Eight Issues to Think About Before Interviewing Farmers

Authors

  • Geoff Kuehne University of Melbourne

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-17.2.2421

Keywords:

rapport, insider, outsider, reflection, identity, farmer, interview

Abstract

This article is based on my personal experience and understanding of conducting research interviews with farmers. It incorporates ethnographic fiction—an approach to writing that is based on first-hand accounts—to examine some of the issues that researchers might think about before interviewing farmers. Research interviews with farmers are unique events because farmers are a sub-cultural group located in a particular landscape, which means that they have quite different experiences, behaviors, and motivations to academic researchers. It is hard to build an understanding of conducting research interviews with farmers other than by doing them. The article focuses on what, for me, were the eight most important issues around interviewing farmers that I had to grapple with. Discussing these issues may add to potential interviewers' understanding of some of the issues with farmer interviews and result in improved interaction and co-operation with them.

URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1602205

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Author Biography

Geoff Kuehne, University of Melbourne

Geoff KUEHNE, Dr., is a consultant working for a range of Australian and international organizations. He has conducted numerous social research projects involving all of the principal Australian agricultural industries. His experience also includes agricultural research activities in India, South-East Asia and the Pacific. His research is focused on understanding the socio-cultural influences on the decision-making of family farmers and smallholder farmers in developed and developing countries.

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Published

2016-05-10

How to Cite

Kuehne, G. (2016). Eight Issues to Think About Before Interviewing Farmers. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 17(2). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-17.2.2421

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Section

Single Contributions