The Listening Guide

Abstract

As qualitative researchers, our identities are inevitably mixed into our methodological approaches, and many of us secretly wonder about our roles and the quality of our listening. Researchers who are seeking a meaningful method of analysis that will honor the role of the researcher, and respect the voices and experiences of the human beings in their studies, will benefit from the multidisciplinary method of The Listening Guide (LG). The LG is a qualitative, relational, voice-centered, feminist methodology, predominantly used as a way to analyze interview transcripts. The LG differs from other means of analysis in that it places emphasis on the psychological complexities of humans through attention to voice. It does so through the creation and special analysis of voice poems as well as by attending to silences. The LG serves a very specific need in research analysis in the ways it honors the role of the researcher–researched relationship, the intricacies of voice and silence, and perhaps most importantly, unearthing trends which may have gone unnoticed. An explicit how-to guide does not exist. When researchers are new to a method, sometimes a more explicit how-to guide is necessary, and my intention is to share one in this article. In this article, I will share the democratic and multidisciplinary significance of the LG in how it matters right now, as well as a precise how-to guide on its utilization, and innovative examples of creative, interdisciplinary uses of the LG.