Interview Types

1. Ethnographic Interviews

• Nature of Interviews:
    - Informal conversational interviews
    - Emergent and spontaneous
    - Occur in the field

• Characteristics:
    - Simulates a casual exchange, but instigated by the researcher
    - Purposeful dialogues that may not occur otherwise

• Examples of Contexts:
    - Consulting at home parties during breaks about work-life balance topics
    - Speaking with correctional officers during graveyard shifts of boredom
    - Interviewing tourists while they wait for tour buses
    - Engaging young parents in amusement parks

• Purpose:
    - To pass time and elicit valuable information during unstructured moments

2. Informant Interviews

• Definition:
    - Participants characterized as veterans, experienced insiders, and key connectors in specific cultural scenes

• Ethical Considerations:
    - Should seek insights from various informants for credibility rather than one or two

• Characteristics:
    - Friendly, willing participants who hold cultural capital
    - Importance of developing long-term relationships for rapport

• Illustration:
    - Littenman (2010) built rapport with wheelchair rugby players, gathering invaluable insights about masculinity in disability contexts

3. Respondent Interviews

• Definition:
    - Interviews conducted among social actors in similar subject positions with experiences relevant to research goals

• Key Features:
    - Unlike informants, respondents primarily speak for themselves
    - May reveal similarities and differences within cultural groups

• Example of Context:
    - Respondents working in Nevada's legal brothels, evaluating their job responsibilities

4. Narrative Interviews

• Nature:
    - Open-ended, unstructured interviews encouraging personal stories rather than straightforward answers

• Subtypes:
    - Oral histories focus on reconstruction of past events, especially marginalized perspectives
    - Life story interviews or biographic interviews prompt discussions about a participant's entire life

• Example of Oral History:
    - Davis (2007) interviewed Black women who survived the 1921 Tulsa massacre

• Life Story Importance:
    - Useful for understanding and creating empathy for socially aberrant individuals (e.g., serial killers)

5. Discursive Interviews

• Definition:
    - Examine the influence of power structures on the construction of knowledge and truth

• Characteristics:
    - Engages with societal discourses, eliciting deeper understanding of participant views

• Example:
    - Rivera Tracy (2012) studied US Border Patrol agents’ compassion towards undocumented immigrants, influenced by ancestry connections
  

Interview Stances

1. Naive Stance

• Definition:
    - Requires interviewers to refrain from presuppositions and be open to unexpected findings
• Importance of Emotional Tone:
    - Tailor approach based on power relations and sensitivity of the topic

2. Collaborative Stance

• Nature:
    - Jointly constructed interviews, equal exchange of questions between researcher and participant
• Case Example:
    - Carolyn Ellis and Jerry Rawicki in Holocaust education, co-editing narratives from discussions over two years

3. Pedagogical Stance

• Definition:
    - Interviewer encourages knowledge sharing to participants while gathering insights
• Example Application:
    - Researchers may share educational insights after interviewing sexual assault victims

4. Responsive Stance

• Ethics:
    - Honors participants through respectful behavior and acknowledges researcher biases
• Philosophical Foundation:
    - Linked with feminist ethics for creating therapeutic narratives

5. Confrontational Stance

• Nature:
    - Deliberate provocation to highlight differences in opinions and power dynamics
• Context Consideration:
    - Ethical caution with vulnerable participants; may be useful with confident, elite participants
• Strategy for Questions:
    - Save more confrontational questions for the end of the interview

Interview Structure

1. Interview Guides vs. Schedules

• Interview Schedules:
    - Standardized script of questions for uniformity across multiple researchers
• Interview Guides:
    - Flexible, less formal question lists for dynamic interviews

2. Research Considerations

• Pre-Interview Planning:
    - Revisiting project goals, research questions, and existing literature is vital prior to designing interviews
• Designing Questions:
    - Clarify if interviews aim to explore: new findings, test hypotheses, gather opinions, or collect factual data

Wording Good Interview Questions

Characteristics of Effective Questions

• 1. Simplicity:
    - Avoid jargon and keep questions free from abbreviations
• 2. Singular Focus:
    - Ask one question at a time; avoid double-barreled inquiries
• 3. Concrete Detail:
    - Encourage narrative recollection over general memories
• 4. Neutrally Worded:
    - Maintain nonleading phrasing of questions
• 5. Respect Identity:
    - Uphold participants’ preferred identity while framing questions
• 6. Follow-ups and Probes:
    - Encourage elaboration with specific prompts

Types of Interview Questions

1. Opening Questions
      - Break the ice and set expectations
      - e.g., "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today. I have scheduled an hour together. Does that still work for you?"
   
2. Generative Questions
      - Non-directive questions that generate discussions
   
3. Timeline Questions
      - Seek understanding of chronological sequences
   
4. Hypothetical Questions
      - Explore imagined scenarios
   
5. Behavior/Action Questions
      - Seek factual behavior-related responses
   
6. Compare/Contrast Questions
      - Generate contrasts between situations
   
7. Motive Questions
      - Focus on understanding reasons behind actions
   
8. Directive Questions
      - Structure interviews for specific areas of information

Closing the Interview

• Catch-All Questions:
    - Address loose ends or unfinished stories at the end
    - e.g., "Is there anything that you wish people knew about your role that you haven't told me yet?"
• Expressing Gratitude:
    - Thank participants for their time and contributions

Visual, Embodied, and Experimental Approaches to Interviews

1. Elicitation Questions

• Use material objects, images, or videos to prompt discussions

2. Think Aloud Method

• Participants vocalize their thoughts during activities; great for exploratory insights

3. Mobile Interviews

• Conduct interviews while traveling, observing contextual environments
  

4. Instructions to the Double

• Participants write instructions for a substitute replicating their roles, eliciting detailed experiences

Determining Number of Interviews for Saturation

• Published Recommendations:
    - Range from 60-100, but appropriate number depends on research goals
• Case Considerations:
    - Sample size impacts saturation; defining narrower criteria can reduce number required
• Sequential Interviews:
    - Allows adaptability and efficiency in reaching saturation

Studies and Recommendations

• Guest et al. (2006) indicate that 12 interviews may suffice for shared beliefs in homogeneous groups