The interview as an opportunity for participant reflexivity

This article illustrates participant reflexivity in an interview. Even though scholars have called for ‘a consideration of real-time reflexivity as a means of reconfiguring the participant within epistemological research debates’ (Riach, 2009: 366) illustrations of real-time reflexivity are hard to locate in literature. Most accounts of reflexivity focus on the researcher, and are generally post-research reflections on the research process. This article presents a closely-analysed segment of a semi-structured interview, where the participant changes her position on militarisation in Sri Lankan universities during the interview. This is presented as an instance of realtime participant reflexivity. Using this interview, factors contributing towards reflexivity in interviews are examined and a case made for closer examination of the participant’s reflexivity in qualitative research.