Theorizing Qualitative Interviews: Two Autoethnographic Reconstructions

The present study takes a reflexive approach to the analysis of coordinated identity work in qualitative interviews in 2 study abroad (SA) contexts, Argentina and Germany. To do this, the authors bring together 2 autoethnographic projects and take a collaborative approach (Chang, Ngunjiri, & Hernandez, 2013; Lapadat, 2017) to the analysis of semi-structured interviews and identity memos (Maxwell, 2013) collected in their respective SA contexts. The results of an interactionally grounded analysis show that cross-sectionally, in qualitative interviews with SA students, different facets of one researcher's national identity became relevant and were contested, affecting how she approached this topic and her participants across multiple interviews. The results also show that longitudinally, in qualitative interviews with 1 SA student over time, different facets of the other researcher's professional identity became relevant and affected how she approached particular topics with her participant over time. The findings reveal that researcher identity work and the co-constructed nature of interviews result in qualitatively different interview data (e.g., in terms of elaboration, openness, and language use) made available for analysis.