Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies

Learning from Strangers is the definitive work on qualitative research interviewing. It draws on Robert Weiss's thirty years of experience interviewing and teaching others how to do it. Through those years, Dr. Weiss has shown consummate skill at eliciting insightful, deeply felt responses when interviewing for his successful books on such diverse topics as doing well at work, coping with marital separation, and loneliness. The most effective interviews, says Weiss, rely on creating cooperation - an open and trusting alliance between interviewer and respondent, dedicated to specific and honest accounts of both internal and external events.
Against the eclectic background of his work in national sample surveys, studies based on semi-structured interviewing, and participant observation, Weiss walks the reader through the method of qualitative interview studies: sample selection, development of an interview guide, the conduct of the interview, analysis, and preparation of data. Weiss gives examples of successful and less successful interviews, enhanced by a sidebar of his own running commentary on how each interaction between interviewer and respondent inhibits or promotes this essential alliance. He offers specific techniques and guidelines - equally helpful to the seasoned professional or beginning graduate student - which he has found useful over many years of asking people to "tell me about it."
Learning from Strangers is a reference guide, an essential text, and a memoir of the experience of doing research. It recounts the emotional experience of being interviewed, the likelihood of respondents telling the truth, and the ethical defensibility of interviewing. Qualitative interview materials have helped Weiss bring to readers the pain of bereavement, the desperate restlessness of loneliness, and the confusions attendant on divorce. Learning from Strangers will be useful to all those who use qualitative research interviews to gather data.

Dr. Robert S. Weiss is Director of the Work and Family Research Unit and Research Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.