Analyzing qualitative interview data: The discourse analytic method

Journal/Book: Libr Inform Sci Res. 1999; 21: 100 Prospect St, PO Box 811, Stamford, CT 06904-0811, USA. Ablex Publ Corp. 459-477.

Abstract: The article presents discourse analysis as a method of analyzing qualitative interview data. Using examples from a study of users' library conceptions, it is argued that participants' interpretations are much more context dependent and variable than normally recognized, and that this has important implications for the use of interview data. Instead of producing definitive versions of participants' action or beliefs, interview data may be used to reveal regular interpretative practices through which participants construct versions of actions, cognitive processes, and other phenomena. This method does not take the individual as the principal unit of analysis, but strives to recognize cultural regularities in participants' accounts to examine the phenomena studied at a macrosociologic level.

Note: Article Talja S, Tampere Univ, Dept Informat Studies, POB 607, FIN-33101 Tampere, FINLAND

Keyword(s): INFORMATION; LIBRARY

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