When creativity meets pragmatism: An experiential account of conducting document analysis and interviews for an interpretive project

Fieldwork or empirical investigation is a crucial stage through which interpretive researchers delve into the realm of inquiry to uncover a multitude of interpretations and diverse meanings. In this chapter, I recount my personal experiences conducting document analysis and interviews in Indonesia. These stories, which are situated against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, describe successes as much as failures and drawbacks through which I draw insights, both technical and philosophical. Through these examples, I showcase that developing a degree of sensitivity, which often necessitates the incorporation of personal knowledge, subjective preferences, or pragmatism, has assisted me in identifying and distinguishing elements and aspects of the investigation and inquiry processes that required alterations or improvements. I further argue that sensitivity to both materials and technical aspects of inquiry methods must be complemented with a degree of flexibility.