777005

Course
Using semi-structured interviews in international and cross-cultural contexts

Faculty

Magali Gravier, Associate professor, Department of Intercultural Communication and Management CBS

Mette Zølner, Associate professor, Department of Intercultural Communication and Management CBS

Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki, Associate Professor in International Business, Leeds University Business School

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 other course participants and form the basis for reflections and discussions of each other’s projects.

Deadline for submission of the presentation is four weeks before course begins.

It is a precondition for receiving the course diploma that PhD students attend 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 cross-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; analysing interviews in their contexts. The course will offer an opportunity to tackle 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; one-person interview or focus group; preparation of interview grid; choice of language);
-    Techniques of interviewing (the “art” of questioning; recording; taking; choice of language);
-    Use of interview data for presentation and publications (a.o. analysis of interview content, 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

Programme (subject to minor modifications)

Day 1: Interviewing and methodology
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: Cross-cultural and cross-language interviewing

15.00-17.00: Group work on methodology section in published articles

19.00-        : Dinner

Day 2: Hands-on conducting semi-structured interviews
9.00-11.00: Presentation: Conducting factual, conceptual, narrative interviews, using explication techniques
                 Stories cross-cultural/cross-language interviewing

11.15-12.00: Group work. Preparing interview grid

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13.00- 14.30: Group work. Conducting interviews

14.30-16.00: Plenary discussion: Listening, watching, and discussion interview examples

16.00-17.00: Debriefing: How to present your approach to conducting interviews in your Ph.D. methodololgy section?

Day 3: Hands-on analysing interviews
9.00-10.30: Introducing three techniques:
                 1. Content analysis
                 2. Narrative analysis
                 3. Coding and categories with grounded theory

10.45–12.00: Group work: Coding manually

12.00-13.00: Lunch

13.00- 14.00: Group presentations and discussions

14.00-14.30: Coding with Nvivo (lecture and discussions)

14.30-15.30: Debriefing: How would you present your analysis of interviews in your Ph.D. methodology section?

15.30-16.00: 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
02/05/2016

End date
04/05/2016

Level
PhD

ECTS
3

Language
English

Course Literature
1. Textbooks: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 chapters:• Charmaz, K. and Belgrave, L. L. ‘Qualitative Interviewing and Grounded Theory Analysis’;• Lillrank, A. ‘Managing the Interviewer Selfin’;• Nalita James & Hugh Busher, ‘Internet Interviewing’, pp. 177-193;• Potter, J. & Hepburn, A., ‘Eight Challenges for Interview’, pp. 555-571.• Riessman, C.K. Analysis of personal narratives.Marshan-Piekkari, R. and Welch, C. Eds. (2004), Handbook of qualitative research. Methods for international business. London: Edward Elgar.in particular chapters:• Wilkinson, I. and Young, L., ‘Improvisation and Adaptation in International Business Research Interviews’, pp. 207-223;• Marschan-Piekkari, R. et al., ‘Language and Languages in cross-cultural interviewing’, pp. 224-243;• 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;• Chapman, M., Gajewska-DeMattos and Antoniou, C., ‘The ethnographic International Business Researcher: Misfit or Trailblazer?’, pp. 287-305;• Michailova, S., ‘Contextualising Fieldwork: Reflections on conducting research in Eastern Europe’, pp. 365-383;• Wilson, E. M., ‘An outsider in India’, pp. 421-437.2. Other referencesAlvesson, Mats. 2011. Interpreting interviews. London: Sage.Czarniawska, B. 2004. ‘Narratives in an interview situation’, in B. Czarniawska Narratives in social science research. London: Sage Publications, pp. 47-59.Cassell, C., Bishop, F., Symon, G., Johnson, P. and Buehring, A. 2009. Learning to be a qualitative management researcher, Management Learning, 40(5): 513-533Gioia, 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.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 (2009). Interviews. Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: Sage.Saldaña Johnny, 2013. The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers, Sage, 2nd ed.St. Pierre, E. A. and Jackson, A.Y. 2014. Qualitative data analysis after coding. Qualitative Inquiry, 20(6):715-719.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.Vermersch, P. (2011). L’entretien d’explicitation. Paris: ESF Editeur.

Fee
DKK 3.900 (covers the course, coffee, tea, lunch and dinner)

Minimum number of participants
15

Maximum number of participants
15

Location

Copenhagen Business School
Porcelænshaven 18 B
2000 Frederiksberg
Room: S.023

Contact information

PhD Support
Katja Høeg Tingleff
kht.research@cbs.dk
Tel.: +45 38 15 28 39

Registration deadline
21/03/2016

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 the following order: Students from Doctoral School of Organisation and Management Studies (OMS), students from other CBS PhD schools, students from other institutions than CBS.
Top