Interviewing friends and the feminist research process

Abstract

Feminist analysis of the interview process has largely focused on the developing relationship between the researcher and the researched, rather than the implications of a pre-existing relationship for this method. These implications are explored in this paper. This discussion emerges from my reflections, as a feminist researcher, on interviewing my friends. Though in-depth interviews may be successful due to interview technique, women’s willingness to be interviewed, shared gender and experience, I will argue that pre-existing friendship adds a unique dimension to the research with implications for the researcher, the researched and the feminist research process. The ‘friendly’ interview is positioned within the context of the friendship, rather than the research, providing a basis for exploring issues of pre-existing knowledge and power relationships within the interview.