Separated by common methods? Researchers and journalists doing expertise

Abstract

In this article, we address emerging tensions between researchers and journalists in our research project on formations of new divisions among young adults in Finland. We focus on interviewing as a method of data gathering, and on framing as a method of presenting research results. Writing from the point of view of academic researchers, our analysis shows that journalists’ and researchers’ ways of doing expertise, such as techniques for asking questions, reflections on interview sensitivities, anticipated end products or the conceptual framing of the collected data, differ from each other. At the conclusion of our analysis, we reflect on the affectivity of expert work and cooperation, and on the role of affects in bringing the moral orders of different forms of expertise to the surface.