The Interview as a Technology for Understanding the Social World: The Case of Interviews About Race

Abstract

The interview is a technology used all over the world to learn about others’ lives, disseminate opinions, and construct narratives concerning the social world. While formerly a province of elite members of society prior to the 19th century, the interview became accessible to ordinary people everywhere over the past 150 years. In this article, we explore how the interview as a technology, although promising in its democratic possibilities, can marginalize, exclude, and misrepresent people. We examine interviews conducted in relation to one particular context in the United States: Forsyth County, Georgia. Through our examination of interviews conducted about race in public media over the last 50 years, we found that sometimes the ways interviewees were selected, interviewed, and represented reproduced and reified existing stereotypes and discourses surrounding the question of “why Forsyth County continued to be an all-White county” for much of the 20th century. Furthermore, when information sought focused solely on interviewees’ opinions and perspectives, critical dialogue did not occur. We argue that for research interviews on sensitive topics such as “race” to fulfill their democratic promise, researchers must intentionally design studies in ways that support research for social justice.