Hayley DaviesDEPS

consider the merits and limitations of interviewing

consider the merits and limitations of focus groups

For doing own empirical dissertation project and Deciding which methods are most appropriate Understanding how to use them – what their

strengths/limitations are (read widely). Informing a justification for your choice of

methods in your project (substantial references will be needed to support this).

For doing a library-based dissertation Need to understand and discuss in dissertation

whether the research you’re reviewing, critically evaluating is a reliable and rigorous source of evidence

Why conduct interviews? To find out from a person’s perspective about their

knowledge, views, understandings interpretations, experiences (or at least representations of their experiences), and interactions in their social worlds (interpretivist perspective)

Assumes you regard these as ‘meaningful properties of the social reality’ and worthy of exploration(Mason, 2002: 63).

Way of establishing rapport, decrease power imbalance. Interview is social interaction – reliant on rapport, relationship established with interviewee should be documented as part of a reflexive approach (Mason, 2002: 64).

Spectrum: structured (or researcher administered survey), semi-structured, loosely structured, narrative/life story, ‘creative’ (Douglas, 1985).

Sampling: with who? Why that group? Individual interviews or in pairs (Highet, 2003); family group interviews (Warin et al., 2007).

How? Face-to-face, or telephone (Holt, 2010) or online via email (Ison, 2009) or webforum; phone, text surveys (different levels of interaction – require consideration).

Combining interviews/focus groups (see Mitchell, 1999).

All interviews have some structure:

‘Conversation with a purpose’ (Burgess, 1984). Research question/topic imposes an agenda

structures interview (to some extent) -select issues/topics of interest (Mason, 2002).

How we ask questions, our rationale for the questions we ask, and what we hear as answers is based on our ‘theoretical project’ (Mason, 2003: 225) – which is a form or structure.

Method Type of data generated

Interviews Individual perspectives, experiences, memories – participants’ representations of what they think/how they act/feel/remember in an interview with you (interviewer effect)

Focus groups Collective perspectives, experiences, negotiated and qualified through conversation– what people think on a particular topic, when asked in a group context and when encouraged to defend their position.

observations Behaviours, actions in a particular context – what people are actually doing, how they are acting/interacting with others – as observed by you.

Significance of social experience revealed in narrative (Mason, 2003: 232); interviewees provide a storied narrative based on concerns, experiences, perspectives (Miller, 2000).

Interviewer plays a minimal role: ask very open/broad questions that encourage lengthy responses, e.g. Tell me about your childhood.

Paul Thompson (pioneer in life history interviews).

Thompson’s technique: ask question and prompt participant to continue speaking by demonstrating interest.

Reading about how to do this Record relevant contextual information: including? key questions (should address your research

aims/objectives) Consider the range of responses each question could

generate and whether that satisfies aims/interest. Order/flow between topics (opening, main, concluding Qs) Check for leading questions and re-phrase Ask a friend on course/supervisor for feedback Ideally pilot your schedule – gain experience, check

language (avoid jargon), responses, flow. (see Bryman, 2008: 442-448)

Topic – your interviewee’s perspectives on... (gay marriage/families, funding for the arts, health service)

Record: contextual information about participant Devise: opening question, two key questions,

and concluding question. List: prompts you could use.Be prepared to share experiences with the groupHow would you change your interview schedule in

light of your practise interview?

Focus groups seek collective views usually on one theme (differs from group interview – covers lots of themes) (Bryman, 2008)

FGs generate data on group interaction/dynamics Can use vignettes or images to provoke discussion on

a theme Advantages: participants ‘probe’ each others answers,

force others to re-consider/qualify perspectives (Bryman, 2008: 475); time and cost efficient

Disadvantages: like all Ql research – self-censure, over or under-report (doing face-work);

Challenge – recruitment, how to ensure confidentiality, what happens if inappropriate info is shared?

How many participants? Krueger (1994) suggests 7-10. Bryman – at least 4 (2008:473).

How many groups? No agreed number but we can learn from other researchers (see Bryman, 2008: 478 for table inc no. of participants /groups in a variety of studies).

Structure: Set of themes/questions:introductory Q, transition questions, concluding questions

How you analyse (see Frankland and Bloor, and kitzinger and Farquhar chapters in Barbour and kitzinger, 1999).

High level moderation: specific set of questions followed in order, facilitator controls direction/nature of discussion. Difficult to access in-depth material - attitudes, beliefs, behaviour and experiences through this approach.

Low level moderation: facilitator gives topic, lets participants discuss, facilitator role is minimal.

Combination of low and high – most facilitators adopt (see Cronin, 2002: 166-7).

• Photo-elicitation/drawings (spaces, places, people) – way into understanding meaning people give to particular contexts, events, relationships).

Vignettes – fictional situations and questions which enable exploration of ‘opinions’ and ‘values’ (example at end of ppt) (see also Jenkins et al., 2010; Mason, 2003 on asking ethically sensitive questions).

Memory books: written diary entries of significant events – then used as a source for the interview; reflective; audience-based (used in biographical interview research) (see Thomson and Holland, 2003).

