Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT This paper introduces the concept of the “last interview” in long‐term ethnographic research. Drawing on a final interview with a preschool teacher whom I had known for over 20 years, I argue that last interviews differ from return interviews in three ways: they invite retrospective reflection, reconfigure intersubjectivity, and generate new research questions that shape the ethnographer's future research agenda. The paper demonstrates how endings in ethnographic relationships can become analytically productive moments rather than merely emotional closures.
DOI: 10.1111/aeq.70111
Author: Akiko Hayashi
Institution: Keio University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,400
OpenAlex ID: W7225010387