Men pause and women talk too much: Power and gender negotiations in eliciting data during semi-structured interviews
Keywords:
Gender negotiation, Power struggle, Reflexivity
Abstract
Aim: Rather than solely analyzing interview data, this interpretive study considers how the interview was conducted. The study’s overarching objective is to learn about graduate students’ perspectives and sentiments during their academic journey.
Method: The phenomenological method was chosen for this investigation so that researchers could better comprehend the participants’ first-hand accounts of the phenomenon under study. Three current MSc students at the University of Exeter were interviewed; two were male, and one was female. All three interviews were semi-structured.
Findings: It was clear from the data that the power dynamic during the interview was more pronounced \ between the two men than it was between the woman. Power dynamics between the interviewer and the interviewees surfaced at various points.
Implications/Novel Contribution: This assignment in Interpretive Methodology lays the groundwork for future researchers interested in pursuing similar projects. It taught me things about research that will be useful in the future. A researcher’s understanding of what is expected of them and how to handle sticky situations during interviews can be bolstered by reflecting on their own semi-structured interviews.
References
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Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Clark, E. J., & Rieker, P. P. (1986). Gender differences in relationships and stress of medical and law students. Journal of Medical Education, 6(1), 32-40. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-198601000-00004
Clifton, R. A., Perry, R. P., Roberts, L. W., & Peter, T. (2008). Gender, psychosocial dispositions, and the academic achievement of college students. Research in Higher Education, 49(8), 684-703. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-008-9104-9
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Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. New York, NY: Sage.
Daly, K. (1992). Parenthood as problematic: Insider interviews with couples seeking to adopt. In: Gilgun, J. F., Daly, K., & Handel, G. (Eds), Qualitative methods in family research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Denovan, A., & Macaskill, A. (2013). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of stress and coping in first year undergraduates. British Educational Research Journal, 39(6), 1002-1024. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3019
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2018). The qualitative research. New York, NY: Sage Publisher.
Enosh, G., & Buchbinder, E. (2005). The interactive construction of narrative styles in sensitive interviews: The case of domestic violence research. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(4), 588-617. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405275054
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Hadjar, A., & Buchmann, C. (2016). Education systems and gender inequalities in educational attainment. In Hadjar A. & Gross C. (Eds.), Education systems and inequalities: International comparisons. Bristol, UK: University of Bristol Press.
Hammersley, M. (2003). Recent radical criticism of interview studies: Any implications for the sociology of education? British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(1), 119-126. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690301906
Hayes, E. (1992). Students’ perceptions of women and men as learners in higher education. Research in Higher Education, 33(3), 377-393. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00992266
Holland, J., & Thomson, R. (2006). A qualitative longitudinal dataset on young people growing up in England and northern. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2P0VpOv
Holmes, B., Waterbury, T., Baltrinic, E., & Davis, A. (2018). Angst about academic writing: Graduate students at the brink. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 11(2), 67-72. doi:https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v11i2.10149
Jackson, C. (2003). Transitions into higher education: Gendered implications for academic self-concept. Oxford Review of Education, 29(3), 331-346. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980307448
Joas, H., & Knöbl, W. (2009). Social theory: Twenty introductory lectures. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Johnston, M. S. (2016). Men can change: Transformation, agency, ethics and closure during critical dialogue in interviews. Qualitative Research, 16(2), 131-150. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115569561
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitive research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kvale, S. (2005). The dominance of dialogical interview research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(3), 480-500.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Levi, U., Einav, M., Ziv, O., Raskind, I., & Margalit, M. (2014). Academic expectations and actual achievements: The roles of hope and effort. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(3), 367-386. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-013-0203-4
Lijano, H. B. (2018). Motivational factors on learning in a constructivist classroom: A strategy on learning from 21st century learners. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 4(2), 85-95. doi:https://doi.org/10.20469/ijhss.4.10003-2
Miller, G., & Dingwall, R. (1997). Context and method in qualitative research. New Yor, NY: Sage.
Monro, S. (2005). Gender politics: Citizenship, activism and sexual diversity. California, CA: Pluto Press.
Morgan, J. (2013). Women ’better at multitasking’ than men. Retrieved from https://bbc.in/3bRlTvJ
Ogunkunle, S. J. (2018). Future career interest in science, gender and students’ acquisition of science process skills in basic science in Oyo state, Nigeria. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(4), 175-182. doi:https://doi.org/10.20474/jahss-4.4.3
Pini, B. (2005). Interviewing men: Gender and the collection and interpretation of qualitative data. Journal of Sociology, 41(2), 201-216. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783305053238
Ponelis, S. R. (2015). Using interpretive qualitative case studies for exploratory research in doctoral studies: A case of information systems research in small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10(1), 535-550. doi:ttps://doi.org/10.28945/2339
Potter, J., & Hepburn, A. (2005). Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative research in Psychology, 2(4), 281-307. doi:https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp045oa
Ramazanoglu, C. (1993). Up against foucault. London, UK: Routledge.
