Knowledgeable Confrontations: How to Challenge Interview Participants With Information and Data

Abstract

This article theorizes the use of knowledge in interviews, focusing on confronting interview participants with knowledge generated from prior research. This article explains when confronting participants with knowledge is ethically and epistemologically preferable to alternatives such as debriefing or not disseminating. We share examples from studies where minor league baseball players read machine learning predictions of their chances of reaching the major leagues, and esports competitors viewed illustrations of the prize earning distribution in their chosen game. The article elaborates on the ethical considerations of using confrontational knowledge in interviews and identifies three guidelines for using the strategy.