The joint production of confession in qualitative research interviews
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.35209Keywords:
collaborative practice, confessional talk, social norms, footing, (self-; other-; co-)initiated, qualitative research interviewAbstract
Uncovering the self and telling the ‘truth’ about who we are, or to confess, is a widespread social phenomenon in contemporary Western societies. The present article moves beyond a preoccupation with confession as revealing inner thoughts, shortcomings and aspirations to rather seeing it as a particular way to speak. The data material consists of 20 qualitative research interviews from two distinct research projects, where the analytical focus is on how confessional talk is initiated and managed in situ. The findings show that confessional talk emerges and is established differently following the pattern of being self-initiated, other-initiated or co-initiated. Accordingly, confession is not necessarily the consequence of a particular question from an interviewer, or a single response from an interviewee, but is developed in and through a course of interaction with contributions from all interlocutors. By highlighting the dynamic work within the interview sequences, the findings may contribute to the lively debate on how to theorize and analyze qualitative interviewing. To better capture the complexities of interviewing, a slight shift – from the role of the interviewer to the role(s) of the researcher – is suggested, which calls for more focus on the particular frame of qualitative research.
References
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Abell, J., Locke, A., Condor, S., Gibson, S. and Stevenson, C. (2006) Trying similarity, doing difference: The role of interviewer self-disclosure in interview talk with young people. Qualitative Research 6 (2): 221–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106062711
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Bannink, A. and Wentink, D. (2015) ‘I need to confess something’: Coming out on national television. Discourse & Communication 9 (5): 535–558. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481315600301
Beasley, T. (2005) Foucault, truth telling and technologies of the self in schools. Journal of Educational Enquiry 6 (1): 76–89.
Cicourel, A. U. (1964) Method and Measurement in Sociology. New York: Free Press.
Clayman, S. E. (1992) Footing in the achievement of neutrality: The case of news-interview discourse. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings, 163–198. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clayman, S. E. (2010) Address terms in the service of other actions: The case of news interview talk. Discourse & Communication 4 (2): 161–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310364330
Crowe, M. (1998) The power of the word: Some post-structural considerations of qualitative approaches in nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28 (2): 339–344. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00780.x
Dingwall, R. (1997) Accounts, interviews and observations. In G. Miller and R. Dingwall (eds) Context and Method in Qualitative Research, 51–65. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849208758.n4
Douglas, J. D. (1985) Creative Interviewing. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Ekström, M. (2012) Gaze work in political media interviews. Discourse & Communication 6 (3): 249–271. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481312452200
Ensink, T. (2003) The frame analysis of research interviews: Social categorization and footing in interview discourse. In H. van den Berg, M. Wetherell and H. Houtkoop-Steenstra (eds) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview, 156–177. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fejes, A. and Dahlstedt, M. (2013) The Confessing Society: Foucault, Confession and Practices of Lifelong Learning. London and New York: Routledge.
Fejes, A. and Nicoll, K. (eds) (2015) Foucault and a Politics of Confession in Education. London and New York: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1978) The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Random House.
Garfinkel, H. (1984) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Blackwell.
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Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodwin, C. (2006) Interactive footing. In E. Holt and R. Clift (eds) Voicing: Reported Speech and Footing in Conversation, 16–46. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, C. (2013) The co-operative, transformative organization of human action and knowledge. Journal of Pragmatics 46 (1): 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.09.003
Hammersley, M. (2017) Interview data: A qualified defence against the radical critique. Qualitative Research 17 (2): 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794116671988
Heritage, J. and Raymond, G. (2005) The terms of agreement: Indexing epistemic authority and subordination in talk-in-interaction. Social Psychology Quarterly 68 (1): 15–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800103
Hester, S. and Francis D. (1994) Doing data: The local organization of a sociological interview. The British Journal of Sociology 45 (4): 675–695. https://doi.org/10.2307/591889
Holstein J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (1997) Active interviewing. In D. Silverman (ed.) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, 113–129. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Holstein, J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (2003) Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984492
Koven, M. (2014) Interviewing: Practice, ideology, genre and intertextuality. Annual Review of Anthropology 43: 499–520. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155533
Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813313
Nikander, P. (2012) Interviews as discourse data. In J. F. Gubrium, J. A. Holstein, A. B. Marvasti and K. D. MacKinney (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft (second edition), 397–413. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403.n28
O’Rourke, B. K. and Pitt, M. (2007) Using the technology of the confessional as an analytical resource: Four analytical stances towards research interviews in discourse analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 8 (2): article 3. Available online: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/244/539.
