Institutional Repertoires. A Methodological Reassessment of Interviews in the Study of Professional Discourses

Autori:

Cosmin TOTH

Cod: ISSN: 1583-3410 (print), ISSN: 1584-5397 (electronic)
Dimensiuni: pp. 168-181

How to cite this article:

Toth, C. (2016). Institutional Repertoires. A Methodological Reassessment of Interviews in the Study of Professional Discourses. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 54, 168-181.

Abstract:

The article puts forward a reassessment of the methodology employed in the interpretation of discourses elicited through the sociological interview technique, starting by examining the often taken for granted causal relationship between meaning and action. I start from discursive psychology theory and from some of the neo-institutionalism theories, arguing that there is no necessary link between people’s actions and a mental universe defined as stable and coherent. Interviews are often analysed in order to reconstruct coherent mental universes from the responses of the participants. As an alternative methodological stance, I formulate the hypothesis that interview statements might be seen as activated repertoires previously acquired in various interactional arenas in which the individual takes part. These discourses provide justifications and explanations, which, through reiteration, become consolidated as institutional discursive repertoires. I support this hypothesis with empirical evidence from a research based on double round interviews with twelve school counsellors from Bucharest. The first round focused on the professional theories of school counsellors, while the second one was centred on the ways in which they have dealt with difficult cases. The comparative analysis of discourses from the first and second rounds reveals a loose coupling between the theories and the actual actions of counsellors. I argue that the observed loose coupling is the result of employing different institutional repertoires in order to respond to the discursive challenges posed by the interviewer.