1080513


Course
Using Semi-structured Interviews in International and Cross-Cultural Contexts

Faculty
Magali Gravier, Associate Professor, and Mette Zølner, Associate Professor; both from the Department of Management, Society and Communication, CBS

Course Coordinator
Magali Gravier and Mette Zølner

Prerequisites

The participants are required to submit a 5-page written document. This document is not a general presentation of the thesis project but a reflection on the participants’ use of interviews in their Ph.D. project, relating as much as possible to the curriculum literature. Presentations are read by the faculty as well as the other course participants and form the basis for reflections and discussions of each other’s projects throughout the course.

Deadline for submission of the presentation latest one week before course begin.

It is a precondition for receiving the course diploma that PhD students participate the entire course.


Aim

The aim of the course is twofold. First it aims at combining 1) theoretical and methodological reflexions on semi-structured interviews with 2) practical exercises in interviewing techniques. Second, the course includes planning, conducting and using semi-structured interviews for research projects involving international or/and cross-cultural settings, (such as national, professional, industrial cultures). In doing so, the course offers an opportunity to “put in practice” and discuss issues that literature often ignores or disregards concerning the use of semi-structured interviews in international and cross-cultural settings.

Like all methods, interviewing requires practical know-how. Reading about how to conduct interviews is fundamental but not enough to become a good interviewer. This is why this course offers a strong combination of abstract knowledge and hands-on exercises, among others using video recording and live-interviewing.

Although our societies and organizations are becoming increasingly multinational and multicultural, literature is scarce on how to conduct interviews in international and inter-cultural settings. Only a very small number of studies consider the methodological challenges that cultural and linguistic differences introduce in interview techniques. This is surprising since crossing institutional, linguistic and/or cultural boundaries raises a number of questions in all phases of interview studies: selection of interviewees; access to interviewees; conducting interviews; and analysing interviews. The course will offer an opportunity to reflect upon these issues.


Course content

The course will cover:

- Typology of interviews;
- Conceptualizing cross-cultural contexts;
- Preparatory phase to interviews (a.o. identifying interview population, choice of appropriate type of interview; preparation of interview grid; choice of language);
- Techniques of interviewing (the “art” of questioning; recording; choice of language);
- Techniques and strategies for analyzing interview content;
- Use of interview data for presentation and publications (a.o. transcription or not; quoting interviews; coding).


Teaching style
Short lectures with dialogues, exercises in conducting, coding and analyzing semi-structured interviews, student presentations and discussions.

Lecture plan
Subject to minor modifications.

Day 1

10.30-11.30 Introduction of the course and participants
11.30-12.15

Why a particular consideration for culture and language when doing interviews?

12.15-12.45 Typologies of interviews - semi-structured interviews
12.45-13.45 Lunch
13.45-14.45 Semi-structured interviews and scientific paradigms
14.45-15.30 Group work on methodology sections
15.30-16.15 What is an interview grid? - preparing interview grid
16.15-16.45 Debriefing
Day 2
  
Hands-on conducting semi-structured interviews
  
9.00-11.00 Conducting factual, conceptual, narrative interviews
11.00-12.30 Group work:

a) Conducting interviews -(focus: opening, rapport, closing)

b) Plenary exercise: Watching and listening interview; discussion
12.30-13.30 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Group work: Conducting interviews - narrative interviews (focus: follow-up questions; formulating questions)
15.00-16.00 Plenary discussion: Listening, watching and discussing interview examples
16.00-17.00 Debriefing & AA: How to present your approach to conducting interviews in your Ph.D. methodology section?
Day 3
  
Hands-on analysing interviews
  
9.00-9.30

Transcribing interviews (verbatim, Jefferson method)

9.30-10.30

Introducing three analytical techniques:

  1. Content analysis
  2. Narrative analysis
  3. Coding and categories with grounded analysis
10.45-12.00

Group work:

Coding manually

Different layouts for codings

12.00-13.00

Lunch

13.00-13.30

Showing your analysis

13.30-14.30

Group presentations and discussion

14.30-15.00

From analysing to presenting results

15.15-16.00

Debriefing: How would you present your analysis of interviews in your Ph.D. methodology section?

16.00-16.30

Evaluation and summing up on the course


Learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, students 

• will have a good understanding of semi-structured interviews in relation to other types of qualitative interviews

• will have acquired good insight into potentialities and challenges when using semi-structured interviews in research on international and/or cross-cultural settings

• will have improved their practice of conducting, coding and analyzing semi-structured interviews as well as presenting research drawing on such interviews

• will be capable of integrating acquired insight into their own PhD projects.

Exam
N/A

Other

Start date
12/10/2020

End date
14/10/2020

Level
PhD

ECTS
3 ECTS

Language
English

Course Literature
(INDICATIVE – will not be uploaded on CBS Canvas):
Expected readings are indicated in bold characters and can be downloaded from the CBS library.

Alvesson, Mats. 2011. Interpreting interviews. London: Sage.

Atkinson, P. &. Silverman, D.1997.’Kundera’s Immortality: The Interview Society and the Invention of the Self, Qualitative Inquiry, 3(3): 304-325.

