QUEST Methodological Focus

Individual interviews: Techniques & approach

Duyen Thi Kim Nguyen, PhDduyen@sjhdc.caTuesday, February 12, 2019

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Outline• What is an individual interview?• Reasons to conduct an interview?• Methodological considerations• Interviewee à Interviewer à Interview questions• Interview process

• Pre-interview• During the interview• Post-interview

• Analysis• Budget• Advantages & disadvantages

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What is an individual interview?

Oneononeinteractionwhereonepersonisaskedquestionsaboutatopic• E.g.jobinterview,reporter

onthenews,schoolinterview

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Reasons to conduct an interview?

Conductaninterviewwhen…• youareseekingdetailed,in-depthunderstanding/infoofparticipants

(e.g.,experiences,perceptions,reasoning)• tounderstand‘why’behindbehaviorsoractions– motivations,attitudes,logic• “interestedinbetterunderstandingaparticulartopicfromtheperspectiveof

participantsinordertodevelopasurveytodrawuponalarger,generalizablesample”(Rosenthal,2016,p.510)

• thetopiciscomplexandyouwanttobeabletoprobefurther• yourequireinteractionwiththeparticipant(e.g.,showingslides,etc.)• NOTgeneralizability

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Considerations Options

Reason/Purposeoftheinterview Exploratory,confirmatory,informative,evaluative

Numberof‘rounds’ Singlevs. multiple

Recruitment/Sampling Probability (random) vs.Non-probability(e.g.,convenience,purposeful)

Participants/Interviewees Homogeneous vs.heterogeneous;Vulnerablevs.non-vulnerable

Modality In-personvs.remotely(telephone(e.g.,freeconferencecall.com),computer(e.g.,zoom))

Interviewapproach Unstructured(e.g.,conversational) vs.structuredvs.semi-structured

Interviewer Novicevs.experienced;One vs.multiple

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The intervieweeResearchquestion(RQ)

• Whatpurposedoestheinterviewserve?Whoisthebestinformedtoproviderichinformation?Istheremorethanonegroup/pop’n thatcaninformtheRQ?

• Howmanyparticipantstointerview?Basedonprevioussimilarstudies,saturationofthedata,yourresources(time,$,humanresources)

Ethicalprocess• Access/Recruitment;vulnerability

Whataretheneedsoftheinterviewees?• Possibleconsiderations:SES,pastexperiences,culturalbackground,physical/mental

condition,developmentalmilestone

• Infore.intervieweeswillinformthecharacteristicsneededoftheinterviewer,developmentofinterviewquestions,andmethodology

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The interviewerAbletoconducttheinterviewinasystematicmanner

• Behavingsimilaracrossallinterviews;followstheinterviewapproach

Bodylanguage• Helpmaketheintervieweefeelcomfortable;readotherbodylanguagetoknowhow

torespondtotheinterviewee• Non-judgementalcues

Listening&communicationskills• Notinterrupting;knowingwhentofollowinterestingleads;knowingwhentopause

andgivetimeforresponse;knowingwhentoprobe/addtothequestion

Considerations:• Sensitivityoftheresearchtopic• Interviewer’sabilitytobuildrapportwiththeinterviewee 7

Gaining rapportPutting participants at ease

• Professional and generally knowledgeable, but less knowledgeable than the participant

• Friendly & curious• Remind participants information is confidential

Listening• Restating the participant's response, using his/her language• When clarifying, best to ask for ‘use’ than ‘meaning’. E.g., ‘When

would you use that?’ vs. ‘What do you mean by that?’

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(Leech, 2002)

Tips: 1)Ensurerapportdoesnotaffectneutrality2)Aboveall,convey:i)respect&interest;ii)empathyandunderstandinginanon-judgmentalway

Interview question designDo Don’t

SingularquestionsE.g., PleasetellmeyourexperiencewithSaintJohn’spublicbussystem.

Double-barreledquestionsE.g.,Wasyourbus experienceenjoyableandthefarereasonablypriced?

Concise Long-winded/Wordy questions

Clear,simplelanguage Unnecessary jargon,acronyms,slang

Open-endedquestions,Neutral,non-judgmental Leadingquestions,Biased,Judgmental

Place questionsincoherentandlogicalorder Randomplacementofquestions

Prepareprobingquestions,aswellasscenarios andexamplestohelpintervieweesprovidearesponse

Vagueorloadedquestions

Pilotyourquestionsbeforefinalizingthe interviewguide

Frustratetheinterviewee withpoorlyformulatedquestions

9(Dillman et al., 2002; Leech, 2002)

Tips:1)Knowtermstoavoid.2)Don’taskinformationthatyoucangetelsewhere.

