Gender and Subjectivity in the Interview Situation: A Critical Discussion.

To integrate the researcher's subjectivity into the interpretation process of interview material is useful. We learn about hidden structures of the field and the latent meaning of the social actions and self-interpretations of the field members. This is exemplified by interpreting an interview sequence taken from a qualitative prison study in Germany – an example with a significant enactment that occurs in the context of gender difference. The (inter)subjective meaning of gender is investigated by two different methodologies: interactionist and psychoanalytic. Whereas the research results can be integrated easily, the theoretical conceptualization of researcher subjectivity cannot. This challenge can be taken up in future discussions on psychoanalysis and social constructivism.Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society (2008) 13, 316–324. doi:10.1057/pcs.2008.19 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]