Walking interviews in organizational research

Karen Bilsland and Sabina Siebert

European Management Journal, 2024, vol. 42, issue 2, 161-172

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to discuss the benefits of walking interviews in organizational research. We discuss five specific strengths of walking interviews and compare them to sit-down interviews and shadowing. Cognisant of the importance of place within which research is conducted, we analyze the walking interview method of collecting research material, and we put forward socio-spatial methodology for application in organizational research. The key theme running through this paper is that the place where research takes place matters; it matters when the focus of research is on materiality of organizations, but it also yields insights into other (place-sensitive) organizational phenomena. We identify five strengths of walking interviews: co-creation of meaning, reversal of power between interviewer and interviewee, places as prompts, the interview as a sensory experience, and insights into emotions. We discuss limitations of walking interviews, as well as strategies for mitigating these limitations.

Keywords: Interviewing; Observational techniques; Qualitative research; Shadowing; Visual methods; Walking interviews (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eurman:v:42:y:2024:i:2:p:161-172

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DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2023.04.008

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