Telling the difficult things: Creating spaces for disclosure, rapport and ‘collusion’ in qualitative interviews

Abstract

Qualitative interviews continue to offer an established way to collect rich data about everyday experiences of the social world. It is also recognised that data collected during face-to-face interviews are the product of a social interaction with co-constructive elements. Reflection on the research process and methodological transparency, have become mainstays of rigorous qualitative research practice, facilitating critical assessment of research findings. But in what ways can and do researchers co-construct interview accounts and what happens once data are collected? This paper focuses on what happens during the interview, for example the creation of spaces and endurance of silences, or supportive comments made in order to invite and allow disclosures, and what happens around the interview encounter. Do ‘permissions’ to voice difficult, challenging experiences amount to collusion or just good, effective interviewing technique? How/do research relationships – including experiences of power – shift within and around the interview and when does ‘rapport’ cease?