Interviewing

When researchers do not consider how theory influences praxis, according to Kathryn Roulston, it may lead to under-theorized and poor quality interview data.355 This is why she maintains it is important before embarking on interviews to consider how theory and practice interconnect. Theorizing about a particular methodology might involve

considering how the data is to be collected, the role of the interviewer, which participants are chosen, the theory underpinning the interviews, and how the final conclusions may be judged.356 In Roulston’s view, theory is a process whereby we construct concepts and

354

Maria Lugones and Elizabeth Spelman, “Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for “The Woman’s Voice,” Women’s Studies International Forum, 6, no. 6 (1983): 573-581.

355

Kathryn Roulston, Reflective Interviewing: A Guide to Theory & Practice, (London: Sage, 2010), 2.

356

ideas about the world. In relation to interviews, the purpose of such theorizing is to consider, ahead of time, what issues relate to one’s research design.357

When conducting a phenomenological qualitative study, Sandra Thomas and Howard Pollio maintain that there are two important criteria in relation to eligibility. First, the participant must have some experience of the particular phenomenon being studied, and second, the participant must be willing to talk about the phenomenon.358 While some researchers argue for multiple interviews, Thomas and Pollio contend that this is not necessary providing that the interviewer has done preliminary interviews to test her questions, and become aware of her own presuppositions.359 In addition, they argue that the ideal number for a phenomenological study is between eight to twelve participants.360

For Heideggerian-inspired researchers like Patricia Benner, interpretation is an inescapable component of the research process. She regards learning the

phenomenological method as akin to literary criticism because the researcher is searching for different meanings that can be substantiated by the text in question.361 Benner argues there are three narrative strategies that need to be taken into account. These are paradigm cases; thematic analyses and exemplars. In paradigm cases, the interview is read for a global understanding after which certain topics or events are selected for a more detailed analysis. When you have the paradigm case, it is then necessary to test it against another

357

Roulston, Reflective Interviewing, 3.

358

For a fuller discussion of how different qualitative researchers approach this issue, see Sandra P. Thomas and Howard R. Pollio. Listening to Patients: A Phenomenological Approach to Nursing Research and Practice (New York: Springer Publishing Company, 2002).

359

In my study, I carried out two preliminary interviews. Furthermore, I spent a year thinking about and fine-tuning my research questions. Dr. Anne Kinsella offered me excellent advice as to the framing of my research study for which I am most grateful.

360

There is a lot of contention with regard to how many participants are appropriate for a study. For instance, Amadeo Giorgi argues that a researcher needs at least three participants so as to get to general experience of a particular phenomenon. In my study, I had ten participants.

361

Patricia Benner, “The Tradition and Skill of Interpretive Phenomenology in Studying Health, Illness, and Caring Practices,” in Interpretive Phenomenology: Embodiment, Caring, and Ethics in Health and Illness, ed. P. Benner (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications Inc., 1994), 112.

case to see whether similar concerns manifest themselves. Conversely, in a thematic analysis, you look for patterns across interviews, moving between parts and the whole of the text. Once you have identified paradigm cases and themes, then exemplars need to be discovered that display similarities or dissimilarities. Stories will come through that act as exemplars that capture important meanings.

So we see that there are different ways of reading the text or, in my case, interview transcripts, because meaning flows from an array of traditions, contexts, and

experiences.362 It is necessary to consider specific incidents or concerns, rather than opinions or ideology. Benner maintains that phenomenology is different from a Marxist ‘hermeneutics of suspicion’ or a psychoanalytic reading that tries to reveal the underlying truth, because phenomenology tries to examine pre-understandings and to confront otherness, silence and commonalities. This includes the researcher's pre-understanding. Indeed, she argues that having research questions challenged is part of the process. In this regard, my own research questions altered over time as a result of conversations with others. Through discussions, I realised that I needed to develop research questions that were sufficiently broad to allow for diverse opinions to emerge. For example, my initial questions were often couched as “why” questions, but with careful guidance, I realized that to obtain rich descriptive accounts, I needed to couch my questions in a “how” rather than “why” framework. Furthermore, it is the task of the researcher is to keep oriented to the thing in question - in my case, how senior women leaders experience authentic leadership, or lack thereof, in a university environment. Ideally, both interviewee and interviewer are involved in deciding whether this description is faithful to experience. I will return to this point in due course.

When conducting phenomenological research, Max Van Manen contends that it is

important to keep each of the four existentials, that is, spatiality, corporeality, temporality

and relationality in mind.363 I thought about how I might do this as I was putting the research questions together, as well as when I was going through the transcripts looking for themes. Spatiality represents an important component of how we interact with one another. I considered spatiality by asking research participants to describe instances where they felt most comfortable leading and, conversely, to describe those times where they felt ill at ease. A good example of this from the interview accounts is Dianne’s description of the feeling of “shrinking” when she has found herself in situations where she felt unable to speak out. (I will discuss Dianne’s account in more depth in chapter five.)

Corporeality represents the second existential, and refers to how our interactions are always embodied. In relation to corporeality, I asked participants to describe any physical or emotional sensations they experienced when they felt they were acting in a manner that they perceived as true to themselves, or in an inauthentic way. Most interviewees described a recurring physical sensation they experienced such as a tightening of the chest, a sickening feeling in the pit of the stomach, or a painful headache, that overcame them in difficult situations. It appears that these recurring embodied signals serve as a reminder that something about a particular situation made them feel uneasy in some way. It is interesting to note, however, that two of the women I interviewed reported no bodily sensations in relation to leadership. I sensed that neither of them was keen on answering the question. I am not sure what to make of this other than to wonder whether they have trained themselves in a way that they do not pick up on bodily cues.

Temporality, the third existential, is non-linear because past, present and future are interwoven. Over time, some experiences take on greater meaning, while others recede into the background. There were many examples from the interviews that relate to how past events have an influence on present and future action. One of the most poignant was Jill’s description of being made homeless when her mother became sick, and she lost her

363

Max Van Manen, Researching Lived Experiences: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy (London: The Althouse Press, 1997), 101-106.

job. This experience of living on the street influenced not only her current research on prisoners’ rights but Jill’s desire to try and be responsive to others in her leadership. The fourth existential, relationality, can be seen from the diverse examples that interview participants offer of others who influenced their own thinking about authenticity and leadership. Some interview participants described mentors they had worked with, or how they tried to encourage others to be successful. Several women also mentioned the effect particular actions by their mothers had on their desire to lead. The stories that they told about an event in their childhood seemed of especial significance to them.

I want to turn now to consider why narrative might be important to understanding.