Interviewing the Interviewers: How Qualitative Professors Assess Interviews in Their Classes

Authors

Meredith C. Massey, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Leia K. Cain, University of TennesseeFollow

Abstract

When reviewing the literature relating to what instructors of qualitative research courses are teaching in their courses, we found a gap regarding qualitative faculty's motivations behind what they teach and whether they use teaching tools such as rubrics in their assessment practices. We utilized general qualitative methods to explore and describe how instructors of qualitative methodology courses conceptualize and design interview-based assessments. By conducting structured interviews with five faculty members, we embraced interpretivist descriptive traditions and sought to obtain thick, rich descriptions of each participant’s perspectives and experiences. After coding interview transcripts, we created themes to represent participant beliefs that (a) interview assignments are the most appropriate and comprehensive way to assess knowledge of qualitative research, (b) the design and/or use of rubrics for these assignments is complicated within qualitative coursework, and finally, that (c) thorough feedback is the most important aspect of providing high-quality instruction in qualitative research methods. We then summarize our findings and argue that with creative application and further research, qualitative faculty can benefit from the use rubrics to assess interview assignments in qualitative methods courses.

Keywords

rubrics, interview, assessment, qualitative pedagogy, interpretivist description, general qualitative research methods

Author Bio(s)

Meredith Massey, Ph.D. (https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4042-3977) is an evaluation associate at Synergy Evaluation Institute at the University of Tennessee and teaches introductory qualitative research methods courses as an adjunct. She holds a Ph.D. in Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology from UT as well. She mainly uses mixed methods in her program evaluations and qualitative methods in her current research. Her research interests include program evaluation, data visualization, and measurement. In her leisure time, Meredith enjoys spending time with family and dogs, playing disc golf, traveling, and reading fiction. Please direct correspondence to mcody@utk.edu

Leia Cain (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1302-8614) is an Assistant Professor in the Evaluation, Statistics, and Methodology program. She primarily utilizes qualitative and mixed methods research. Her areas of expertise include critical methods, narrative methods, interview methods, queer and feminist methods, and integration of qualitative and quantitative data and methods. Leia has presented at conferences in the United States, Japan, and Trinidad and Tobago. She currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer for the AERA Mixed Methods Special Interest Group and as co-chair of the Mixed Methods International Research Association's MOOC Committee. When not working, Leia enjoys painting, traveling, and spending time with her family and dogs.

Publication Date

9-4-2024

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6041

Recommended APA Citation

Massey, M. C., & Cain, L. K. (2024). Interviewing the Interviewers: How Qualitative Professors Assess Interviews in Their Classes. The Qualitative Report, 29(8), 2223-2238. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6041

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4042-3977; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1302-8614