Introduction to Interviewing

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Introduction to Interviewing

• Institute for Financial and Management Research

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What is an interview?

• An important tool of qualitative research.
• Person-to-person or person-to-group encounter.
• A conversation with a purpose.
• Obtains information on values, meanings,
  perspectives, beliefs, and other unobservable
  phenomena.

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Why use interviews?

• The interview is a tool in qualitative research
  that allows us to enter into the other persons
  perspective.
• We cannot observe
• Feelings, thoughts, and intentions
• Behaviors that took place at some previous point
  in time
• Situations that preclude the presence of an
  observer
• How people have organized the world and the
  meanings they attach to what goes on in the
  world.
• We have to ask people questions about these
  things.

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When to use interviews?

• Interview should be the primary mode of data
  collection when a study seeks to learn about
• Perspectives and interpretations of a range of
  people.
• Past events that cannot be recreated or
  replicated.
• Case studies and profiles that seek to represent
  particular experiences of individuals and small
  groups.

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Types of Interviews
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Types of interviews I

• In-depth is used widely in qualitative
  research.
• Ethnographic focused on culture as seen through
  the participants eyes, and through a firsthand
  encounter.
• Phenomenological is about structure and essence
  of phenomena.
• Elite interviewees have specialized knowledge,
  and are sampled for this reason.
• Focus Group semi-structured group interview
  with focused topic/s.

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Types of interviews II

• Structured similar to oral survey useful to
  gather data on specific issues.
• Semi-structured with structured questions on
  specific issues and open-ended questions on
  issues that need to be explored.
• Unstructured for exploratory phases of a study.
  Rarely used because they can distract the
  researcher from the topic of study.

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In-depth Interview

• Extensively used method in qualitative research.
• A conversation with a purpose. The researcher
  has a general idea of topics to ask about, but
  respects how the participant frames and
  structures the responses.
• The participants perspective on the topic should
  unfold as the participant views it, not as the
  researcher views it.
• Combined with participant observation, interviews
  allow the researcher to understand the meanings
  people hold for their everyday activities.

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Focus group discussions

• Originated in marketing research
• Groups composed of 5-10 (this can vary) people
  selected because they share certain
  characteristics relevant to the study.
• Interviewer creates a permissive environment
  asks focused questions encourages discussion and
  expression.
• FGDs are conducted several times with different
  groups to map patterns in perception and opinion.
  
• Careful and systematic analysis of data is a
  must.

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Interview Questions
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Good questions

• Good questions are clear and make sense to the
  interviewee and avoid technical terms and
  jargon.
• Hypothetical questions. Suppose it is my first
  day ?.
• Devils advocate questions. Some people would
  say?
• Ideal position questions. What do you think the
  ideal?
• Interpretive questions. Would you say?

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Questions to avoid

• Avoid
• Multiple questions.
• Leading questions.
• Yes-or-No questions.

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Probes

• Probes are follow-up questions or comments used
  for
• Clarification
• Details
• Examples
• Probes can take numerous forms
• Silence
• Yes, or uh, huh
• Short questions
• Brief comments

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The interview guide

• Called a guide or schedule, it is a list of
  questions you intend to ask during the interview.
• Guide may be highly, semi-, or un-structured,
  depending on the nature of the interview.
• Structure of the guide depends on the studys
  objective, time allotted for interview, the
  person being interviewed, and how sensitive some
  of the questions are.
• Guide should begin with neutral and structured
  questions and lead to open-ended, conversational
  (sometimes personal) questions.

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Conducting the Interview
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Before the interview

• Select respondents based on their potential to
  contribute to the development of insight, and
  understanding of the phenomenon.
• Use early interviews as exploratory exercises
  that help identify key informants and interview
  sample.
• Make your motives and the inquirys purpose
  transparent.
• Protect respondents identities through use of
  pseudonyms.
• Decide who has final say over studys content.
• Agree on payment (if any).
• Provide clear details on logistics about time,
  place, and number of interviews.

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Interviewer and respondent interaction

• Success of the interview is determined by
• Personality and skill of the interviewer. Be
  respectful, non-judgmental, and non-threatening.
• Practice. Get more skilled through role play,
  peer critique, videotaping, and observing
  experienced researchers.
• Attitudes and orientation of the interviewee.
  Approach respondents who can express thoughts,
  feelings, opinions (perspectives) on the topic of
  study.
• Definition of the interview situation by both as
  safe, productive, important, or the
  opposite.

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Recording and evaluating interview data

• Tape-recording the interview.
• Is the best way to get verbatim transcripts.
• Required for discourse-oriented studies.
• Time and labor intensive. Equipment can
  malfunction.
• Writing extensive notes during the course of the
  interview.
• Used widely. Needed as a back-up even when tape
  recorded.
• Appropriate when verbatim data are not needed.
• Write down as much as possible right after the
  interview.
• Least desirable method as interpretation and
  selective memory will intrude on accuracy of the
  data.