Conducting life history interviews: a how-to guide
This ‘how to’ guide has been developed to guide researchers, step-by-step, through the process of using the life history approach to conduct interviews. Life histories have been applied in various contexts to understand how, why and when people move through periods of vulnerability and resilience. The idea for the development of this handbook arose following a series of life history interviews that were conducted in India, Ghana, Kenya and Namibia under the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions (ASSAR) research project.
The valuable experiences that were had by the ASSAR researchers who undertook these in-depth interviews inspired them to share their practical knowledge, which has been documented herein. The advice provided is generalised, to ensure that it is accessible and useful to researchers working in many different fields. However, certain points are emphasized through the use of examples that link to the ASSAR researcher’s work on mobility as a livelihood strategy to adapt to the impacts of climate variability and change.
The following section looks at what a life history approach essentially is, why it is useful and what its possible limitations are. The main body of the guide, which documents the interview process itself, is split into three sections:
- Before: how to prepare for your fieldwork
- During: how to conduct life history interviews
- After: what to do with your data once leaving the field
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