Come take a walk with me: The “Go-Along” interview as a novel method for studying the implications of place for health and well-being

This paper aims to serve as a four-part introductory primer on the "go-along" qualitative interview methodology for studying the health issues of neighborhood or local-area contexts by considering the method's strengths and limitations for population health research on neighborhoods and local areas.

Abstract

This paper aims to serve as a four-part introductory primer on the "go-along" qualitative interview methodology for studying the health issues of neighborhood or local-area contexts. First, I describe the purpose and different types of implementation of go-alongs. Second, I discuss its advantages for studying how place may matter for health (particularly in terms of the participants) and how it may facilitate researchers' understandings of local knowledge as well as the social and physical context. Third, I consider the method's strengths and limitations for population health research on neighborhoods and local areas. Fourth and finally, I discuss how go-alongs may be used in tandem with other qualitative and quantitative approaches for multi-method research. Informing this discussion are my own experiences with a particular type of go-along interview-"walk-along" interviews-during a study of social capital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin neighborhoods.