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Table 2 The cognitive task of (clinical, research) interviews

From: Developing new ways to listen: the value of narrative approaches in empirical (bio)ethics

Situation GPs were asked to include bereaved relatives of patients with cancer who had received or who had seriously considered euthanasia. One of the GPs explicitly wrote about one of the participants that ‘she is able to verbalize well’

Reflection As a researcher conducting an interview-study, one may be very happy with participants who are ‘good storytellers’ as the interviews will probably yield rich data. However, some scholars in qualitative research have suggested first reflecting on the question of “what kind of socio-cognitive task” we ask of interviewees and how socio-economic status may influence that task [61]. Asking this question allowed us to reflect on whether or not a certain subset of potential participants (namely, those who could not ‘verbalize well’) or certain kinds of stories (namely, more fragmented or less coherent stories) would possibly be excluded by choosing an interview-format. This is all the more of great importance as similar questions could be asked about euthanasia decision-making itself: this process also depends to a large extent on complex ‘socio-cognitive tasks’ (i.e. deliberation with physician and family and the explication of desires, wishes and fears). Thinking about this question stimulated conversations about how we could better accommodate those who do not ‘verbalize well’ in the future, both in the practice of and inquiry into end-of-life decision-making