Types of questions7)Experience&behavior8)Sensory9)Opinion&value10)Knowledge11)Feelings/Emotions12)Background&demographics

1) Open-ended2) Closed-ended3) Dichotomous

4) Grandtour5) Examples6) Prompts

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(Leech, 2002; Patton, 2002)

Tip:Takeintoconsiderationthecharacteristicsoftheinterviewee&theirperspectivewhendesigningandformulatingquestions.Trytoanticipatetheiranswers.

Interview processPriortotheinterview• Buildrapportwithintervieweeimmediately• Ensureintervieweeunderstandsthestudyandhassignedtheconsentform• Whenschedulinginterviews,buildintimeforreflection• Providemeetingreminder1-2daysprior,includinganynecessarydocuments &

contactinformationincaseofcancelationoremergency• Testinterviewquestions,testallequipment,packextrasupplies/documents• Arriveearlytoensureasafeandwelcominginterviewenvironment;limitdistractions• Gatherallavailableinformationpriortotheinterview(e.g.,demographics)

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Tip: Afterpilottestingtheinterviewguide,listenbacktoassesstheinterviewerandhis/hertechnique.

Interview process (cont’d)

Duringtheinterview• Upfront,reiterateclearlykeyresearchinformation,expectations,&otherhousekeeping• Ifconductingremotely,confirmhowtoreconnectiftechnicalissuesarise• Buildrapportthroughoutinterview;Beawareofnon-verbalcues• Enunciateclearlyandloudenough,fortherecorder• Usearecorderwhenpossible;checkrecorderperiodicallyforfunction• Onlyjotdownkeyinformation(minimalnote-taking)• Allowintervieweeenoughtimetoprocessandrespondtothequestion

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Tip: Ifrecording,ensuretonarrateanynon-verbalactions,forthetranscript.E.g,“here”vs.“soyouarereferringtothediagramonpage3,paragraph2?”

Interview process (cont’d)

Aftertheinterview• Reflectjournal,jotdownimportantdetailsoftheinterview• Listenbackonyourinterview• Getinterviewtranscribed• Ensuretranscriptaccuracybycomparingtranscripttoaudio,&makenecessary

corrections• Analyzedata• Adjusttheinterviewquestionsandprovideinterviewerfeedback,ifnecessary

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Tip: Donotlettoomuchtimepassaftertheinterviewiscompletetowriteinyourreflectivejournalorreviewthetranscript.Datacanaccumulateveryquicklyandbecomeunwieldy.

Analysis (briefly)

• DifferenttypesofanalysisdependingonRQandtheoreticalframework• e.g.,contentanalysis,thematicanalysis

• Analysiscanbeconductedconcurrentlywithdatacollection• Valuabletobecomeveryfamiliarwiththedata• Transcriptions(detail&costcanvary)• Richnessofquotesdependentoninterviewquestions&interviewer• Anonymity

• Ifsampleisverysmallyoumaynotbeabletoensureanonymitywhenquoting

• Memberchecking,ifnecessary14

Budget

Interviewer• Interviewerfeeperinterviewor

hour• Costfortravel• Parking

Interviewee/Participant• Participantcompensation• Costfortravel• Parking• Childcare

Resources,etc• Audiorecordingdevice/app• Transcriptions(e.g.,rev.com)• Analyst• Analyticalsoftware(e.g.,Nvivo,

atlas.ti)• Participantrecruitmentstrategy• Timeline

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Advantages• Cangatherspecific,

detailedinformation• Addsinsightandgreater

understandingtoatopic• Caninformother

researchquestionsanddatacollectiontools

Disadvantages• Time-consuming• Cannotsamplealarge

groupeasily• Costly• Challenging• Cannotgeneralize

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References

• Dillman,D.A.,Smyth,J.D.,&Christian,L.M.(2014).Internet,Phone,Mail,andMixed-ModeSurveys:TheTailoredDesignMethod(4thed.).Hoboken,NewJersey:JohnWiley&Sons.

• Leech,B.L.(2002).Askingquestions:techniquesforsemistructuredinterviews.PoliticalScience&Politics,35(04),665-668.

• Patton,M.Q.(2002).Qualitativeresearchandevaluationmethods,3rd ed.,ThousandOaks:SagePublications.

• Rosenthal,M.(2016).Qualitativeresearchmethods:Why,when,andhowtoconductinterviewsandfocusgroupsinpharmacyresearch.CurrentsinPharmacyTeachingandLearning,8(4),509-16.

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