Reaching Hardly Reached Participants in Qualitative Interviews

Abstract

The dominant approach to examining political attitudes and behaviours in the social sciences is the closed-ended survey. This quantitative method allows social scientists to capture broad snapshots of social and political phenomena without significant depth, context, or meaning. This article answers the question: In what ways does a Black feminist theoretical approach to qualitative interviews help us to produce engaged and accountable research? Further, how can social scientists engage in intersectional solidarity in connecting with hardly reached populations during the interview process? The primary argument in this methodological critique and theoretical intervention is that social scientists must invest in qualitative data collection through intersectional solidarity, acting with an intersectional consciousness—a recognition of oppression as constituted by multiple and interacting social structures. This article relies on the organizing principles and models from Black feminist movements as the central framework for this approach. Using 50 semi-structured interviews with young Black Americans in Chicago, this analysis shows how qualitative interview strategies which centre ‘hardly reached populations’ create comprehensive theories about race, gender, and sexuality, and the life worlds of vulnerable people in the United States.

Citation: Jackson, Jenn M., ‘Reaching Hardly Reached Participants in Qualitative Interviews,’ (Date of Publication), in Meena Dhanda, Nadia E. Brown, and Kouslaa T. Kessler-Mata (eds.), Politics and Government, in Meena Dhanda (ed.), Oxford Intersections: Racism by Context (Oxford, online edn., Oxford Academic, 20 Mar. 2025 -), DOI, accessed date.