Interviews

The qualitative interviews conducted in various NaDiRa sub-projects were based on previously created guidelines that provide a thematic framework for the discussions. It is important to keep the content of the interview open. This gives the interviewees room to set their own topics and priorities within the framework of their research interests (open/narrative/guide-based).

The method in brief

In the projects Racism in medical training and Opportunities and hurdles of racism-related counseling work, interviews are conducted with people who are directly/potentially affected by racism (patients from the communities, medical students and doctors). In addition, interviews are conducted with experts on the topic of racism in healthcare and also with actors from the field of counseling affected persons. Barriers to accessing the field and recruiting participants often play a significant role here. Depending on the interview context and form, the statements are assigned to different levels of knowledge (interpretive knowledge, process knowledge, expert knowledge) and sometimes supplemented or mirrored with other methodological approaches to the field (e.g. document review and analysis).

In the project Institutional Racism in Daycare Centers, Berlin experts, managers and pedagogical specialists in early childhood education are asked about their experiences with the allocation of daycare places and participation in education in semi-structured or guideline-based interviews. The interviews are conducted both with educational professionals who are privileged by racism and with professionals who are themselves affected by racist discrimination. This is intended to reflect different perspectives on the effects of institutional racism in the daycare center. In this context, the position of the researchers must also be taken into account in order to ensure that the exchange with the interviewees is as open as possible. The interviews are supplemented by elements of participant observation (e.g. in everyday pedagogical situations, selection interviews for the allocation of daycare places, etc.) to ensure that indirect and non-obvious forms of racist discrimination are also recorded.

The data collected will be evaluated from an intersectional research perspective, based on grounded theory approaches, using an inductive-deductive analysis method. In addition to the mechanisms of institutional racism, other dimensions of discrimination (e.g. sexism, adultism, etc.) can also be taken into account.

Further questions about the method

The sensitivity and subjectivity of interview data can be seen as an ethical and methodological challenge and (methodological) limitation. At the same time, especially with regard to interviews with racialized people, it can be an opportunity to shed light on individual and collective perspectives and social mechanisms that are largely ignored or even invisible in quantitative research.

Contact persons

Dr. Seyran Bostancı

Dr. Seyran Bostancı

Research assistant
Research Group "Democracy Promotion and Democratic Practice"
Photo Rosa Burç

Rosa Burç

Research Associate
Department Migration &
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor
Felicia Boma Lazaridou

Felicia Boma Lazaridou

Research Associate
Department Consensus & Conflict &
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor
Photo Dr. Tanita Jill Pöggel

Dr. Tanita Jill Pöggel

Research assistant
Expert Group "Democracy Promotion and Democratic Practice" &
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor
Photo Dr. Hans Vogt

Dr. Hans Vogt

Research Associate
Department Integration &
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor
Benedikt Wirth

Benedikt Wirth

Research Associate
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor
Photo Esra Yula

Esra Yula

Research Associate
Department Migration &
National Discrimination and Racism Monitor