Andreas Witzel & Herwig Reiter 
The Problem-Centred Interview 

This book provides the first English language account of the interview method known as the PCI. Offering a way of collecting knowledge by means of involving people actively in the research process, the interviewer takes the role of a well-informed traveller. With careful preparation and planning, the interviewer sets out with priorities and expectations, but the story the interviewer tells about his journey depends on the people encountered along the road.

Novice and experienced interview researchers across the social, educational and health sciences will find this an invaluable guide to conducting interviews.

Andreas Witzel is senior researcher (retired) at the University of Bremen and former director of the Bremen Archive for Life Course Research.

Herwig Reiter is senior researcher in the Department of Social Monitoring and Methodology of the German Youth Institute in Munich.

Table of Content

Introduction

The Programme of the PCI

Preparing PCIs

Doing PCIs

Processing PCIs

Examples of Working with PCIs

A Final Note on PCI Errors and Pitfall S

About the author

Herwig Reiter, Ph D, is a senior researcher in the Department of Social Monitoring and Methodology of the German Youth Institute in Munich. Before, he was a lecturer in sociology and qualitative methods at the University of Bremen and at the Bremen Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). He studied sociology in Vienna and holds a Ph D in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute. His main areas of research include qualitative methods and methodology as well as youth and life course sociology. He is an editorial board member of the International Journal of Social Research Methodology. His articles appeared in journals like the Journal of International Relations and Development, the Journal of Baltic Studies, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, Zeitschrift für Soziologie, Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Youth Studies, and Educational Research.