Chapter 6

Epistemic shifts

This chapter examines epistemic shifts over the course of one year of interviews with “Bailey,” specifically in relation to the interviewer’s tendency to praise Bailey. Initially, Bailey sought the researcher and interviewer’s advice, establishing herself as having a knowledge deficit (K-) and the interviewer as an expert (K+). In this analysis, the researcher examines the epistemic shifts partially demonstrated through Bailey’s self-praise, which established Bailey as knowledgeable and an advisor to others (K+). In this chapter, the author shows how Bailey’s K+ self-descriptors contradict conversation norms, in that individuals typically downgrade their accomplishments and abilities in talk with others. In reexamining the data, the author finds that Bailey’s self-praise was in response to the interviewer’s talk, as she actively praised Bailey and Bailey’s teaching practice throughout the data. This discussion is valuable to interview-based research both because it explores the ways that an interviewer’s interactions shape a participant’s responses and the ways that, over multiple interviews, those interactions might influence epistemic shifts in interviewer/interviewee exchanges.