Robson, J., Francis, B., & Read, B. (2004). Gender, student confidence and communicative styles at university: The views of lecturers in history and psychology. Studies in Higher Education, 29(1), 7-23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/1234567032000164840
Roulston, K. (2006). Close encounters of the ‘ca’kind: A review of literature analysing talk in research interviews. Qualitative Research, 6(4), 515-534.doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106068021
Sander, P., & Sanders, L. (2007). Gender, psychology students and higher education. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 6(1), 33-36. doi:https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2007.6.1.33
Schulze, E., & Tomal, A. (2006). The chilly classroom: Beyond gender. College Teaching, 54(3), 263-270. doi:https://doi.org/10.3200/ctch.54.3.263-270
Schwalbe, M., & Wolkomir, M. (2001). The masculine self as problem and resource in interview studies of men. Men and Masculinities, 4(1), 90-103. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x01004001005
Smith, J. (1995). Semi-structured interviewing and qualitative analysis. In Smith, J. A., & Langenhove, L.V. (Eds.), Rethinking methods in psychology. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Stoet, G., O’Connor, D. B., Conner, M., & Laws, K. R. (2013). Are women better than men at multi-tasking? BMC Psychology, 1(1), 18. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/2050-7283-1-18
Tatiyanantakul, W. (2017). Urban tour tet’s urban talk; guidelines for tourism promotion by cultural heritage on urban landscape in Roi Et province, Thailand. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(4), 200-210. doi:https://doi.org/10.26500/jarssh-02-2017-0305
Weber, M. (2017). Methodology of social sciences. London, UK: Routledge.
Willis, J. W., Jost, M., & Nilakanta, R. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. New York, NY: Sage.
Wu, J. (2015). Gender. In C. Schlund-Vials, L. Vo, & Wong, K. (Eds.), Keywords for Asian American studies. New York, NY: NYU Press.
Xu, F., Liu, W., Rose Chepyator-Thomson, J., & Schmidlein, R. (2018). Relations of physical activity and stress
vulnerability in university students. College Student Journal, 52(1), 65-73. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336x10381308
Aléx, L., & Hammarström, A. (2008). Shift in power during an interview situation: Methodological reflections inspired by foucault and bourdieu. Nursing Inquiry, 15(2), 169-176. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1800.2008.00398.x
Arendell, T. (1997). Reflections on the researcher-researched relationship: A woman interviewing men. Qualitative Sociology, 20(3), 341-368. doi:https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024727316052
Baker, S. (2017). Times higher education dropout rate for young UK students rises again. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/3bLFVHV
Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of personality. In L. Pervin & O. John (Ed.), Handbook of personality. New York, NY: Guilford Publications.
Baxter, J. (2016). Positioning language and identity: Poststructuralist perspectives. In S. Preece (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of language and identity. London, UK: Routledge.
Briggs, C. L. (1986). Learning how to ask: A sociolinguistic appraisal of the role of the interview in social science research. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Bryman, A. (2016). Social research methods. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Clark, E. J., & Rieker, P. P. (1986). Gender differences in relationships and stress of medical and law students. Journal of Medical Education, 6(1), 32-40. doi:https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-198601000-00004
Clifton, R. A., Perry, R. P., Roberts, L. W., & Peter, T. (2008). Gender, psychosocial dispositions, and the academic achievement of college students. Research in Higher Education, 49(8), 684-703. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-008-9104-9
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2002). Research methods in education. London, UK: Routledge.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. New York, NY: Sage.
Daly, K. (1992). Parenthood as problematic: Insider interviews with couples seeking to adopt. In: Gilgun, J. F., Daly, K., & Handel, G. (Eds), Qualitative methods in family research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Denovan, A., & Macaskill, A. (2013). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of stress and coping in first year undergraduates. British Educational Research Journal, 39(6), 1002-1024. doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3019
Denzin, N., & Lincoln, Y. (2018). The qualitative research. New York, NY: Sage Publisher.
Enosh, G., & Buchbinder, E. (2005). The interactive construction of narrative styles in sensitive interviews: The case of domestic violence research. Qualitative Inquiry, 11(4), 588-617. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405275054
Ethical guidelines for Educational Research. (2011). Ethical guidelines for educational research. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2vEHgQj
Fraenza, C. B. (2016). The role of social influence in anxiety and the imposter phenomenon. Online Learning, 20(2), 230-243. doi:https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v20i2.618
Greasley, K. (1998). Does gender affect students’ approaches to learning? In Brown, S., Armstrong, S., & Thompson, G. (Eds.), Motivating students. London, UK: Kogan Page.
Hadjar, A., & Buchmann, C. (2016). Education systems and gender inequalities in educational attainment. In Hadjar A. & Gross C. (Eds.), Education systems and inequalities: International comparisons. Bristol, UK: University of Bristol Press.
