Tvisebrivi meTodebi socialur kvlevaSi - Center for Social Sciences

John Lofland and Lyn Lofland. 1995. Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative
Observation and Analysis. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth. Pp. 101-122 (“Thinking Topics”).
iago kaWkaWiSvili. 1998. “konkretuli sociologiuri kvlevis meTodologia.”
// sociologiuri kvlevis meTodebi. Tbilisi: Tbilisis universitetis
gamomcemloba, 1998. gv. 22-44.
Recommended readings:
Earl Babbie. 2004. The Practice of Social Research. 10 th
Thomson/Wadsworth. Pp. 282-268 (“Qualitative Filed Research”).
Edition. Belmont, Calif.:
Howard S. Becker. 2001. “The Epistemology of Qualitative Research.” Pp. 317-330 in:
Robert M. Emerson, ed. Contemporary Field Research. Perspectives and Formulations.
Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press.
W. Lawrence Newman. 2003. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches. Fifth edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Pp. 363-381 (“Field Research”).
В. Ядов. 1995. Социологическое исследование: методология, программа, методы.
Изд-во «Самарский университет». С. 42-80 («Методология»).
After the first lecture, students are required to prepare two assignments to be submitted
two days prior the next class:
a) Think of and bring a list of 5 issues which are suitable for qualitative research; and
b) Come up with a research design of their own, where both theoretical and practical
aspects of the proposed research will be considered; research proposals submitted by the
students will be discussed during the next seminar.
Week 2.
In-Depth Interview
Lecture, 2 hours; discussion, 2 hours
The first method that is covered in detail in terms of this course is in-depth interview.
While introducing this method, we first distinguish between structured, semi-structured and
non-structured interviews. In-depth interview is an example of semi-structured interviews
which are conducted based on a discussion guide as a major research instrument, which,
however, is not directive, and allows both researcher/interviewer and respondent to develop
new issues not mentioned in the guide, provided that they are of interest to the study.
After Robert S. Weiss, we consider in-depth interviewing as a process of collaboration
between researcher and respondent. Use of open-ended questions stimulates
development of the respondent’s narrative, which can be directed by the questions of the
interviewer. We also discuss several probing techniques (silence, echo, baiting) that can
help us get more information, often – without interviewer’s injection in respondent’s narrative.
We also discuss technical aspects of conducting in-depth interviews, such as selection
and preparation of the setting; recording equipment; selection of respondents.
In addition to general discussion about in-depth interview as qualitative research method
in the social sciences, we consider two variations of in-depth interviewing, namely, life
histories and biographic narrative interviews (Gail Kligman’s and Gabriele Cappai’s works
are used to get better understanding of these types of in-depth interview).
The lection finishes with the discussion of possibilities of analyzing in-depth interviews.
In the end, we offer an example of how a Discussion Guide of an in-depth interview can
look like, with a short review which emphasizes its major features.
Homework assignments for this week are:
1) to prepare a discussion guide which could be used to conduct a series of in-depth
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