| Summary: | Various disciplines rely on the research interview as an investigative tool. The purpose of this paper is to analyse an example of this approach applied to the field of agronomy, with the aim of making a particular kind of expertise more accessible to outsiders. In our example, a vineyard worker is interviewed about vine pruning by two agronomists while he demonstrates the relevant skills on camera. The final purpose of this exercise is the creation of a multimedia program to be used in the teaching of vine pruning for beginners. Conversational analysis in the ethnomethodological tradition proves to be a useful tool for analysing this type of interview in terms of a social situation that is co-constructed by the vine pruning expert and the researchers as they talk together. The paper shows how the concepts developed by ethnomethodology have made it possible to take a critical look at the interview as a research tool, to develop an in-depth knowledge of how mutual understanding is achieved in such a situation, and to suggest ways of refining interviewing techniques even further. Using this as a background, the paper then analyses the specifics of this exchange. It shows how the participants come to agree on the exact meaning of specific terms through a series of adjustments and ratifications which are part and parcel of this type of exchange yet, unfortunately, are often overlooked when interviews are subsequently re-used. The study of this co-construction process takes into account verbal, vocal and visual aspects. This particular approach constitutes an original contribution to a better understanding of the various forms of “situated action” that may occur in interviews. It focuses especially on the processes used by the participants to highlight important information about vine pruning, and to relate it to the more general context of tending vineyards.
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