Walking interviews in organizational research

Bilsland, K. and Siebert, S. (2024) Walking interviews in organizational research. European Management Journal, 42(2), pp. 161-172. (doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2023.04.008)

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.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This work was supported by funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account ES/MS500471.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bilsland, Dr Karen and Keston-Siebert, Professor Sabina
• Authors: Bilsland, K., and Siebert, S.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: European Management Journal
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0263-2373
• ISSN (Online): 1873-5681
• Published Online: 22 April 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in European Management Journal 42(2):161-172
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
190784		Impact Acceleration Account 2014	Jonathan Cooper	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/M500471/1	ED - Education