality psychology, close relationships, developmental psychology, and family studies.

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 17, 1997

About the author

Ruthellen Josselson, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Fielding Graduate University. She was formerly Professor at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Visiting Professor at Harvard University School of Education, and Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University. Dr. Josselson is a cofounder of the Society for Qualitative Inquiry in Psychology; coeditor of 11 volumes of The Narrative Study of Lives, a series dedicated to publishing qualitative research; coauthor of Five Ways of Doing Qualitative Analysis; and author of many journal articles and book chapters that explore the theory and practice of qualitative inquiry. She has conducted workshops on interviewing skills for qualitative inquiry in the United States, France, Norway, Finland, Israel, and the United Kingdom. Based on interviews she has conducted over 35 years, she has written two books exploring women’s identity longitudinally (Finding Herself and Revising Herself) and three other books (The Space Between Us, Best Friends, and Playing Pygmalion). Dr. Josselson is a recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Henry A. Murray Award and Theodore R. Sarbin Award as well as a Fulbright Fellowship.