Planning and Doing

Thoughtful Interviews

Neil Haigh c. 2015

Our Session

The interview is a frequently used data-gathering method, in particular in social science research which entails gathering qualitative data.

However, because interviews are somewhat like everyday conversation and discussion, we may underestimate the skills and sensitivities required for effective interviewing in a research context.

In this session, we will identify, illustrate and try-out steps involved in planning and conducting a thoughtful interview.

Good Interviews/InterviewingKnow for Sure/ Unsure, Don’t Know

• Guided/semi-structured interview

• Standardized open-ended interview

• Conversational interview

• Focus group interview

• Mixed

Note: on a continuum, all open-ended vs fixed response, involve participants expressing their own understandings in their own words.

See Handout

Types of Interview

Guided/Semi-Structured Interviews

• Pre-scripted topics/questions – covered/asked

of all participants

• May change wording, sequence

• Anticipate following-up responses (see follow-up questions)

• May allow for emergent topics/questions, but don’t go beyond boundaries of overall topic and research question

• Concern to stay on track

Semi-structured interviewing

Topic: Response to dental treatment during childhood (5 – 12 years)

Script three ‘starter’ interview questions

Try one out – and ask follow-up questions

Reflect on/self-critique

Review Patton, Kvale, Katterns and Haigh

Discuss

Semi-structured interviewing: Lets do it

Sue Cartwright’s Interviews

Her starter questions

Her interview considerations and concerns

Her report on her interviews

Standardized, open-ended interviews

• Starter questions pre-scripted

• Asked in same sequence and using same words

• Follow-up questions may or may not be pre-scripted (contingency planning)

• Readers can readily assess interview script/schedule

Conversational Interviewing

Conversation as a type of talk: In what ways is conversation different from other forms of talk/dialogue?

When and why might conversation be an appropriate and effective way of engaging in interviewing?

CONVERSATION

• Often serendipitous, not anticipated or planned• Topics/moves mainly improvised on the spot, not prescribed or pre-scripted. • All participants can influence the topics – moment by moment. Not one-sided in terms of who may benefit• Typically focussed on the personal, local, immediate• Story telling is a common and accepted ingredient. Stories

can provide full and rich accounts of experience.• The openness of the agenda can encourage

permissiveness and risk-taking• Generally perceived/experienced as non-threatening events Haigh, 2005

CONVERSATION

serves social functions as well as those associated with the exchanges of ideas and information. It ‘gives a sense of order to social life; it creates, enacts and alters relationships; it’s built on shared knowledge.’

(Patrick, 2002)

Those social functions may be very relevant when people are either total strangers to one another or who find their respective discipline or profession backgrounds ‘strange’. When strangers meet, conversation is the form of talk that they usually engage in as they begin to ‘get acquainted’. Svennevig (2002)

Good reasons for conversational interviewing

Undertaking basic descriptive-interpretative research – getting to know unfamilar phenomena

Wish to avoid a dialogue framed/lead by particular theoretical perspectives (explicit/implicit in questions)

Seek to enable co-construction of the talk – what talked about, and the talk ‘moves’ (see Haigh, 2005)

Culturally appropriate – Kaupapa Maori methodology, Pasfika methodology - ‘talanoa’

Narrative/story-telling acknowledges complexity of phenomena Compatible with paradigm stance re understandings / meanings

being transient, changeable, specific to situations/contexts, shaped by socio-cultural-historical-theoretical-etc positioning, socially constructed/negotiated

Conversational interviewing: Lets do it

Conversation starter:

Going to the dentist

While this isn’t a spontaneous conversation and I am giving you a general conversation topic, I would like your talk to have these features – everyone feels free to influence what is talked about and who is talking moment by moment, the talk is about personal experiences and views, it is OK to tell stories, and the talk is open and honest.

Conversational interviewing: issues, challenges and options

• Your views?

