The walk-and-talk methodology – researching place and people

Abstract

The article focuses on walk-and-talk interviews, which are yet a little-used research method in Latvia. The term is used in the social sciences and humanities and is an appropriate method for gathering data in order to determine the relationship of an individual or a social group with a specific place. The method in a pilot project was used to listen to life experiences in Tūja, a village along the Baltic coast in Latvia. The study focused on social change in Tūja and the influence of the economic and political changes of the 1990s on the living conditions and lifestyle of the local inhabitants. The pilot project was conducted by the researchers from the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of University of Latvia.