N.B. We require a fast turn-around for this one -- preferably within a
week.

JRP Submission ID#150
Title: Don't Walk, Walk: Exploring Space and Place With Walking Interviews
Section: Research Design
Submitted: October 14, 2008
Size: About 3500 words (including references)

ABSTRACT:
This paper explores the use of walking interviews in qualitative
research. In spite of a wave of interest in methods which take
interviewing out of the 'safe,' stationary environment, there has been
limited work critically examining the techniques for undertaking such
work. Curiously for a method which takes an explicitly spatial
approach, few projects have attempted to rigorously connect what
participants say with where they say it. The paper reviews three case
studies where the authors have used different techniques, including
GPS, for locating the interview in space. The paper concludes by
arguing that researchers considering using walking interviews need to
think carefully about what kinds of data they wish to generate when
deciding which approach to adopt.

KEYWORDS: walking interviews; go-along; mobile methods; GPS

EXCERPTS:
Whether considering movement by the participant or the researcher,
mobility takes the research process out of fixed (safe, controlled)
environments and introduces a range of new variables to consider. . . .

One of the key purposes of the go-along and walking interviews more
generally is to examine a participant's relationship with the
environment and yet spatial location is often dealt with rather
crudely. . . .

Clearly the ability to link words and location unlocks the potential
of walking interviews for tackling more explicitly spatial issues.
The authors have been working on a number of projects exploring some
of the technical challenges that this poses. This paper now examines
three case studies . . .

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Reviewers familiar with these issues may kindly respond.

DP
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