Intercept go-along interviews for urban health research: reflections from the field

In this paper, we offer some reflections from doing intercept go-along interviews. Discussions are centred around our experiences drawn from a range of research focused on understanding interconnections of people, place and health in the context of urban greenspaces. We show how, across our projects, the public was receptive to the intercept approach to recruit for go-along interviews and argue it offers a useful method for researchers wishing to grasp the materiality of people-place encounters as well as to hear a range of community voices. Whilst not without its challenges, many of which are discussed, the method also enables researchers to ‘tune’ in to people’s everyday lives to get empirical purchase on how they experience place in situ. Such a methodological approach opens up epistemological space for more meaningful understandings of health, human experiences and place than many conventional methodological practices provide. We hope our reflections offer some guidance and inspiration for other researchers to engage with on their own terms.