Interview Method

• Interview

  • defined as a “professional conversation”, with the goal of getting a participant to talk about their experiences and perspectives, and to capture their language and concepts, in relation to a topic that you have determined
• Three Types of Interview

  1. Structured Interview
  2. Semi-structured Interview
  3. Unstructured Interview
• Structured Interview

  • The questions and the response categories are predetermined by the researcher.
• Semi-structured Interview

  • The researcher has a list of questions but there is scope for the participants to raise issues that the researcher has not anticipated. Also, this is the most common type of interview in qualitative research.
• Unstructured Interview

  • The researcher has, at most, a list of themes and topics to discuss with the participant, but the interview is strongly participant led.
• Structured Interview (Advantages)

  1. provides a set of example responses
  2. quick and easy to conduct
  3. specific data
  4. environment helps reduce nervousness of fear
• Structured Interview (Disadvantages)

  • generate bias by the communication style used
  • limited opportunity to go beyond the set of questions
• Semi-Structured Interview (Advantages)

  1. Prepare questions beforehand
  2. Open-ended responses (in-depth info)
  3. Two-way communication
  4. Opportunity to learn answers
  5. Allows time to open up
  6. Provides qualitative data
• Structured Interview (Disadvantages)

  1. Time-consuming
  2. Extensive resources
  3. challenging to find an interviewer
  4. need to interview enough people
  5. possibility of writing leading questions
• Unstructured Interview (Advantages)

  1. interviewee to offer their own response
  2. detailed information
  3. open and honest
  4. change focus as the interviewee progresses
• Unstructured Interview (Disadvantages)

  • can go off topic when responding
  • potential to go longer than the allocated time
  • difficult to report findings
• Structured, Semi-structured, and Unstructured Interview (Advantages)

  1. face-to-face or over the phone
  2. ask questions for more in-depth information
  3. can provide a sample of questions
  4. collect people's ideas, opinions, values, and belief about a certain topic
• Structured, Semi-structured, and Unstructured Interview (Disadvantages)

  1. time-consuming
  2. difficult to arrange a suitable place and time
  3. results in small numbers
  4. limited amount of data collected
• Designing and Piloting the Interview Guide

  • Opening and Closing Questions
  • Sequencing of Questions
  • Constructing and Wording Questions
  • Prompts and Probes
  • Social Desirability
• Designing Effective Questions

  • Ask open questions
  • Ask non-leading questions
  • Ask singular questions
  • Ask short questions
  • Ask clear and precise questions
  • Ask linguistically appropriate questions
  • Ask non-assumptive questions
  • Ask empathic questions
• Issues to think about in relation to participants

  • Interviewing strangers
  • Interviewing across differences
  • Power in interviews
  • Interviewing people who occupy societal positions of greater or lesser power than you
  • Participant distress
  • Interviewing vulnerable people
• Types of Interview Methods in Research

  • Personal Interview
  • Telephone Interview
  • Web Interview
  • Focus Group Interview
  • Depth Interview
  • Projective Techniques Interview
• Preparation of Interview

  • Choose a setting with the least distraction
  • Explain the purpose of the interview
  • Address terms of confidentiality
  • Explain the format of the interview
  • Indicate how long the interview usually takes
  • Provide contact information of the interviewer
  • Allow interviewee to clarify any doubts about the interview
  • Prepare a method for recording data (e.g, taking notes)
• Qualification Criteria for the Interviewer

  • Knowledgeable
  • Structuring
  • Clear
  • Gentle
  • Steering
  • Critical
  • Remembering
  • Interpreting
• Knowledgeable

  • being familiar with the topic
• Structuring

  • outline the procedure of the interview
• Clear

  • simple, easy and short questions
• Gentle

  • being tolerant, sensitive and patient to provocative and unconventional opinions
• Steering

  • to control the course of the interview to avoid digression from the topic
• Critical

  • to test reliability and validity of what the interviewee tells
• Remembering

  • retaining the subject information from the interviewee
• Interpreting

  • provide interpretation of what is said by the interviewee
• Sequence of Questions

  1. Get the respondents involved
  2. Ask facts before asking for controversial matters
  3. Fact-based questions
  4. Ask for present questions before about the past or future
  5. Allow respondents to provide additional information
• Procedure of the Interview

  • Ask one question at a time
  • Attempt to remain as neutral as possible.
  • Encourage responses.
  • Be careful about the appearance when note taking.
  • Provide transition between major topics.
  • Don’t lose control of the interview.
• After the Interview

  • Make any notes on your written notes.

  • Write down any observations made during the interview.
• Stages of Interview Investigation

  • Thematizing
  • Designing
  • Interviewing
  • Transcribing
  • Analyzing
  • Verifying
  • Reporting
• Thematizing- the why and what of the investigation
• Designing – plan the design of the study
• Interviewing – conduct the interview based on a guide
• Transcribing – prepare the interview material for analysis
• Analyzing – decide on the purpose, the topic, the nature and methods of analysis that are appropriate
• Verifying – ascertain the validity of the interview findings
• Reporting – communicate findings of the study based on scientific criteria