Abstract

The current paper proposes a new theory of self-observation in the context of face-to-face interview grounded in the dialogical and transactional theories of W. James, G.H. Mead, M. Bakhtin, and V. Voloshinov. The authors have embraced their dialogical and continuous notions of self and socio-ideological consciousness. In this model, consciousness (or I) is submerged in an infinite interchange of internal and external dialogues, constantly evaluating, negotiating, and internalizing immediate experiences into more stable characteristics of self (the me). We have characterized these aspects of the me in terms of utterances, broadly organized into three semiotic genres: 1) ideological-affiliative, 2) personal-affective, and 3) socio-normative. The authors argue that such genres permeate every stage of the research process, beginning with research questions and culminating in the construction of a research report.