Ethical and bioethical aspects in the research interview: the impact on subjectivity

Abstract

Numerous research projects involving interviews give an impression that this is a form of innocuous approach, presenting no risk, which is not true. The interview, as a research method, is subject to an ethic of human relationships. Through a literature review culminating in a critical analysis, the characteristics of the interview, the interviewee and the interviewer are scored separately, to then be gathered as part of the same context when carrying out the interview itself. Some aspects of the interviewer-interviewee interaction cannot fail to be respected, choosing always the most appropriate way to conduct the questioning. Nevertheless, if some issues, however delicate, are an essential part of the research, they cannot be left aside, and this will require an irreproachable ethical position by the interviewer.