The Long Interview provides a systematic guide to the theory and methods of the long qualitative interview or intensive interviewing. It gives a clear explanation of one of the most powerful tools of the qualitative researcher. The volume begins with a general overview of the character and purpose of qualitative inquiry and a review of key issues. The author outlines the four steps of the long qualitative interview and how to judge quality. He then offers practical advice for those who commission and administer this research, including sample questionnaires and budgets to help readers design their own. The author introduces key theoretical and methodological issues, various research strategies, and a simple four-stage model of inquiry, from the design of an open-ended questionnaire to the write up of results.
Grant McCracken holds a PhD from the University of Chicago in anthropology. Headgear to the contrary, he is not a Yankees fan. (Go Pirates.)
He has been Director of the Institute of Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum, a senior lecturer, Harvard Business School, a visiting scholar, University of Cambridge and is now a research affiliate at C3 at MIT.
He has consulted for many companies, including the Coca-Cola Company, Diageo, IBM, IKEA, and Kimberly Clark. He has served on advisory boards for IBM and the Boston Beer Company.
This fall Grant will publish his latest book: Chief Culture Officer, with Basic Books.
