Learning How to Ask: A Sociolinguistic Appraisal of the Role of the Interview in Social Science Research

Briggs provides an excellent approach for anyone who is interested in learning how to do interviews. In the first part of this book, he provides vivid and interesting examples that reveal ways in which tacit assumptions and implicit patterns of culture can influence interviewers to make mistakes in their research techniques. What is particularly inspiring about this book, is that Briggs refuses to throw up his hands in despair about the validity of field research. He shows how understanding cultural dynamics associated with interviewing can provide useful ways to develop stronger interviews. In sum, the cultural diversity that he documents provides a stepping stone for learning about others rather than an obstacle that prevents one from researching other individuals, groups, and communities. This book is a good antidote to the practice of ethnographic navel gazing, and it should be useful to folklorists, anthropologists, sociologists, reporters, and anyone else who learns and practices interview techniques.