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“Native competence” in qualitative interviewing
Grit Laudel and Jochen Gläser
Research School of Social Sciences, Research Evaluation and Policy Project
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
e-mail: grit.## email not listed ##
1. Introduction
With this article, we want to discuss a methodological problem and its practical consequences
for qualitative interviewing. The problem is: To what extent do we have to acquire ‘native
competence’ in order to achieve sociological explanations, and how can this competence be
acquired when it is not provided by the field under study? If we need to acquire an “interpretive
understanding of social action” in order to achieve “a causal explanation of its course and
consequences” (Weber [1922] 1978: 4), than we routinely face the task of getting acquainted
with the life-world under study – be it a youth subculture, a firm, a community, or a scientific
field.
While the task of acquiring such an understanding is the same with regard to all parts of the
society we want to study, these parts differ in how knowledge about them can be obtained. There
are many social settings that are ‘self-explanatory’ in that all knowledge that is needed to be a
competent member can be found in the social setting itself. People enter these social settings
without any specific prior knowledge, and then acquire all the knowledge required for a member
of that setting by endogenous learning. Sociologists entering such a setting are in the same
situation, which means that they can acquire as much knowledge as any other prospective
member of the culture.
Other social settings are different in that being a competent member of the culture requires an
extended systematic prior training, a training the sociological observer usually cannot undergo.
This puts the observer at a disadvantage that cannot be overcome. Since exogenous learning is
necessary, sociological observers will not usually be able to perform the typical activities of the
studied culture. Length of stay in the field can significantly reduce the gap between a member’s
and an observer’s knowledge. However, the gap cannot be closed within the culture.
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One does
not become a scientist, lawyer, or medical doctor by staying in a laboratory, office or hospital for
a long time.
In this paper, we will address the general problem of understanding professionals and the
ramifications for qualitative interviewing. Our discussion is based on our own research in the
field of sociology of science, which is a good albeit extreme example for the problem at hand.
We will discuss three reasons why it is necessary to choose an informed position, and list two
major counterarguments (2). Using examples from our own research, we will then discuss the
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Ten Have’s (1995: 254-256) distinction between “the lay world” and “the professional world” is similar to ours.
However, we don’t believe that the problem can be reduced to the specific character of professions. Similar problems
occur when tacit knowledge would be required, as is the case in sports, or whenever a researcher cannot stay in a field
long enough to would acquire all the necessary knowledge.
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