10 STANDARD OBJECTIONS TO QUALITATIVE RESEARCH INTERVIEWS

Qualitative research has tended to evoke rather stereotyped objections from the mainstream of social science. Ten standardized responses to the stimulus ''qualitative research interview'' are discussed: it is n ot scientific, not objective, not trustworthy, nor reliable, not inter subjective, not a formalized method, not hypothesis testing, not quant itative, not generalizable, and not valid. With the objections to qual itative interviews highly predictable, they may be taken into account when designing, reporting, and defending an interview study. As a help for new qualitative researchers, some of the issues, concepts, and ar guments involved are outlined, and the relevancy of the standard objec tions is discussed. Alternative conceptions of qualitative research, c oming from phenomenological and hermeneutical traditions, are suggeste d. The qualitative interview based on conversation and interaction her e appears as a privileged access to a linguistically constituted socia l world.