Bernard, H. R., Amber Wutich, and Gery W. Ryan. 2017. Analyzing qualitative data: Systematic approaches. Second edition. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Braun, V. & Clarke, V. 2006. ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3:2, 77-101


Czarniawska, B. 2004. ‘Narratives in an interview situation’, in B. Czarniawska Narratives in social science research. London: Sage Publications, pp. 47-59.


Cassell, C., 2015. Conducting Research Interviews for Business and Management Students, London: Sage.

Cassell, C., Bishop, F., Symon, G., Johnson, P. and Buehring, A. 2009. Learning to be a qualitative management researcher, Management Learning, 40(5): 513-533

Flick, Uwe, ed. 2014. The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Gioia, Dennis A., Corley, Kevin G., and Hamilton, Aimee L. (2012). ‘Seeking Qualitative Rigor in Inductive Research: Notes on the Gioia Methodology’, Organizational Research Methods, 16(1): 15-31.

Gioia, Dennis A., Price, Kristin N., Hamilton, Aimee L., Thomas, James B., 2010. ‘Forging an Identity: An Insider-outsider Study of Processes Involved in the Formation of Organizational Identity’, Administrative Science Quarterly, 55 (2010): 1–46.

Gubrium, Jaber F.; Holstein, James A.; Marvasti, Amir B.; McKinney, Karyn D., (2012), The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft, Second Edition. 

In particular, the following chapters:
Carter, Shannon K., and Christian L. Bolden. 2012. “Culture Work in the Research Interview.”
• Charmaz, K. and Belgrave, L. L. ‘Qualitative Interviewing and Grounded Theory Analysis’;
• Lillrank, A. ‘Managing the Interviewer Self’;
Potter, J. & Hepburn, A., ‘Eight Challenges for Interview’;

Jack, G. and Westwood, R. 2006. Post-colonialism and the politics of qualitative research in international business. Management International Review, 46(4): 481-501.

Kvale, S. and S. Brinkmann (2014). Interviews. Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: Sage, 3d ed.

Leavy, Patricia, ed. 2014. The Oxford handbook of qualitative research. Oxford library of psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Malterud, Kirsti. 2012. “Systematic Text Condensation: a Strategy for Qualitative Analysis.” Scandinavian journal of public health 40 (8): 795–805.

Marshan-Piekkari, R. and Welch, C. Eds. (2004), Handbook of qualitative research. Methods for international business. London: Edward Elgar.

In particular, the following chapters:
• Marschan-Piekkari, R. et al., ‘Interviewing in the multinational collaboration: Challenges of the organizational context’, pp.244-263;
• Macdonald, S. and Hellgren, B., ‘The Interview in International Business Research: Problems we would rather not talk about’, pp. 264-281;
• Wilson, E. M., ‘An outsider in India’, pp. 421-437

Nadin, Sara, and Catherine Cassell. 2006. “The use of a research diary as a tool for reflexive practice.” Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 3 (3): 208–17.

Nairn, Karen, Jenny Munro, and Anne B. Smith. 2016. “A counter-narrative of a ‘failed’ interview.” Qualitative Research 5 (2): 221–44.

Reichertz, Jo. 2014. “Induction, Deduction, Abduction.” In The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis, edited by Uwe Flick, 123–35. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Ryen, A. (2002). Cross-cultural interviewing. In J.F. Gubrium & J.A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research. Context and method (pp. 335–354). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Saldaña Johnny, 2013. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, Sage, 2nd ed. 

Salmons, J. 2015. Qualitative online interviews. Sage. 2nd ed.

St. Pierre, E. A. and Jackson, A.Y. 2014. Qualitative data analysis after coding. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(6): 715-719.

Timmermans, Stefan, and Iddo Tavory. 2012. “Theory Construction in Qualitative Research: From Grounded Theory to Abductive Analysis.” Sociological Theory 30 (3): 167–86.

Trent, Allen, and Jeasik Cho. 2014. “Interpretation Strategies: Appropriate Concepts.” In The Oxford handbook of qualitative research, edited by Patricia Leavy. Oxford library of psychology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Urquhart, Christine, et al. 2003. ‘Critical incident technique and explicitation interviewing in studies of information behavior’. Library & Information Science Research, 25 (1) (0): 63-88.

Welch, Catherine, and Rebecca Piekkari. 2017. “How should we (not) judge the ‘quality’ of qualitative research? A re-assessment of current evaluative criteria in International Business.” Journal of World Business 52 (5): 714–25.

Welch, Catherine, and Rebecca Piekkari. 2006. “Crossing language boundaries: Qualitative interviewing in international business.” Management International Review 46 (4): 417–37. doi:10.1007/s11575-006-0099-1.

Zhang, Ling Eleanor, and David S. A. Guttormsen. 2016. ““Multiculturality” as a key methodological challenge during in-depth interviewing in international business research.” Cross Cultural & Strategic Mgt 23 (2): 232–56.

Fee
DKK 3,900 (covers the course, coffee/tea and lunch)

Minimum number of participants

Maximum number of participants
15

Location
Copenhagen Business School

Contact information
The PhD Support
Nina Iversen
Tel.: +45 38 15 24 75
E-mail: ni.research@cbs.dk

Registration deadline
05/09/2020

Please note that your registration is binding after the registration deadline.
In case we receive more registrations for the course than we have places, the registrations will be prioritized in the following order: Students from CBS departments, students from other institutions than CBS.
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