Day Thirteen: Labor and Interviewing

SDS 237: Data Ethnography

Lindsay Poirier
Statistical & Data Sciences, Smith College

Fall 2023

You are scheduled to interview an AI “ghost worker.” What is one question you might ask them to deepen understanding of the social configurations of their work?

Turn to a neighbor and discuss:

  • How would the response to this question deepen understanding of the cultural underpinnings of a data infrastructure?

Reading Discussion

When do ethnographers interview…

  • To gather historical narratives based on insider knowledge
  • To gather detail about how people narrate their activities/work
  • To ascertain individual assumptions and commitments
  • To deepen understanding of how people see themselves fitting into their social worlds and how they communicate that

Things to keep in mind…

  • Interviews are co-constructed by the interviewer and the interviewee

What does that mean? Why does it matter?

  • Interviews are not aiming to get at the “truth” of events but to capture how people narrate them

What does that mean? Why does it matter?

Qualitative Interviews

  • Involve open-ended questions seeking in-depth explanations and articulations
  • Are often semi-structured
    • Enables researchers to follow-up, asking the hows and the whys
    • Allows the interviewee the flexibility to communicate from their perspective

Preparing for an interview

  • Identify an individual that can provide unique perspective
  • Reach out to that individual requesting an interview (See recruitment email in GitHub as template)
  • Coordinate a date, time, and location for the interview. If conducting through Zoom, create a shared meeting link. Note how location matters for the tone of the interview.
  • Ask interviewee to sign informed consent form (see attachment in GitHub)
  • Conduct background research on the individual being interviewed and the institutions they are a part of.
  • Create an interview guide - with framing questions and transitions.

How might we structure the flow of an interview? What kinds of questions do we start with and end with?

Interview Guides

  • General flow:
    • Start with more general question and move to more specific questions
    • Start with more matter-of-fact questions and move to more intimate questions as you build trust
    • Close with a few lighter questions that prepare for friendly conclusion
  • Preparing the guide:
    • Write more interview questions than you will have time to get to.
    • Group questions according to similar topics and themes.
    • Prepare transitions for moving between topics.

Framing Questions

  • Ask questions that encourage elaboration and description.
  • Consider how to frame questions so that they make sense to the interviewee:
    • My research question: What values inform your data work?
    • My interview questions:
      • What motivated you get involved in this work?
      • Who were your primary inspirations in this area and why?
      • What theorists/books were you reading as you got involved in this work? Do you find that relevant to your work today?

During the Interview

  • Thank the individual for joining, introduce yourself, and remind them of the purpose of the interview
  • Start the recording, and state your name, the date/time, the location, and the person being interviewed
  • Confirm on the recording that the interviewee agrees to be interviewed
  • Draw questions from the interview guide that maintain the overall flow of the interview. Regularly ask interviewees to elaborate by asking “how?” and “why?” questions.
  • Takes notes on things the recording can’t pick up on (e.g. Body language, Tone, Things you are reminded of as they’re speaking)

Engaging during the Interview

  • Engage in active listening (direct eye contact, nodding)
  • Don’t rush the interviewee to move onto a new question.
  • If the conversation veers allow it momentarily and then politely redirect it with a statement like, “I’d like to return to what you were saying about… Can you describe…?”
  • Preface difficult conversations, and offer breaks if appropriate.
  • Don’t try and finish an interviewee’s sentences.
  • Avoid explicitly sharing personal opinions on what they’ve said.
  • Contemplate ways to reframe questions that an interviewee evades, exaggerates, or provides limited information on.

Questions to consider:

  • Why does Biruk refer to the fieldworkers as “knowledge workers”? What kind of ethnographic move is this?
  • Biruk continuously refers to “boundary work” in this chapter? Can you extrapolate what she means by this? What are the effects of enacting boundary work in fieldwork?
  • What is “local knowledge”? How do credibility contests around “local knowledge” play out in this chapter?