Why Is This So Hard?: An Autoethnography of Qualitative Interviewing

Abstract

Researchers often struggle with power dynamics when conducting qualitative interviews. Interviewing can be emotionally exhausting, and sometimes it is difficult to tell where the interviewees’ thoughts end and yours begin. This tension, though, is normal throughout the process, so I use autoethnography to share my experiences with conducting 75 interviews about neighborhood branding. I use my tales of feeling dumb, fatigue, data analysis, and narrative creation to open the so-called “black box” of interviewing processes in the field. The work contributes to broader knowledge by capturing the stresses of academic research of all stripes – and openly speaking about such in a public forum.

Keywords:

• autoethnography
• interviews
• public administration
• qualitative methods

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Staci M. Zavattaro

Staci M. Zavattaro is associate professor of public administration at the University of Central Florida. She serves as editor-in-chief of Administrative Theory & Praxis. Her research focuses on public branding and administrative theory.