Chapter 4

On doing ‘being feminist’ and ‘being researcher’

Novice interviewers can face many problems related to interviewing technique, theoretical and ethical tensions, developing rapport, and the production of knowledge and identities with strangers and in cross-cultural contexts. Reanalyzing problematic or failed interviews using ethnomethodological (EM) approaches and the tools of membership categorization analysis (MCA) is one way of exploring minute details of interview talk to improve interview conduct. Using an EM approach and the tools of MCA, this chapter re-examines previously abandoned interview data to demonstrate how conversational resources used by a novice interviewer and interviewee led to the production of shared understandings and the production of various identities in cross-cultural contexts. This chapter concludes with recommendations for using this kind of analysis when training novice interviewers. This work recommends an intentional approach to thinking through researcher ethics before interviews are conducted to promote interview practices where data are generated, analyzed, and represented in more ethical ways.