Chapter 1

Introduction

This chapter introduces this collection by reviewing work that uses ethnomethodologically inspired approaches to analyze research interviews. These analyses supplement data representations that focus on “what” topics are talked about with information concerning “how” topics are elicited in specific interactional contexts. Informed by critiques that much interview research fails to account for interactional contexts in which descriptions were generated, this work uses tools drawn from ethnomethodology (EM), membership categorization analysis (MCA) and conversation analysis (CA) to explore features of interview interaction, construction of speakers’ accounts, interviewers’ roles in the generation of data, and what this means for social research. This work informs (1) the design and conduct of research studies, specifically the formulation of interview questions to elicit interviewees’ accounts, and the conduct of interviews with special populations, (2) the analysis and representation of interview data, and (3) the teaching of interview practice. The chapter concludes by introducing readers to the organization of the book and forthcoming chapters.