Workshop on Making Knowledge Claims from Interview Data

NARTI Training & Development Workshop on ‘Making Knowledge Claims from Interview Data’

With Professor Andrea Whittle and Professor Stefanie Reissner

The raison d’etre of research is to develop new knowledge about a phenomenon. Yet, surprisingly little has been written in the methodological literature about how researchers claim to ‘know something’ from qualitative interviews. Drawing on a recent methodological article by Whittle & Reissner (2024), this workshop seeks to:

• outline differences in how interview researchers lay claim to knowledge,
• explain why these differences exist, and
• show how the making of knowledge claims is part of a specific ‘package’ of practices which are underpinned by different paradigms.

The workshop is designed to help doctoral students and early career scholars who are working with qualitative interview data to understand what kinds of knowledge they can develop from their empirical material. It will also explain how different types of theory are connected to the underlying paradigm of the research. The workshop will also help workshop delegates to understand how their academic work will be assessed by doctoral examiners, journal editors or reviewers. In so doing, it will develop the research capacity of the next generation of researchers by enabling them to make impactful research contributions.

Further reading: Whittle, A. & Reissner, S.C. (2024) Making knowledge claims from interview research: A typology of epistemological modes, British Journal of Management, online first (DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.12845)

*The event consists of two parts. (1) The morning workshop is open to all delegates at all levels of experience. (2) The afternoon roundtable discussions are specifically designed for advanced delegates who have already conducted qualitative interviews for their research.

MORNING WORKSHOP

10:00-10:30 Arrival, registration, refreshments, networking

10:30-12:30 Workshop on making knowledge claims from interview data

12:30-13:30 Lunch and networking

AFTERNOON ROUND TABLES

13:30-14:30 Roundtable discussions (for advanced workshop participants who have already collected interview data,
pre-registration required)

14:30-15:00 Reflections, conclusion, close

No pre-workshop preparation is required.

Andrea Whittle, PhD (andrea.whittle@ncl.ac.uk) is Professor of Management and Organization Studies at Newcastle University Business School. She is a specialist in qualitative methods and her research is informed by discourse analysis, narrative analysis, discursive psychology, dramaturgy, and ethnomethodology. Her research involves working with one of three different kinds of data sources: ethnography and observation of naturally-occurring organizational interactions, media texts and public inquiries. In a recent methodological project, she has also begun to explore the use of qualitative interviews in management and organisation studies.

Stefanie Reissner, PhD SFHEA (stefanie.c.reissner@durham.ac.uk) is Professor of Organization Studies at Durham University Business School. She specialises in qualitative methods to study identity, narrative, storytelling and sensemaking in different contexts (including organizational change, employee engagement and flexible working). Stefanie has recently collaborated with Andrea in methodological project to understand the practices used in interview studies in management and organisation research.

There is no charge to participate in this event but any travel/accommodation costs should be covered personally or through your university. If you have any questions about this event, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please register via this link. Please remember to only register your interest for the afternoon session if you have already started to collect interview data.