Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Research-Elicited Data for Longitudinal Analysis. The Case of Oral History Data on World War II Forced Labourers

"Die Gewinnung und Interpretation von Daten aus der qualitativen Forschung als Grundlage von Langsschnittanalysen. Zur historischen Dimension narrativer Interviews mit ehemaligen NS-Zwangsarbeitern." Since a number of disciplines have developed methodological and interpretive approaches towards Oral History, the dialogue between History and Sociology about the possible use of life story interviews for longitudinal analysis has been under pressure from a variety of influences in a rapidly evolving discursive field. While psychology and brain research have thrown the scientific substance of narrative interviews as such into doubt, media and museums assign strictly defined roles to interview materials to serve their representative needs. At the same time, paradigm shifts and terminological trends within social and cultural sciences further narrow the room for manoeuvre for Oral History as far as opening up of a perspective on individual handling of past events within a biography is concerned. Drawing on experiences of an interview project with World War 11 forced labourers, the article explores what contribution Oral History can still make to a qualitative dimension of longitudinal analysis.