Qualitative Interviewing Notes

Defining Qualitative Interviewing

  • Qualitative research methods offer a different lens to explore, understand, interpret, or explain phenomena in real-world contexts and settings (Jones & Smith, 2017).
  • It employs a range of different methods and techniques to collect (e.g., interviews, focus groups) and analyze data (e.g., thematic analysis, discourse analysis).

Interviews

  • Interviews are a data collection technique/method.
  • They involve a conversation with a purpose (Burgess, 1994).
  • Open-ended questions and probes yield in-depth responses about people’s experiences, perceptions, opinions, feelings, and knowledge (Patton, 2015).

When to Use Interviews

  • Use interviews when the aim is to provide rich, detailed, and in-depth information about a topic.
  • The research question tends to focus on:
    • What? (e.g., individual experience, voice).
    • How? (e.g., social construction).
  • Interviews are useful for exploring particular cases and subjective/personal experiences.
  • They demonstrate interest in and respect for participants’ own language, concepts, and categories.

Steps in an Interview-Based Study

  1. Framing your research question
  2. Choosing the type of interview
  3. Defining your sample and strategy for recruiting participants
  4. Developing an interview guide
  5. Conducting the interview
  6. Transcribing the interview

(1) Research Questions in Qualitative Interviewing

  • Type of questions:
    • Avoid questions that ask about causal relationships or correlations between variables.
    • Avoid questions that seek to establish general trends.
    • Focus on people’s experiences, perceptions, opinions, feelings, and knowledge.
    • Avoid research questions that may be leading (e.g., what were the benefits of your participation in the intervention?).
  • Scope of your question:
    • Focus on the particular (e.g., a particular group, community, organization).
    • Avoid questions that are too broad in scope.
    • Remember that context matters.

Research Questions vs. Interview Questions

  • Interview questions may seem quite different from your research question.
  • They address the topic in an indirect manner.
Examples:
  • Buckingham et al. (2018): Explored how recent immigrants and more established community members develop a sense of community in Italy and the USA.
    • Research Questions:
    • To which communities do immigrants, children of immigrants, and receiving community members report belonging?
    • Interview Questions:
    • How are you influenced by members of your community?
    • How do you influence your community?
  • Fernandes-Jesus et al. (2021): Explored how to sustain solidarity over time in COVID-19 mutual aid groups.
    • Research Question:
    • How do we sustain solidarity over time?
    • Interview Questions:
    • Have you had any previous experience of organizing groups like this?
    • What strategies did you use to keep the group going?

(2) Choosing the Type of Interview

  • Consider options beyond the 'default' (i.e., face-to-face, one-to-one).
  • Remote interviews (e.g., Zoom, by email) are an option.
  • Interview styles:
    • Informal, conversational (no interview guide).
    • Tailored, customized, thematic (not a numbered sequence of questions).
  • Consider involving more than one interviewee/interviewer.
  • Doing more than talking (e.g., walking interviews):
    • Ethnographic style.
    • Taking pictures, filming.
    • Photo and object elicitation.

(3) Sample and Recruitment

  • Recruit participants who represent a variety of positions.
  • 'Fix' key aspects that define the group you are looking at (e.g., age, gender).
  • Sharing a background similar to the group you are studying may be an advantage (i.e., insider researcher).
Recruiting Participants
  • Purposive sampling: Participants are chosen ‘on purpose’, not randomly.
  • Gaining access is a crucial step:
    • Working with gatekeepers.
    • Insider assistance.
    • Advertising for participants.
  • Snowball sampling: Using the initial few interviewees to recommend other potential participants (King et al., 2019).

