Any lack of candor with reference to how I approach my interview is unethical. If I am interviewing a professor about online learning vs. what he does in classrooms, of course I don't need to go into deep, involved detail about what I might do if "a" or "b" occurs during the interview; but a forthright introduction to my intentions is the best ethical approach. TWO) No apologies need to be made in advance even though, let's say, the interview is to be with a housewife who has to babies at home and can't attend classes at the local community college. She may be suspicious of a college student's intentions. Consent is usually based on what the researcher plans to do with the information; my honest answer is, "I'm doing this for a research class and none of the information will be published or made public in any way." If she asks to see the report before I submit it, I cannot agree to that. THREE) the gatekeeper in this instance is the husband of the online student. My job is to present myself initially as a neutral, positive, well-groomed person on an assignment, and approach him with confidence, knowing he may be skeptical about my intentions. He is a friend of an employee at the university, and the employee...
FOUR) in a qualitative research genre, the interview is vital to my understanding of the "real world" of people and education. I must take into consideration the fact that the participant is ashamed that she barely got through high school, and I need to approach her with easy, friendly questions at the outset of the interview. Yes, her gender and her social position are pertinent to the tone of the questions I have prepared. She may be a little defensive in discussing why she is taking classes, so I will focus on what interesting things she has come across in her studies, to get the interview off to a good warm start.
Works Cited
Golafshani, Nahid. (2003). Understanding Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research.
The Qualitative Report, 8(4), 597-607.
Schram, T.H. (2006). Conceptualizing and proposing qualitative research. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Shank, G.D. (2006). Qualitative Research: A personal skills approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall
