WALK
Keep scrolling or download a pdf
What is this tool?
This tool is based on work by Maggie O’Niell and Brian Roberts (and many more). Walking interviews are a relatively new and innovative qualitative tool. The act of walking aims to allow each person to recall, examine and capture their own ideas of identity, experience, memory and mobility of a particular place.
As well as audio recordings, interviews can be documented and represented through GPS mapping, photos, drawings, writing or other creative forms which can be agreed with participants in advance.
As always we encourage you to have a look at our ethics statement before getting started.
Why would I use this tool?
You might want to use this tool as part of a larger research project, or simply take some time to get to know a friend or colleague better! This tool combines observations and semi-structured recorded interviews which aims to create a collaborative process of developing an understanding of a place between interviewee/interviewer, rather than a conventional face to face interview process, also putting more control in the hands of the participant.
By conducting a walking interview, rather than a conversation-based sit down interview, it is possible to draw on visual-spatial-audio cues as participants can place stories in their spatial context and can be prompted by things they see, hear and feel as they move through a particular place and environment which may not be captured in sit down interviews. This tool is useful as it can be adapted to fit in with a participants’ everyday life, whilst providing spontaneous interactions and experiences on route.
How can I use this tool?
As with all the tools we want you to use it in an ethical way that makes sense to you and anyone you’re working with and for you to share your experience using the tool with the tialt community. What follows is something we have tried that worked well, but we’d walk to develop it further with you.
-
STEP 01
Establish some simple interview questions about what you would like to understand about a particular place and those you would like to walk with. You don't need many as it is likely the conversation will expand once you begin, but it is good to have a semi-structured format in place.
Some Example questions:
Can you tell me a bit about where we are now?
Where do you like to spend time in (name of place?) and why? Can you take me there?
What do you like and not like about the area?
Where might you meet people you know?
-
STEP 02
Before you carry out your walking interview, we would recommend having a short conversation with your participant. Discuss why you want to carry out the interview and ensure they understand the general nature of the interview and context. You can also arrange the time, date and location to do the interview.
-
STEP 03
During the pre-interview conversation, let participants know how they can document the interview. You could choose one or more of the following - this can be decided before or be a spontaneous choice depending on how you feel - other methods welcome! The key is to be creative and make sure you have some things available or ask participants to bring them in advance.
Some examples:
Photographers (the use of mobile phone, or camera)
Drawings
Sound recordings
Written notes
-
STEP 04
If you are making an audio recording of the interview, make sure you have suitable equipment and test beforehand. You don't need anything expensive or professional, even your phone recorder is ok, but we’d recommend testing the sound outside in advance to understand the impact of outdoor noise, as well as where to position the recorder in relation to the interviewee.
-
STEP 05
Let the walk commence. Relax and enjoy the time together, be open and see where the journey takes you and go at your own pace.
Leave plenty of time...but not too much time! It is helpful to discuss with participants before you start how long you expect the interview to last. You need this to be flexible in order to allow for spontaneity or for more in depth discussions to take place. We would recommend walking interviews last between 45 minutes - 1.5 hours.
-
STEP 06
After your walk, separately note down your reflections about your walk together.
Then discuss what surprised you both?
What were the sensations like in your different roles?
What did you learn about yourself?
What thoughts came to mind as you experienced the different locations?
You may find it helpful to look at any or listen to documentation you recorded during the walk. You may wish to take an audio recording of the talk.
-
STEP 07
Following the walk and time with your participant, listen to your sound file, and read/look at any additional documentation created during the process. At this stage, you may wish to carry out a full analysis of your findings. This could be done by listing key themes and quotations which arise or you may wish to use a computer software programme to help the process of analysing any information gathered from the walk, including sound, as well as images.
Supporting information
If you would like to lead a walking interview or spend more time looking in to the theory a bit more we would recommend that you read the following texts:
Walking Methods: Research on the Move (published in 2020) by Maggie O’Niell and Brian Roberts
Walking methodologies in a more-than-human world: Walking lab. (published in 2019) by Stephanie Springgay & Sarah E Truman.
Wanderlust: A History of Walking (published in 2000) by Rebecca Solnit.
You may also find it useful to look at the Walking Artists Network. The WalkingLab podcasts also provides some useful insights into walking practices using creative methods.
Some important elements to remember in this exercise are:
There are no correct answers or ‘outputs’
It might seem obvious, but the results will be individual to each participant. No one perspective or creative process has any more value than any other in this exercise. It’s all about learning from each spatial experience. If you are meeting with more than one participant, you could cross reference some of the results together on your own, or if you are working with a group, why not get together to share some of the outputs to see the connections of experience?
Consider ethics and confidentiality before you start, be transparent
Discuss with participants whether the interview would be anonymous or not. If the interview is not anonymous, it will be important to remove any key locations and personal data from the output and possible transcriptions. The Social Research Association for additional ethics guidance.