Ashley (age 9) lives with her mum, her younger sister Lily (age 4), younger brother Jamie (age 8), and her mum’s boyfriend Neil. Ashley hates Neil because if she does the slightest thing wrong, he shouts at her and sometimes smacks Lily and Jamie. On Christmas Eve at 1am in the morning Neil and Ashley’s mum had a big fight. The noise woke Ashley up and she saw the fight. Ashley saw Neil putting his hand over Ashley’s mum’s mouth and nose. Ashley was worried her mum couldn’t breathe. (from Hayley’s ‘Keeping each other safe’ project).Questions How do you think Ashley feels seeing her mum being hurt? What should Ashley do when she sees this fight?

More than just form-filling for KCL ethics. Where will the interview/focus group take

place? Quiet enough? Privacy Confidentiality (will you attempt to control

disclosures? If so, how? Working with children – obligation to inform them if they mention harm, you are obliged to disclose)

Anonymity: focus groups? Spare batteries (seems obvious but easily

forgotten). Note pad/pen to record data (see next slide)

Record details of: 1. Date2. Time3. Where interview/focus group/s take place4. Consent (on KCL forms).5. Names of participants (should be on consent

forms) in interviews/focus groups.6. Interactions between you and interviewee

prior to/after interview

One-off interviews/f.group (face-work or impression-management/construction of moral identities).

Are talk and text enough? (things people do??) Can int/f.grp tell us about elements of social

world not accessible through talk? ‘Politics of talk’: Language not neutral, who uses

it, what can it mean/do? Language: product of power relations/struggles.

Selectivity, memory, deception.(see Mason, 2003: 236-7).

Design a focus group relevant to your discipline.

When designing questions consider:1. Type of language you would use to phrase

questions2. Types questions (open-ended, discursive-

encouraging interviewee/participants to chat); structure, sequence.

3. Types of prompts/probes4. Degree of researcher intervention

National Centre Research Methods (useful articles: http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/ (see working papers, helpful resources).

Realities (toolkits for doing research: http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/toolkits/ (includes handouts telling you how to do phone interviews, walking interviews, email interviews, transcribe your own data and loads more).

Journals: Qualitative research; International J. Of Social Research methodology; sociological research online.

Alasuutari, P., Bickman, L., Brannen, J. (2008) Handbook of Social Research Methods. London: sage.

Barbour, R. And Kitzinger, J. (eds) (1999) Developing focus group research. London:Sage.

Blaikie, N. (2006) Designing Social Research: The Logic of Anticipation. Cambridge: Polity.

Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods (third edition). London: Sage.

Burgess, R. (1984) In the Field: An introduction to Field Research. London: Allen and Unwin.

Cronin, A. (2002) ‘Focus groups’. In N. Gilbert, Researching Social Life (second edition). London: Sage.

Denscombe, M. (2010) The good research guide for small-scale social research projects (fourth edition). New York: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.

Douglas, J. (1985) Creative Interviewing. Beverley Hills (CA): Sage.

Highet, G. (2003) ‘Cannabis and smoking research: Interviewing young people in self-selected friendship pairs’. Health Education Research. 18 (1): 108-118.

Holt, A. (2010) ‘Using the telephone for narrative interviewing: a research note’. Qualitative Research. 10 (1): 113-121.

Gray, C. & Malins, J. (2004) Visualizing Research: A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing.

Ison, N. (2009) ‘Having their say: email interviews for research data collection with people who have verbal communication impairment’. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 12 (2): 161-172.

Jenkins, N., Bloor, M., Fischer, J., Berney, L., and Neale, J. (2010) ‘Putting it in context: the use of vignettes in qualitative interviewing’. Qualitative Research. 10 (2): 175-198.

Knowles, J. G. & Cole, A. L. (eds.) (2007) Handbook of the Arts in Qualitative Research: Perspectives, Methodologies, Examples, and Issues. London: Sage.

Krueger, R. (1994) Focus Groups: A practical guide for applied research (second edition) Thousand oaks/London:Sage.

Mason, J. (2002) Qualitative Researching. London: sage.

Mason, J. (2003) ‘Qualitative Interviewing’ in T. May (ed) Qualitative Research in Action. London: Sage: 225-241.

Miller, R. (2000) Researching Life Stories and Family Histories. London: Sage.

Mitchell, L. (1999) ‘Combining focus groups and interviews: telling how it is, telling how it feels’. In R. Barbour and J. Kitzinger (eds) Developing Focus Group Research: Politics, Theory and Practice. London: Sage.

Thomson, R. and Holland, J. (2005) ‘Thanks for the memory’: memory books as a methodological resource in biographical research’. Qualitative Research. 5 (2): 201-219.

Thomson, P. & Sefton-Green, J. (2011) Researching Creative Learning: Methods and Issues. (table of of contents availbale on: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/toc/0415548853/ref=dp_toc?ie=UTF8&n=266239 

Warin, J., Solomon, Y. and Lewis, C. (2007) ‘Swapping stories: comparing plots: triangulating individual narratives within families’. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 10 (2): 121-134.