How to Conduct Interpretive Research
Insights for Students and Researchers
Published on 18. July 2025
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-0353-1398-3 (ISBN)
Description
This innovative book provides valuable insights into the processes and methodologies of interpretive research. Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan bring together contributors at different stages of their careers to share their experiences of writing, supervising, and examining both interpretive and critical PhDs.
Chapters analyse how to approach an interpretive research path, demonstrating how this can differ from conventional dissertations and projects. Academics discuss the experiences and challenges of fieldwork, including detailed case studies such as indigenous land claims in Cambodia, and research 'by proxy' in Myanmar. Einfeld and Sullivan emphasise the importance of flexibility in interpretive approaches and challenge the traditional narrative that emotions are separate from research, advocating for a thoughtful and rigorous approach to produce stronger results. The book also assesses the expectations of supervisors and examiners and explores what a career as an interpretive researcher can look like.
How to Conduct Interpretive Research is a vital resource for academic researchers and students, particularly new PhD students who are considering different research paths. Its focus on political science, international relations, and social sciences also make this prime readership for scholars of these disciplines.
Chapters analyse how to approach an interpretive research path, demonstrating how this can differ from conventional dissertations and projects. Academics discuss the experiences and challenges of fieldwork, including detailed case studies such as indigenous land claims in Cambodia, and research 'by proxy' in Myanmar. Einfeld and Sullivan emphasise the importance of flexibility in interpretive approaches and challenge the traditional narrative that emotions are separate from research, advocating for a thoughtful and rigorous approach to produce stronger results. The book also assesses the expectations of supervisors and examiners and explores what a career as an interpretive researcher can look like.
How to Conduct Interpretive Research is a vital resource for academic researchers and students, particularly new PhD students who are considering different research paths. Its focus on political science, international relations, and social sciences also make this prime readership for scholars of these disciplines.
Reviews / Votes
'In an age where computational methods dominate the social sciences, this book offers a timely and vital reminder of the power and necessity of deep, situated interpretation. Through rich, reflective accounts of interpretive fieldwork, it demonstrates how meaning emerges not from data alone, but through engaged, context-sensitive inquiry. For anyone grappling with the tension between mechanistic analysis and the lived realities of research participants, this volume is both a guide and an inspiration.' -- Anna Durnova, University of Vienna, Austria 'This carefully curated volume on the conduct of interpretive research is organized around key themes that evince the strengths of this approach, such as the analytic opportunities that a flexible research design offers, the productive role of emotions in research, and the generative value of self-reflection. With this captivating book Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan have done the field an invaluable service.' -- Hendrik Wagenaar, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna 'As interpretive social science advances to the forefront of methodological discussions, there is a growing need for a volume that clearly explicates the nature of such research and how to carry it out. To this end, the prominent contributors to this excellent collection offer a comprehensive and accessible go-to book for both scholars and students.' -- Frank Fischer, Humboldt University, GermanyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-0353-1398-3 (9781035313983)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan, College of Asia and Pacific, The Australian National University
Content
Contents
Foreword xi
Introduction to How to Conduct Interpretive Research 1
Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan
1 Doing fieldwork in interpretive research: encounters online,
offline, and in the spaces in-between 16
Berit Bliesemann de Guevara and Louise Ridden
2 Kairotic meshwork - thesis-making enacted in the selvedge 32
Tamara Mulherin
3 Moving in and out of the field: discourse, logics, and critical
explanation 48
Steven Griggs and David Howarth
4 When creativity meets pragmatism: an experiential account
of conducting document analysis and interviews for an
interpretive project 65
Hali Aprimadya
5 Fieldwork experience about Indigenous land claims and
livelihood reconfigurations in the upland regions of Cambodia 80
Sarou Long
6 Emotions in interpretive research 94
Helen Sullivan
7 Policy translation in interpretive policy research: insights
from a think tank in Thailand 107
Pobsook Chamchong and Piyapong Boossabong
8 Preserving the craft: reflections on teaching an interpretive
methods spring school 124
John Boswell, Jack Corbett, Tamara Metze and R. A. W. Rhodes
9 Observations on supervision - navigation and negotiation 135
Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan
10 Don't overcook the turkey: how to avoid overstructuring
interpretive research 148
Stephen Jeffares
11 Examining interpretive theses: a personal reflection 162
Sophie Yates and Janine O'Flynn
Conclusion to How to Conduct Interpretive Research: what's next? 176
Helen Sullivan and Colette Einfeld
Foreword xi
Introduction to How to Conduct Interpretive Research 1
Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan
1 Doing fieldwork in interpretive research: encounters online,
offline, and in the spaces in-between 16
Berit Bliesemann de Guevara and Louise Ridden
2 Kairotic meshwork - thesis-making enacted in the selvedge 32
Tamara Mulherin
3 Moving in and out of the field: discourse, logics, and critical
explanation 48
Steven Griggs and David Howarth
4 When creativity meets pragmatism: an experiential account
of conducting document analysis and interviews for an
interpretive project 65
Hali Aprimadya
5 Fieldwork experience about Indigenous land claims and
livelihood reconfigurations in the upland regions of Cambodia 80
Sarou Long
6 Emotions in interpretive research 94
Helen Sullivan
7 Policy translation in interpretive policy research: insights
from a think tank in Thailand 107
Pobsook Chamchong and Piyapong Boossabong
8 Preserving the craft: reflections on teaching an interpretive
methods spring school 124
John Boswell, Jack Corbett, Tamara Metze and R. A. W. Rhodes
9 Observations on supervision - navigation and negotiation 135
Colette Einfeld and Helen Sullivan
10 Don't overcook the turkey: how to avoid overstructuring
interpretive research 148
Stephen Jeffares
11 Examining interpretive theses: a personal reflection 162
Sophie Yates and Janine O'Flynn
Conclusion to How to Conduct Interpretive Research: what's next? 176
Helen Sullivan and Colette Einfeld