The Interview: FROM FORMAL TO POSTMODERN [Hardcover]

Used by everyone from survey researchers to oral historians, the interview may be the most basic and essential field method in the qualitative researcher’s toolkit. In this concise, student-friendly guide, Fontana and Prokos give a cogent introduction to the history, types, and methods of interviewing in the social sciences. They outline the range of ways in which interviews are conducted, both structured and unstructured, then provide instruction on conducting and interpreting interviews, and address ethical considerations in eliciting information from people. The authors also point to recent and future trends that will affect the use of this method. For researchers who need a primer and for students in methods courses or assigned fieldwork projects in other courses across the social sciences, this short, inexpensive volume is ideal.

In this concise, student-friendly guide, Fontana and Prokos give a cogent introduction to the history, types, and methods of interviewing in the social sciences.

"The Interview is a major new book on the oldest of sociological methods. The grasp of the field is definitive. It moves from the modern to the postmodern, from oral history to grounded theory, active interviews, to the interview as a negotiated accomplishment. Accessible, well-written, this book will become the point of reference for all future treatments of the interview. " —Norman K. Denzin, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

I sat down to read The Interview, expecting a textbook; soon I was caught up in an engaging, well-written and unfolding story about the interview society, the different approaches to interviews, their history, how they are used academically, and future directions. Full of poignant examples, this book is unique in its coverage of interviews along the continuum from art to science. Readers will appreciate the authors’ focus on ethics and gender, as well as on electronic interviewing. This lÓÏ