Because We Have the Responsibility of Care in Qualitative Method Training. Vulnerability and Diversity-Appropriate Support for Student Researchers

Abstract

In our teaching and research practice, we made the following observations: In interview processes, actors (interviewers and interviewees) are first, vulnerable. Second, there is a lack of empirical research on those who are experienced doing interviews in the interview setting. Third, teachers have a responsibility of care towards students within practical method training (here: interviews), which is hardly adequately fulfilled in Germany.

Due to these observations, we want to make visible a problem—vulnerability and lack of diversity-appropriate support for student researchers—in qualitative research and suggest that appropriate supervision concepts are necessary to solve this problem. Based on the ethnographic strategy of "discovery" (BREIDENSTEIN et al., p.13), we will focus on empirical situations and challenges faced by students when collecting data on "gender and weight," and we will consider care towards students in teaching as a possible diversity-appropriate practice.

The considerations are based on the thematic evaluation of 79 out of 131 research reports on the experienced process of doing interviews by students who conducted biographical interviews with (formerly) fat people in the context of a methods seminar.  Finally, diversity training, supervision and/or coaching are discussed as useful instruments of qualitative knowledge transfer in academic (further) education.