Qualitative interviewing

• Unobtrusive data

  Data which exists before research begins e.g. public records, news
• What is qualitative interviewing?

  one-to-one interview (semi-structured the most common) focused conversation between researcher and participant, researcher will have a set agenda regarding issues to be discussed.

  researcher also has a role in encouraging ppt to give rich detail.

  more personal than questionnaires
• Three types

  UNSTRUCTURED

  SEMI-STRUCTURED

  STRUCTURED
• Why use qualitative interviewing?

  Generates rich and detailed data

  useful for getting the story behind experiences e.g. personal meaning, value

  easier for respondents than questionnaires e.g. Bereavement research, both recent and earlier lost want someone to talk to(BENNETT, 2006)

  research can develop rapport

  flexible, interactive and gives ppl ctrl over what s said
• Disadvantages

  time consuming and effortful

  demands on interviewees time can make recruitment difficult

  relies on self-report

  cant be generalised

  interviewer effect/bias
• Planning qualitative interviews

  Decide topic of investigation

  Consider and account for ethics

  Identify target groups

  Resources needed

  Format of interviews

  Design interview schedule

  Prepare with pilot grp

  Start data collection
• Ethical considerations unique to qualitative interviews

  researcher-ppt relationship

  data interpretation

  legal requirements of disclosure

  data management

  potential harm
• Sampling

  typically a smaller sample

  recruitment can be challenging

  sampling is important and varies depending on methodology used
• Preparing an interview guide

  effective questions are open-ended, neutral, sensitive and easy to understand (BRITTEN, 1999)

  Prompts work well

  Embed questions into longer sentences ‘why’ can feel direct and invite rationalisations
• Interviewing practicalities

  appropriate venues

  be on time

  awareness of lone worker policy

  good quality equipment

  pen and paper for brief notes

  setting interview up e.g. ethics, recording, purpose
• Generating data and eliciting information at interviews

  Interview guides provide flexible map, ensures you address important topics

  Active listening, paraphrasing, following up

  Be ready for silence
• interviewer-interviewee dynamic

  key ingredient for rich data

  development interview skills through practice

  break the ice and develop rapport

  be yourself, but dont give views

  probe and draw out

  be clear abt purpose, how info will be used etc.

  interviewer must be friendly but not too friendly
• preparing for qualitative analysis

  analysis process depends on methodology used

  generally involves coding and theme development

  focus on depth, detail, context, complexity
• Reflexivity

  acknowledge how aspects of our identities (e.g. race, class gender) and how they affect data, analysis and conclusions

  Good practice to keep reflexive journey, logging reflections on potential influences as a researcher
• Transcribing interviews

  audio to text for analysis

  time consuming, 5-6 hrs for 1 hr of audio

  various ways to present, depends on methodology

  -> ‘play script’ orthographic transcription

  -> Jeffersonian, prioritises paralinguistic features of a transcript
• Evaluating quality

  ctrlled, rigorous, reliable, validated, quantitative, experimental

  should qual be evaluated by quant standards?

  rather it shld be ‘trustworthiness’

  -> credibility, conformability, transparency, usefulness