Hammersley, M. (2003). Recent radical criticism of interview studies: Any implications for the sociology of education? British Journal of Sociology of Education, 24(1), 119-126. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01425690301906
Hayes, E. (1992). Students’ perceptions of women and men as learners in higher education. Research in Higher Education, 33(3), 377-393. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00992266
Holland, J., & Thomson, R. (2006). A qualitative longitudinal dataset on young people growing up in England and northern. Retrieved from https://bit.ly/2P0VpOv
Holmes, B., Waterbury, T., Baltrinic, E., & Davis, A. (2018). Angst about academic writing: Graduate students at the brink. Contemporary Issues in Education Research, 11(2), 67-72. doi:https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v11i2.10149
Jackson, C. (2003). Transitions into higher education: Gendered implications for academic self-concept. Oxford Review of Education, 29(3), 331-346. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/03054980307448
Joas, H., & Knöbl, W. (2009). Social theory: Twenty introductory lectures. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Johnston, M. S. (2016). Men can change: Transformation, agency, ethics and closure during critical dialogue in interviews. Qualitative Research, 16(2), 131-150. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794115569561
Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An introduction to qualitive research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kvale, S. (2005). The dominance of dialogical interview research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(3), 480-500.
Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Levi, U., Einav, M., Ziv, O., Raskind, I., & Margalit, M. (2014). Academic expectations and actual achievements: The roles of hope and effort. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(3), 367-386. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-013-0203-4
Lijano, H. B. (2018). Motivational factors on learning in a constructivist classroom: A strategy on learning from 21st century learners. International Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, 4(2), 85-95. doi:https://doi.org/10.20469/ijhss.4.10003-2
Miller, G., & Dingwall, R. (1997). Context and method in qualitative research. New Yor, NY: Sage.
Monro, S. (2005). Gender politics: Citizenship, activism and sexual diversity. California, CA: Pluto Press.
Morgan, J. (2013). Women ’better at multitasking’ than men. Retrieved from https://bbc.in/3bRlTvJ
Ogunkunle, S. J. (2018). Future career interest in science, gender and students’ acquisition of science process skills in basic science in Oyo state, Nigeria. Journal of Advances in Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(4), 175-182. doi:https://doi.org/10.20474/jahss-4.4.3
Pini, B. (2005). Interviewing men: Gender and the collection and interpretation of qualitative data. Journal of Sociology, 41(2), 201-216. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783305053238
Ponelis, S. R. (2015). Using interpretive qualitative case studies for exploratory research in doctoral studies: A case of information systems research in small and medium enterprises. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 10(1), 535-550. doi:ttps://doi.org/10.28945/2339
Potter, J., & Hepburn, A. (2005). Qualitative interviews in psychology: Problems and possibilities. Qualitative research in Psychology, 2(4), 281-307. doi:https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088705qp045oa
Ramazanoglu, C. (1993). Up against foucault. London, UK: Routledge.
Robson, J., Francis, B., & Read, B. (2004). Gender, student confidence and communicative styles at university: The views of lecturers in history and psychology. Studies in Higher Education, 29(1), 7-23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/1234567032000164840
Roulston, K. (2006). Close encounters of the ‘ca’kind: A review of literature analysing talk in research interviews. Qualitative Research, 6(4), 515-534.doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794106068021
Sander, P., & Sanders, L. (2007). Gender, psychology students and higher education. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 6(1), 33-36. doi:https://doi.org/10.2304/plat.2007.6.1.33
Schulze, E., & Tomal, A. (2006). The chilly classroom: Beyond gender. College Teaching, 54(3), 263-270. doi:https://doi.org/10.3200/ctch.54.3.263-270
Schwalbe, M., & Wolkomir, M. (2001). The masculine self as problem and resource in interview studies of men. Men and Masculinities, 4(1), 90-103. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184x01004001005
Smith, J. (1995). Semi-structured interviewing and qualitative analysis. In Smith, J. A., & Langenhove, L.V. (Eds.), Rethinking methods in psychology. London, UK: Sage Publications.
Stoet, G., O’Connor, D. B., Conner, M., & Laws, K. R. (2013). Are women better than men at multi-tasking? BMC Psychology, 1(1), 18. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/2050-7283-1-18
Tatiyanantakul, W. (2017). Urban tour tet’s urban talk; guidelines for tourism promotion by cultural heritage on urban landscape in Roi Et province, Thailand. Journal of Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(4), 200-210. doi:https://doi.org/10.26500/jarssh-02-2017-0305
Weber, M. (2017). Methodology of social sciences. London, UK: Routledge.
Willis, J. W., Jost, M., & Nilakanta, R. (2007). Foundations of qualitative research: Interpretive and critical approaches. New York, NY: Sage.
Wu, J. (2015). Gender. In C. Schlund-Vials, L. Vo, & Wong, K. (Eds.), Keywords for Asian American studies. New York, NY: NYU Press.
Xu, F., Liu, W., Rose Chepyator-Thomson, J., & Schmidlein, R. (2018). Relations of physical activity and stress
vulnerability in university students. College Student Journal, 52(1), 65-73. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1356336x10381308
Published
2019-12-31
Section
Articles
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