Some sensitivities and skills

• Holding off/back – allowing and enabling participant’s influence on the talk topics and moves

• Listening acutely• Asking questions that open up rather than close down

potential responses• Apt and well-controlled use of follow-up questions (handout)• Using wait-time• Providing appreciative, encouraging and informative

feedback – so respond as you hope• Reflexivity – as you go/later: acknowledging own

assumptions, perspectives and views will leak out

Issue: Becoming too self-conscious/deliberate about conversation – destroys the conversation!!

Focus Group/Group Interviews

Facilitator/moderator leads group dialogue about a topic.

May be conversational or semi-structured in approach

Purposes:• Obtaining insights into the nature and pervasiveness of

perceptions, views and experiences within a group• Generating research hunches (hypotheses)• Learning how the topic is talked about – which may help

development of other data-gathering methods• Gaining reactions to previous data/findings• Minimizing variation between multiple interviewers• Providing ‘safer’/more comfortable/ environment

Challenges and skills – see Patton 386-388

Some Other Consideration / Advice

• Piloting and rehearsal

• An appropriate place

• Where/how to begin – introductions, confidentiality, format, time, getting in contact, recording, questions

• Recording audio, notes – confirming recording – end of interview notes (tidy up scrawled notes, write observations, reflections,

• The non-verbal

• Time: checking on time, taking time, moving on, making transitions, keeping on track and time

• Follow-up thanks

• And ....

• And ....

.

Plenary Comments, Queries and Feedback

ResourcesTexts in AUT Library

Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative Research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

(Those interested in conducting, transcribing, and analyzing interviews should definitely pick up Michael Quinn Patton’s Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. This book provides an excellent jumping off point for both novice student interviewers as well as seasoned teachers. Patton, himself an experienced interviewer, and also an award-winning teacher and storyteller, outlines all the necessary steps involved in the interview process in a very entertaining way. The book reads much like a textbook, complete with original cartoons, historical examples, and vast personal experience. Moreover, inspirational and often amusing quotes kickoff each section. Appearing throughout the book is the fictional sage-like character Halcolm, a philosophical alter ego of Patton, who, "like his name (pronounced slowly)," forces the reader to ask "how come?" (p. A2).)

Kvale, S. and Breinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Gillham, B. (2001). The Research Interview. London, Continuum International Publishing.

Gillham, B. (2005). Research interviewing: the range of techniques, Maidenhead, Open University Press

Gubrium, J. And Holstein, J. (2002)(eds.). Handbook of interview research: context and methods. Thousand Oaks, C.A.: Sage Publications

King, N. And Horrocks, C. (2010). Interviews in qualitative research. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Rubin, H. & Rubin, I. (2005). Qualitative interviewing: the art of hearing data. Thousand Oaks, C.A.: Sage Publications.

Wengraf, T. (2001). Qualitative research interviewing: biographic and semi-structured methods. London, Sage Publications.

B

Resources

Journal Articles

Arkesey, H. (1996). Collecting data through joint interviews. Social Research Update, Issue 15. Department of Sociology, University of Surrey.

Boschma, G., Yonge, O. And Mychajlunow, L. (2003). Consent in oral history interviews: Unique challenges. Qulitative Health Research,n 13(1), 129-135.

Boutain, D. & Hitti, J. (2006). Orienting multiple interviewers: The use of an interview orientation and standardized interview. Qualitative Health Research, 16(9), 1302-1309.

Burgess-Limerick, T. & Burgess-Limerick, R. (2011). Conversational interviews and multiple-case research in psychology. Australian Journal of Psychology, 50(2), 63-70.

Corbin, J. And Morse, J. (2003). The unstructured interview: Issues of reciprocity and risks when dealing with sensitive topics. Qualitative Inquiry, 9(3), 335-354.

Crilly, N., Blaclwell, A. & Clarkson, P. (2006). Graphic elicitation: using research diagrams as research stimuli. Qualitative Research, 6(3), 341-366.

