Using Joint Interviews to Add Analytic Value

Louisa Polak; Judith Maureen Green

doi:10.1177/1049732315580103

Using Joint Interviews to Add Analytic Value

Louisa Polak, Judith Maureen Green

Population Health Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

108 Citations (Scopus)

704 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Joint interviewing has been frequently used in health research, and is the subject of a growing methodological literature. We review this literature, and build on it by drawing on a case study of how people make decisions about taking statins. This highlights two ways in which a dyadic approach to joint interviewing can add analytic value compared with individual interviewing. First, the analysis of interaction within joint interviews can help to explicate tacit knowledge and to illuminate the range of often hard-to-access resources that are drawn upon in making decisions. Second, joint interviews mitigate some of the weaknesses of interviewing as a method for studying practices; we offer a cautious defense of the often-tacit assumption that the “naturalness” of joint interviews strengthens their credibility as the basis for analytic inferences. We suggest that joint interviews are a particularly appropriate method for studying complex shared practices such as making health decisions.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1638-1648
Journal	Qualitative Health Research
Volume	26
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315580103
Publication status	Published - Oct 2016

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Using Joint Interviews to Add Analytic Value

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