ABSTRACT
This chapter uses shorthand label for the self-conscious application of interviewing techniques inspired by ordinary language philosophy. The purpose of the ordinary language interview is to look at language in use-to engage the interviewee in a conversation and, within that conversation, to provide the person with occasions to use particular words of interest in ways that reveal their various meanings. Although the ordinary language interview is open ended, it is nevertheless structured to the extent that it is designed to expose the meanings of words through deliberate questioning strategies. Ordinary language interviewing is all the more helpful when the people under investigation are from a culture different from one's own, when there are significant differences between their intentions and one's own. Cultural differences, after all, often exist among speakers of the same language. Consequently, it can be revealing to examine whether the use of particular terms varies across subcultures of one's own language community.