Deale, C., Chateris-Black, J., Macfarlane, A. & McPherson, A. (2010). Interviews and internet forums: A comparison of two sources of qualitative data. Qualitative Health Research, 20(5), 595-606.

Dearnley, C. (2010). A reflection on the use of semi-structured interviews. Nurse Researcher, 13(1), 19-28.

DeTurk, S. & Foster, E. (2008). Dialogue about dialogue: intersubjectivity in interview research. Qualitative Research Journal, 8(2), 14-27.

Ellis, J. And earley, M. (2006). Reciprocity and constructions of informed consent: Researching with indigenous populations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(4), 1-9.

Garton, S. & Copland, F. (2010). “I like this interview; I get cakes and cats!”: the effect of prior relationships on interview talk. Qualitative Research, 10(5), 533-511.

Grundy, A., Pollon, D. & McGinn, M. (2003). The participant as transcriptionist: methodological advantages of a collaborative and inclusive research practice, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 2(2), 1-19.

Guenette, F. & Marshall, A. (2009). Time line drawings: Enhancing participant voice on narrative interviews on sensitive topics. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 85-69.

Haigh, N. (2004). Everyday conversation as a context for professional learning and development. International Journal of Academic Development, 9, 1, 97-110.

Resources

Journal Articles

Hammersley. M. (2004). Recent radical criticism of interview studies: any implications for the sociology of education. British Journal of Sociology, 24(1), 119-126.

Hamilton, R. & Bowers, B. (2006). Internet recruitment and e-mail interviews in qualitative studies. Qualitative Health Research, 16(6), 821-835.

Irwin, L & Johnson, J. (2005). Interviewing young children: Explicating our practices and dilemmas. Qualitative Health Research, 15(6), 821-831.

Kinchin, I., Streatfield, D. & Hay, D. (2010). Using concept mapping to enhance the research interview. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(1), 52-69.

Hermanowicz, J. (2002). The great interview: 25 strategies for studying people in bed. Qualitative Sociology, 25(4), 479-499.

Hunt, N. & McHale, S. (2007). A practical guide to the e-mail interview. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10), 1415-1421.

Knapik, M. (2006). The qualitative research interview: Participants’ responsive participation in knowledge making. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(3), 5(3), 1-13.

Larsen, D., Flesaker, K. & Stege, R. (2008). Qualitative interviewing using interpersonal process recall: Investigating internal experiences during professional client conversations. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7(1), 18-37.

MacDougall, C. & Fudge, E. (2001). Planning and recruiting the sample for focus groups and in-depth interviews. Qualitative Health Research, 11(1), 117-126.

Manderson, L., Bennett, E. & Andajani-Sutjahjio, S. (2006). The social dynamics of the interview: Age, class and gender. Qualitative Health Research, 16(2), 1317-1334.

Mitchell, W. & Irvive, A. (2008). I’m okay, You’re okay? Reflections of the well-being and ethical requirements of researchers and research participants in conducting qualitative field interviews. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7(4), 31-44.

McConnell-Henry, T., James, A., Chapman, Y. & Francis, K. (2009). Researching with people you know: Issues in interviewing. Contemporary Nurse, 34(1), 2-9.

Nunkoosing, K. (2005). The problems with interviews. Qualitative Health Research, 15(5), 698-706

Opdenakker, R. (2006). Advantages and disadvantages of four interview techniques in qualitative research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 7(4)

Resources

Journal Articles

Power, E. (2004). Towards understanding in a postmodern interview analysis: Interpreting the contradictory remarks of a research participant. Qualitative Health Research, 14(6), 858-865.

Raby, R. (2010). Public selves, inequality and interruptions: The creation of meaning in focus groups with teens. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(1), 1-15.

Riachy, K. (2009). Exploring participant-centred reflexivity in the research interview. Sociology, 43(2), 356-370.

Roulston, K. (2010). Considering quality in qualitative interviewing. Qualitative Research. 10(2), 199-228.

