What Makes Men Talk About Health?

Abstract

This paper compares two research projects which explored men's beliefs about their health. The concern of the paper is not with the findings themselves, but with the methodological issues concerned, in particular, the issue of interviewing men about health. The paper first discusses relevant issues from the literature concerning gender and interviewing. It then goes on to describe the two research projects, both of which involved interviews with men, firstly about health in general, and secondly with men who had had a heart attack. The experience of the researcher in each project was quite different, and the paper discusses possible reasons for this, including the part played by gender. It concludes by suggesting reasons for men talking, or not talking, about health the way they do.