'Oh boy, I got that wrong'
Interviews often unfold in a far more dynamic and unpredictable manner than presented in methodological textbooks. This interview highlights the challenges of conducting a qualitative interview in a multilingual setting.
Interviewing Ahmed and Fatima in their single-room home with two young children led to many interruptions—children seeking attention, Fatima preparing food, and Ahmed joking about parenthood.
A language barrier complicated the process. The couple speaks Urdu and Punjabi with a basic understanding of English, while Morocco’s primary languages are Arabic and French. This linguistic gap made it especially difficult for them to navigate formal procedures and to retell them to me. In this interview, I was heavily relying on Tony, a research assistant fluent in Urdu and Punjabi. Tony’s role as both a translator and cultural mediator proved indispensable in bridging the communication gap and facilitating mutual understanding.
When I asked Ahmed to explain the registration process, he produced a blue folder containing essential civil documents. Though issued by Moroccan authorities, neither he nor Fatima could fully understand them. Their careful preservation of these papers underscored their significance, despite being unreadable to them.
The interview quickly became complex as we discussed encounters with school directors, hospital staff, and civil registry officers—interactions that took place in a language the couple did not understand, making their explanations to me even more challenging. To clarify the formal steps they had taken, I asked them to organize the paperwork with the help of Tony and me. To bring structure, we co-created a timeline together, revealing that registering their eldest child took nearly two years and school enrollment is still pending. This visualization helped me better grasp the scope of their experience.
Qualitative interviews rely on memory, which is fluid and changes over time. Some recollections may be vague or incomplete, sometimes leading to inconsistencies in participants’ narratives. Reconstructing past events is rarely straightforward. Rather than expecting a linear account, I adopted a flexible approach, using documents as reference points and co-creating a timeline to navigate the fragmented and evolving nature of memory. This experience reinforced that interviews are not about uncovering objective truths but about understanding lived experiences and perceptions.