Joint and Individual Interviewing in the Context of Cancer

Abstract

Joint interviewing lies somewhere between individual in-depth interviews and focus groups in the panoply of qualitative methodology, yet it has been little explored or described in health research. This article sets out to reflect on the process of choosing to combine joint and individual interviews in the context of a study on the needs of cancer patients and their carers. Questions of intrusion, inclusion, power, and difference caused the researchers to refine their research methods and become more responsive to the preferences of their participants. The article goes on to describe the kind of data generated by joint interviewing and to consider questions of analysis. The author concludes by suggesting that in appropriate circumstances, joint interviewing offers a valuable method of enquiry.

Patient and caregiver perspectives on managing pain in advanced cancer: A qualitative longitudinal study

“…Dyadic interviews sought to explore the collective, inter-dependent perspective of patient and caregiver in pain understanding and management 20,21 .…”

Heterosexual couples and prostate cancer support groups: a gender relations analysis

“…Interviewees received an honorarium of $20 and were advised that the interview was an opportunity for us to better understand their experiences related to PCa as well as their relationship in the context of PCa supportive care and PCSGs. Whilst there are benefits and drawbacks to both individual and conjoint interview formats [29,30], individual interviews were conducted because when couples are interviewed together one partner may dominate to produce a simplified 'official' account [31]. Interview questions which were the focus of this analysis included: How has PCa influenced your relationship and supportive care needs?…”

Gender, Intra-Household Dynamics, and Household Hurricane Preparedness: An Exploratory Study Employing a Dyadic Interview Approach

“…There is a growing interest in the dyadic interview format (Thompson and Walker 1982;Morris 2001;Morgan et al 2013;Caldwell 2014). According to Eisikovits and Koren (2010), there are five types of dyadic interview datacollection modalities: separate interviews, separate interviews performed simultaneously by different interviewers, joint interviews, both separate and joint interviews with the same participants, and separate interviews with some informants and joint interviews with others.…”