CHE Principles: facilitating authentic and dialogical semi-structured interviews in educational research

• Published in: International journal of research & method in education 2019-01, Vol.42 (1), p.76-90
• Main Authors: Brown, Alice, Danaher, Patrick A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Decision Making; Educational Research; Empathy; Foreign Countries; Interpersonal Relationship; qualitative methods; rapport-building; relationships; Semi Structured Interviews; Values
• ISSN: 1743-727X; 1743-7288
• DOI: 10.1080/1743727X.2017.1379987

This paper examines the values of the CHE principles of Connectivity, Humanness and Empathy as a guiding framework for maximizing the ethical and methodological advantages of semi-structured interview research practices. The authors draw from two separate educational studies and apply the CHE principles to analyse and evaluate the effectiveness of decision-making in facilitating sustainable relationships with the participants in each study. Findings highlight that dialogical relations with participants were evident in both studies, and identify significant junctures where decision-making and actions influenced effective rapport-building and respectful and reciprocal relationships with participants in the research. The CHE principles emerge as providing a robust framework for educational researchers to employ when auditing their decision-making prior to and during their engagement in qualitative interviews.