In Caroline Ellis's book "The Ethnographic: A Methodological novel about Autoethnography," she discusses the various different methods of interviewing. The three types are co-constructed narrative, interactive interviewing and reflexive didactic interviewing. I used information from her book to help me become a better interviewer myself. I would compare my style of interviewing to interactive interviewing because I responded to what my interviewees were saying with experiences of my own, comments, feelings and questions as well. Before reading Ellis's book, I only viewed interviewing as a question and answer type of conversation that is very concrete and strict in its structure. After further research, I have realized that there are many different styles and depending on what style you choose to use, it will determine how serious or relaxed your interview ends up being. I chose to be interactive in my interviews because I learned from Ellis's book that it helps the reader open up and feel more comfortable knowing that it's more of a conversation. It also adds another dimension to the interview because not only are you hearing from your interviewee alone, you also can put your own perspective on the situation and relate as well. I found Ellis's book to be very interesting and informative in helping me prepare for this auto ethnography assignment.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ethnographic-Methodological-Autoethnography-Alternatives/dp/0759100519
http://www.amazon.com/The-Ethnographic-Methodological-Autoethnography-Alternatives/dp/0759100519