ABSTRACT
This chapter tries to parse some of the methodological issues that arise when social scientists use interviews for interpretive research. It also suggests the ways of thinking that might be helpful for contemplating the fit between interview methods and interpretive analytic goals. Some interviews are cool, professional interactions. Interpretive interviews, however, often take up topics because they are meaningful to participants and focus on what experiences mean to people at a more personal level. The interview setting itself can sometimes feel like an intimate conversation, and its open-ended format increases the odds that emotional issues will arise. Comparing across the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) programs, investigates the demand citizens make on government bureaucracies, the political relationships citizens have with particular types of government agencies and officials, and the consequences these relationships have for citizens' broader political orientations and behaviors.