Roulston, K., deMarrais, K. & Lewis, J. (2003). Learning to interview in the social sciences. Qualitative Inquiry, 9(4), 643-668.

Salmon, A. (2007). Walking the talk: How participatory interview methods can democratize research. Qualitative Health Research, 17(7), 982-993.

Sands, R., Bourjolly, J. & Roer-Strier, D. (2007). Crossing cultural barriers in research interviewing. Qualitative Social Work, 6(3), 353-372.

Sedgwick, M. & Spiers, J. (2009). The use of videoconferencing as a medium for the qualitative interview, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(1), 1-11.

Tanggarrd, L. (2008). Objections in research interviewing. Internal Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(3), 15-29.

Uhrenfeldt, L., Paterson, B., Hall, B. & Elisabeth, O. (2007). Using videorecording to enhance the debvelopment of novice researchers’ interviewing skills. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 6(1), 1-9.

Resources

On-line tutorials/resources

British Educational Research Council Data Collection: Interviews in research. An on-line tutorial covering overview (the decision to use interviews, how many interviews, thinking ahead, the issues of objectivity and subjectivity); communication in interviews; approaches to interviews; contexts for interviews; the practical aspects; further reading. See http://www.bera.ac.uk/data-collection-interviews-in-research/

University of Plymouth Interviews in education research. An on-line resource covering Why should I use interviews rather than some other device for data collection? Whom should I interview? How will I get access? What questions should I ask?? How should I phrase my questions? What techniques should I use to get the best possible answers? How do I decide on what form of interview to use? What about group interviews or ‘focus group’ discussions? How will I record the interview? How do I analyse the data? How do I write up the findings? What should I avoid?

See http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/interviews/inthome.htm

Note helpful associated resource on ‘Tinkering with transcriptions (P Bayliss, University ofr Portsmouth, 2007)

Emerald Publishing. How to ...conduct interviews. An on-line tutorial. The topics include features of the interview, types of interview, conducting the interview, framing the questions, recording, analysing and presenting the data.

See http://www.emeraldinsight.com/research/guides/methods/interviews.htm

Kennedy, R. (2006) Guide to interviewing An on-line resource

A guide to interview guides http://ed-web3.educ.msu.edu/digitaladvisor/Research/interviewing.htm

Interview probes http://ed-web3.educ.msu.edu/digitaladvisor/Research/interviewprobes.htm

From Michael Patton - Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods, pp348-379Asking questions: Options and Considerations

Questions Options• Experience and behavior • Opinions and values• Feeling• Knowledge• Sensory• Background/demographic

Wording• Asking truly open-ended questions• Dichotomous/yes-no questions• Asking singular questions• Clarity of questions• Taking care when asking why

Rapport and Neutrality• Neutral questions• Using illustrative examples in questions• Role-playing and simulation questions • Pre-supposition questions• Prefatory statements and announcements• Probes and follow-up questions

Process Feedback• Support and recognition responses• Maintaining control and enhancing quality of responses• The one-shot question• The final or closing question

Timeframe• In the past• Present• Future

Timeframe

Sequencing

Types of interview questions with examples

(Kvale p. 133-135)

a. Introducing questions: “Can you tell me about….?”, “Do you remember an occasion

when…?” “What happened in the episode mentioned?”,…

b. Follow-up questions: Direct questioning of what has just been said, nodding, “mm”,

repeating significant words, ….

c. Probing questions: “Could you say something more about that?”, “Can you give a more

detailed description of what happened?”, “Do you have further examples of this?”,…

d. Specifying questions: “What did you think then?” What did you actually do when you felt

a mounting anxiety?”, “How did your body react?”,…

e. Direct questions: “Have you ever received money for good grades? When you mention

competetion, do you then think of a sportsmanlike or a destructive competition?”

f. Indirect questions: Projective questions such as ‘How do you believe other pupils regard

the competition of grades?”

g. Structuring questions: indicating when a theme is exhausted by breaking off long

irrelevant answers: “I would now like to introduce another topic:…”.

h.. Interpreting questions: “You then mean that….?” “Is it correct that you feel that…?”Does

the expression…. Cover what you have just expressed?”