(4) The Interview Guide

  • Funnel structure (from broad to narrow):
    • Start with an introductory question, which should be open-ended (yet not too open!).
    • Flow logically and clustered around topics.
    • From general to specific questions – It helps in gathering details and checking out all possible responses.
  • The interview guide outlines the main topics to be covered, but it should be flexible (e.g., phrasing, order).
Structure: Interview Guide Types
  • Structured:
    • Same questions (pre-formulated), same order.
    • Participants may be provided with a set of possible answers.
    • The researcher has all the control.
    • Constrains the interviewer-interviewee relationship.
  • Semi-structured:
    • A set of pre-formulated questions (main and follow-up).
    • The interviewer can improvise questions.
    • Mostly open-ended questions.
    • The order of questions is less important.
  • Unstructured:
    • An initial question or prompt.
    • Questions emerge from the immediate context.
    • Participants explore their stories and experiences on their own terms.
    • The researcher may have a shortlist of issues as a reminder.
Interview guides are often a mix of…
  • Introductory: Designed to get the best possible start.
    • Example: ‘Please, can you tell me about when you first moved to the UK?’
  • Main questions: Informed by your research question. Different categories of questions (Patton, 2015): experience/behavior, opinions/values, feelings, knowledge, and sensory.
    • Examples:
    • ‘If I followed you through a typical day, what would I see you doing?’ (Experience/behavior).
    • ‘When you walk through the doors of the program, what do you see?’ (Sensory).
  • Follow-up: Specific to the comments made by the participants. Allows elaboration and communicates that the interviewer is an active/attentive listener.
    • Examples:
    • ‘So, what happened then?’
    • These can be also simple prompts or ‘continuers’ such as ‘okay”’ or ‘go on’.
  • Probing: Promotes elaboration and greater details but without necessarily specifying what has interested the interviewer.
    • Examples:
    • ‘Could you please tell me a little more about that?’
    • ‘How did that come about?’
    • ‘Where did that happen?’
  • Closing: Questions to signal that the interview is coming to an end.
    • Example: ‘We’ve talked about a lot of things so far. I just wondered if there are any issues that we haven’t covered yet?’
How NOT to Ask Questions
  • Leading questions (e.g., ‘Didn’t that make you furious?’)
  • Over-complex and multiple questions? (e.g., ‘Ok, let’s imagine…’)
  • Double-barreled questions (e.g., 'Do you think marijuana and gambling should be banned?’)
  • Assumptions (e.g., ‘How effective do you think the program is?’).
  • Complex or jargon words (e.g., ‘What do you think about ingroup bias?’)
  • Double negatives: (e.g., ‘Do you think that not many people wouldn’t know what “ingroup bias” means?’).
  • Judgmental responses (e.g., ‘Really? I would have been made as hell’).

Piloting the Interview Guide

  • It will help you identify problems with the wording.
  • It will also help you memorize the interview guide and develop your skills as an interviewer.

(5) Conducting the Interview

  • Introducing your project and self-presentation.
  • Building rapport:
    • Create a relaxed and open atmosphere.
    • Trust leads to disclosure: Create a space in which participants can speak openly.
    • Give people the opportunity (e.g., space, time) to bring up interesting material you might not have anticipated.
  • Good interviewing skills:
    • Retaining control of the agenda.
    • Judgment in recognizing when they are straying or saying something important.
    • Tact in keeping them on topic.
    • Managing power imbalances.
Recording
  • Taking careful notes in the session? (vs rapport).
  • Concentrate on listening, not writing.
  • Audio-recording – Remember to test your recording devices.
  • Video? à Can capture non-verbal communication. Only if really needed!

(6) Transcription

  • It prepares your data for the next phase – analysis.
  • What are you transcribing?
    • Meanings? à The ‘gist’ of what people say?
    • Words? à All the exact utterances?
    • Non-verbal communication?
  • At least verbatim transcription is necessary for most forms of analysis (e.g., TA, IPA).
  • Jefferson transcription system for most forms of discourse analysis.

Ethical Issues to Consider

  • Informed consent – Participants must voluntarily provide their willingness to participate in the study.
  • Confidentiality and anonymity - Including a ‘right to waive’ confidentiality.
  • Right to withdraw – How long after the interview?
  • Assessing the risk of harm – Do not ignore participants’ emotions.
  • Deception – It should be avoided!
  • Debriefing – It should be provided!
  • Use of incentives – Compensating participants for their time.
  • Physical safety and well-being of the researcher - Have a safety protocol in place!

Summary

  • Interviews are used to explore perceptions, feelings, opinions, experiences, etc.
  • A semi-structured interview guide is the most common type of guide used.
  • The interview guide usually follows a funnel structure with a mix of main, probes, and follow-up questions.
  • The relationship (rapport) between interviewer and interviewee is vital for disclosure.
  • Practical issues (recording, transcription) need to be considered.