‘Research reports often read as though the researchers knew from the start exactly what they were setting out to do and moved in a linear direction towards that end… actual research is rarely like this…’ (Bassey, 1999, p. 84)

There were moments during my research journey when this line from Bassey (1999) was particularly apt. I began my PhD research with a naive belief that my investigations would proceed according to plan but, instead, I repeatedly found myself tangled up in self-reflection and unable to make a decision. It was during one of these moments that I stumbled upon ‘walking interviews’ – a method of data collection that seemed so instinctive that I couldn’t quite believe it was a recognised research technique.

I had confidently begun my investigations by interviewing a group of five experienced headteachers. The interview schedule of open-ended questions ensured that key topics would be discussed, but allowed free conversation too. The respondents had been interested in the topics under discussion but there was very limited consensus (they all said something different). As I reviewed my initial findings, I was invited to visit one of my interviewees in their school. As I arrived, the headteacher immediately began to discuss the issues discussed in our interview. This was particularly notable when he was showing me around the school building. I was struck by the quality of data which had ‘accidentally’ been collected during this school visit. When I shared my research dilemma at a university conference, another delegate suggested that I consider the use of walking interviews.

‘I began my PhD research with a naive belief that my investigations would proceed according to plan but, instead, I repeatedly found myself tangled up in self-reflection and unable to make a decision. It was during one of these moments that I stumbled upon ‘walking interviews’ – a method of data collection that seemed so instinctive that I couldn’t quite believe it was a recognised research technique.’

Some of the earliest researchers to use walking interviews as a data-collection method were engaged in ethnographic investigations. Kusenbach (2003) refers to this technique as ‘go-alongs’ and uses it as part of research into social structures within a local community. Her ‘go-alongs’ were completely unstructured and she tried to avoid influencing the conversation in any way. Evans and Jones (2010) used walking interviews to investigate residents’ views about key features of a residential area which was due to be re-developed. Walking interviews were also used with farmers to identify aspects of their practice related to conservation, producing unexpectedly rich historical reflections (Riley, 2010; Riley & Holton, 2016). All these researchers were enthusiastic about this more ‘natural’ approach to interviewing, particularly with the opportunity for participants to influence the topics under discussion. Spicksley (2018) identifies that a form of walking interviews has been used in schools by young children giving the researcher a tour of their setting (Clark & Moss, 2011) and urges researchers to consider the use of walking interviews as a method of data collection that reduces the impact of an ‘expert researcher’.

I was aware of anecdotal evidence suggesting Ofsted inspections usually start with a walk round the school and I wondered whether this was actually a version of a walking interview. My research focus was on how headteachers had responded to external demands for change and I realised that I was essentially asking them to remember how and why they had made a professional decision. There were a number of similarities between my ‘accidental’ walking interview as we had walked around school and the farmers who described the history of how they had worked their farms (Riley & Holton, 2016) or how the inhabitants of a particular neighbourhood remembered their past.

‘…the environment we dwell in on a daily basis becomes a sort of personal biographer as it preserves parts of our life history. Navigating familiar environments full of personal landmarks in many ways resembles going through the pages of a personal photo album or diary.’ (Kusenbach, 2003, p. 472)

My research plan became a multiple case study using walking interviews as one method of data collection. This fitted with my research question about ‘how’ headteachers responded to the need for change. Each of the case study headteachers enjoyed walking around their school, identifying the things they were proud of and demonstrating their professional values as they responded to staff and pupils along the way.

References

Bassey, M. (1999). Case study research in educational settings. Open University Press.

Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2011). Listening to young children: The Mosaic Approach (2nd ed.). National Children’s Bureau.

Evans, J., & Jones, P. (2010). The walking interview: Methodology, mobility and place. Applied Geography, 31, 849–858.

Kusenbach, M. (2003). Street phenomenology. The go-along as ethnographic research tool. Ethnography, 4(3), 455–485.

Riley, M., & Holton, M. (2016). Place-based interviewing: Creating and conducting walking interviews. In SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 1. https://www.doi.org/10.4135/978144627305015595386

Riley, M. (2010). Emplacing the research encounter: Exploring farm life histories. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(8), 651–662.

Spicksley, K. (2018). Walking interviews: A participatory research tool with legs? BERA Blog. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/walking-interviews-a-participatory-research-tool-with-legs