Life history (sociology)
(Did you mean Biological life cycle?)
Life history, a method for conducting qualitative interviews.
- Medical interview --When it's used for medical purposes, one wishes to identify health patterns. In order to see such patterns, one might have to conduct quite a thorough interview. This form of interview can be utilized to find various kinds of sources for effects on the body and general health.
- Anthropological interview --One tries to capture a persons life. The purpose of the interview is to be able to describe what is it like to be this particular person (i.e. the one being interviewed).
In both cases, the one doing the interview should be careful not to ask `yes or no'-questions, but to try to get the subject to tell `the story of his/her life', in his or her own words. It's not a bad idea to start the interview from the subjects early childhood, and work your way chronologically up to today.