Nonconventional Methodologies for Researching Human-Nonhuman Relations: Using the Walking Interview with a Phenomenological Approach

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chihaia, Stefania, author.

Series:

SAGE Research Methods Cases

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sociology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource. illustrations.

Place of Publication:

London : SAGE Publications Ltd, 2024.

Summary:

This methods case discusses the use of the walking interview as a research instrument in the study of human-nonhuman relations, using a phenomenological approach. Specifically, this study is concerned with humans' lived relationships with more-than-human nature and proposes a methodology that challenges the discursive and material habits that are prominent in social science research. Drawing on the author's interdisciplinary doctoral research project, it lays out the explanation for choosing the methodology; the advantages conferred by a phenomenological methodology, while also acknowledging its limitations; the unique implications and benefits of conducting interviews while walking through spaces of interest; and the rationale behind choosing the research setting (urban parks). The author describes the experience and the technical aspects of talking-while-walking in the park during interviews, with a focus on participants' experiences, and discusses the contribution of the embodied, situated knowledges that emerge as a result of this approach. Further, this case delves into the researcher's personal engagement with the phenomenon being studied, and the influence of her own embodiment and situatedness through all steps of the research process. Lastly, the author offers her personal reflections on the research possibilities opened up by phenomenological inquiry into participants' sensuous experience and engagement-specifically, their engagement with the broader ecological environment of which they are a part.

Notes:

Description based on XML content.

ISBN:

1-5296-8419-6

9781529684193

OCLC:

1418720653