Silence: By allowing pauses the interviewees have ample time to associate and reflect

and break the silence themselves. With significant information

Follow-up Questions (Katterns and Haigh) 

More (detail) questions

 Questions that prompt people to go beyond their initial answer or ideas, or to provide more detail

e.g.

Go on

And …?

Could you enlarge on that?

Can you elaborate a bit more on that?

Have you any other ideas (views, thoughts) about that?

What else?

Tell us some more about that

So …?

Can you break that down further?

Can you give me an example of that?

I’d like to hear some more details about …

What happened before/after that?

How long precisely?

And then you …?

Oh … and how did you feel?

Follow-up QuestionsClarify/Conform Questions

Asked when you are not sure what someone’s answer means or you want to check that the meaning you have in mind for their statement, is their meaning.eg.

Are you saying …?

So is this …?

Is another way of saying that …?

You said … Does that mean …?

So, in other words …?

What you seem to be telling me is …?

What do you mean by …?

What would be involved in …?

It seems to me you said …?

So, … Have I got that clear?

An example would help me confirm that I understand what is involved.

Is the point then that …?

I’m still not clear. Can you help me?

Do you mean …?

So your view is that …?

I’m not sure whether I understand what you are saying. Could you go back over that?

Could you tell me again?

NB – need to be cautious when paraphrasing their answer. They may ‘agree’ with your (perhaps tidied up) version when they don’t really agree that it fits what they had in mind.

Follow-up QuestionsSupport Questions

Questions that prompt people to explain why they hold a particular point of view, or have certain ideas in their mind.

e.g.

Why?

What experiences have you had that support that?

What led you to that view?

And the reason for that is …?

Why have you always thought that?

How have you come you hold that view?

And the reasons for your certainty, for holding on to this view?

NB: Some caution is required when asking ‘why questions.

When used as a probe, “why’ questions can imply that a person’s response was somehow inappropriate. “Why did you do that” may sound like doubt that an action (or feeling) was justified. A simple Tell me more, if you will, about your thinking on that” may be more inviting (Patton, p.365)

Follow-up QuestionsRelate Questions

Questions that prompt people to take an idea/activity/process that they have thought about or applied in one context – and think about its relevance, appropriateness or value in a different context. Also, to consider whether something would need to be changed to ‘fit’ a different situation.

e.g.

What other situations would this work in?

What do you think would happen if you tried that when …?

Would you need to modify that if you …?

What changes would you make if you …?

How might … respond if you did it that way?

It obviously worked well when you … How do you think it would go if …?

Would you need to modify it if … happened?

• Relate questions are very powerful because they prompt people to conduct research in their mind – and consider the implications or impact of different contexts.

AVOID BEING 

The ESN Squirrel    Collects tapes of interviews as if they are nuts, only does not know what to do with them other than play them back on his Hi-Fi.

The Ego-Tripper    Knows in his heart that his hunch is right, but needs a few pieces of interview fodder to justify it.  Carefully selected quotes will do just that, and one has no idea how much lies on the cutting room floor.

The Optimist    Plans 200 interviews with a randomly selected group of secondary school Heads by Xmas.  Is shortly to discover 200 synonyms for 'get lost'.

The Amateur Therapist    Although ostensibly enquiring into parents' attitudes to lacrosse, gets so carried away during interview he tries to resolve every social/emotional problem he encounters.  Should stick to lacrosse.

The Guillotine    Is so intent on getting through his schedule he pays no attention to the answers ands chops his respondents short in mid-sentence.  (He actually does manage to do 200 interviews by Xmas.)

Wragg, E C (1978) Conducting and Analysing Interviews, Nottingham University School of Education, TRC-Rediguides