Potter, J. (1996) Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446222119
Potter, J. and Hepburn, A. (2005) Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative Research in Psychology 2 (4): 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp045oa
Potter, J. and Hepburn, A. (2012) Eight challenges for interview researchers. In J. F. Gubrium, J. A. Holstein, A. B. Marvasti and K. D. MacKinney (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft. Second edition, 555–570. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403.n39
Pomerantz, A. M. (1986) Extreme case formulation: A new way of legitimating claims. Human Studies 9 (3): 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148128
Reinharz, S. and Chase, S. E. (2003) Interviewing women. In J. A. Holstein and J. F. Gubrium (eds) Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns, 73–90. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Roulston, K. (2006) Close encounters of the ‘CA’ kind: A review of literature analysing talk in research interviews. Qualitative Research 6 (4): 515–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106068021
Roulston, K. (2014) Interactional problems in research interviews. Qualitative Research 14 (3): 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112473497
Sacks, H. (1984) On doing being ordinary. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 413–429. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2003) Institutional, professional, and lifeworld frames in interview talk. In H. van den Berg, M. Wetherell and H. Houtkoop-Steenstra (eds) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview, 64–84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2010) Reconfiguring self/identity/status/role: The case of professional role performance in healthcare encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 7 (1): 75–95. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v7i1.75
Schegloff, E. A. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction, Volume 1: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Talmy, S. (2010) Qualitative interviews in applied linguistics: From research instrument to social practice. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 30: 128–148. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190510000085
Thornborrow, J. (2010) ‘Going public’: Constructing the personal in a television news interview. Discourse & Communication 4 (2): 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310363988
Tolson, A. (2013) Moments of truth: Telling it like it is on The Jeremy Kyle Show. In N. Lorenzo-Dus and P. Garcés-Conejos Blitvitch (eds) Real Talk: Reality Television and Discourse Analysis in Action, 266–287. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
van den Berg, H., Wetherell, M. and Houtkoop-Steenstra, H. (eds) (2003) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wooffitt, R. and Widdicombe, S. (2006) Interaction in interviews. In P. Drew, G. Raymond and D. Weinberg (eds) Talk and Interaction in Social Research Methods, 28–49. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209991.n3
Abell, J., Locke, A., Condor, S., Gibson, S. and Stevenson, C. (2006) Trying similarity, doing difference: The role of interviewer self-disclosure in interview talk with young people. Qualitative Research 6 (2): 221–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106062711
Baker, C. D. (2002) Ethnomethodological analyses of interviews. In J. F. Gubrium and J. A. Holstein (eds) Handbook of Interview Research: Context and Method, 777–795. London: Sage.
Bannink, A. and Wentink, D. (2015) ‘I need to confess something’: Coming out on national television. Discourse & Communication 9 (5): 535–558. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481315600301
Beasley, T. (2005) Foucault, truth telling and technologies of the self in schools. Journal of Educational Enquiry 6 (1): 76–89.
Cicourel, A. U. (1964) Method and Measurement in Sociology. New York: Free Press.
Clayman, S. E. (1992) Footing in the achievement of neutrality: The case of news-interview discourse. In P. Drew and J. Heritage (eds) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings, 163–198. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clayman, S. E. (2010) Address terms in the service of other actions: The case of news interview talk. Discourse & Communication 4 (2): 161–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310364330
Crowe, M. (1998) The power of the word: Some post-structural considerations of qualitative approaches in nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing 28 (2): 339–344. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1998.00780.x
Dingwall, R. (1997) Accounts, interviews and observations. In G. Miller and R. Dingwall (eds) Context and Method in Qualitative Research, 51–65. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849208758.n4
Douglas, J. D. (1985) Creative Interviewing. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Ekström, M. (2012) Gaze work in political media interviews. Discourse & Communication 6 (3): 249–271. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481312452200
Ensink, T. (2003) The frame analysis of research interviews: Social categorization and footing in interview discourse. In H. van den Berg, M. Wetherell and H. Houtkoop-Steenstra (eds) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview, 156–177. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fejes, A. and Dahlstedt, M. (2013) The Confessing Society: Foucault, Confession and Practices of Lifelong Learning. London and New York: Routledge.
Fejes, A. and Nicoll, K. (eds) (2015) Foucault and a Politics of Confession in Education. London and New York: Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1978) The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Random House.
Garfinkel, H. (1984) Studies in Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Blackwell.
Goffman, E. (1979) Footing. Semiotica 25 (1–2): 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1979.25.1-2.1
Goffman, E. (1981) Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Goodwin, C. (2006) Interactive footing. In E. Holt and R. Clift (eds) Voicing: Reported Speech and Footing in Conversation, 16–46. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Goodwin, C. (2013) The co-operative, transformative organization of human action and knowledge. Journal of Pragmatics 46 (1): 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.09.003
Hammersley, M. (2017) Interview data: A qualified defence against the radical critique. Qualitative Research 17 (2): 173–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794116671988
Heritage, J. and Raymond, G. (2005) The terms of agreement: Indexing epistemic authority and subordination in talk-in-interaction. Social Psychology Quarterly 68 (1): 15–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800103
Hester, S. and Francis D. (1994) Doing data: The local organization of a sociological interview. The British Journal of Sociology 45 (4): 675–695. https://doi.org/10.2307/591889
Holstein J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (1997) Active interviewing. In D. Silverman (ed.) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, 113–129. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Holstein, J. A. and Gubrium, J. F. (2003) Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984492
Koven, M. (2014) Interviewing: Practice, ideology, genre and intertextuality. Annual Review of Anthropology 43: 499–520. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155533
Levinson, S. C. (1983). Pragmatics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511813313
Nikander, P. (2012) Interviews as discourse data. In J. F. Gubrium, J. A. Holstein, A. B. Marvasti and K. D. MacKinney (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft (second edition), 397–413. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403.n28
O’Rourke, B. K. and Pitt, M. (2007) Using the technology of the confessional as an analytical resource: Four analytical stances towards research interviews in discourse analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 8 (2): article 3. Available online: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/244/539.
Potter, J. (1996) Representing Reality: Discourse, Rhetoric and Social Construction. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446222119
Potter, J. and Hepburn, A. (2005) Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative Research in Psychology 2 (4): 281–307. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp045oa
Potter, J. and Hepburn, A. (2012) Eight challenges for interview researchers. In J. F. Gubrium, J. A. Holstein, A. B. Marvasti and K. D. MacKinney (eds) The SAGE Handbook of Interview Research: The Complexity of the Craft. Second edition, 555–570. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781452218403.n39
Pomerantz, A. M. (1986) Extreme case formulation: A new way of legitimating claims. Human Studies 9 (3): 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00148128
Reinharz, S. and Chase, S. E. (2003) Interviewing women. In J. A. Holstein and J. F. Gubrium (eds) Inside Interviewing: New Lenses, New Concerns, 73–90. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Roulston, K. (2006) Close encounters of the ‘CA’ kind: A review of literature analysing talk in research interviews. Qualitative Research 6 (4): 515–534. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106068021
Roulston, K. (2014) Interactional problems in research interviews. Qualitative Research 14 (3): 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794112473497
Sacks, H. (1984) On doing being ordinary. In J. M. Atkinson and J. Heritage (eds) Structures of Social Action: Studies in Conversation Analysis, 413–429. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2003) Institutional, professional, and lifeworld frames in interview talk. In H. van den Berg, M. Wetherell and H. Houtkoop-Steenstra (eds) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview, 64–84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sarangi, S. (2010) Reconfiguring self/identity/status/role: The case of professional role performance in healthcare encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 7 (1): 75–95. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.v7i1.75
Schegloff, E. A. (2007) Sequence Organization in Interaction, Volume 1: A Primer in Conversation Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Talmy, S. (2010) Qualitative interviews in applied linguistics: From research instrument to social practice. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 30: 128–148. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190510000085
Thornborrow, J. (2010) ‘Going public’: Constructing the personal in a television news interview. Discourse & Communication 4 (2): 105–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310363988
Tolson, A. (2013) Moments of truth: Telling it like it is on The Jeremy Kyle Show. In N. Lorenzo-Dus and P. Garcés-Conejos Blitvitch (eds) Real Talk: Reality Television and Discourse Analysis in Action, 266–287. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
van den Berg, H., Wetherell, M. and Houtkoop-Steenstra, H. (eds) (2003) Analyzing Race Talk: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Interview. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wooffitt, R. and Widdicombe, S. (2006) Interaction in interviews. In P. Drew, G. Raymond and D. Weinberg (eds) Talk and Interaction in Social Research Methods, 28–49. London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209991.n3
Published
2018-10-31
Issue
Section
Articles
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Equinox Publishing Ltd.
How to Cite
Aarsand, L., & Aarsand, P. (2018). The joint production of confession in qualitative research interviews. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice, 11(3), 227-247. https://doi.org/10.1558/japl.35209
