Introduction to Qualitative Research: Conducting Interviews

1. Introduction to Qualitative Research: Conducting Interviews Elizabeth Jones September 2011

2. Interviews • Open-ended questions and probes that yield in-depth responses about individuals’ experiences, perceptions, opinions, feelings, and knowledge. • Data often include verbatim quotes with sufficient context to be interpreted. • When conducting numerous interviews, themes or patterns can be determined.

3. Observations • Fieldwork descriptions of activities, behaviors, actions, conversations, interpersonal interactions, organizational or community processes, or any other aspect of observable human experience. • Data often consists of field notes: rich, detailed descriptions including the context in which the observations were made. Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

4. Documents • Written materials and other documents from organizational, clinical, or program records, memos and correspondence; official publications and reports; minutes from meetings, written responses to open-ended survey questions. • Data consist of excerpts from documents that records and preserves the context.

5. Developing the StandardizedInterview Protocol • Develop a formal document that lists in order the questions that you will ask each participant • Remember the quality of the information obtained during an interview is largely contingent on the interviewer.

6. Developing the Standardized Interview Protocol Typically include script at the top of the interview protocol that you read— Introduce who you are and why you are doing this interview; what is the purpose of the interview; overview of the topics that you will cover. IRB has certain requirements for formal research that will be covered in future course.

7. Developing the Interview Protocol • The exact wording and sequence of questions are determined in advance. All interviewees are asked the same questions in the same order. The majority of questions are worded in an open-ended format. • Demographic questions may be closed or have fixed responses.

8. Interview Protocol: Experience and Behavior Questions Questions about what a person does or has done to gather information about behaviors, experiences, actions, or activities that would have been observed had the observer been present. Examples—If I followed you through a typical day, what would I see you doing? If I had been in the program with you, what would I have seen you doing?

9. Interview Protocol: Opinion and Values Questions Questions aimed at understanding cognitive and interpretative processes that ask people about opinions, judgments, and values as opposed to actions and behaviors. Answers illustrate what people think about some experience or issue. Provide information about people’s goals, intentions, desires, or expectations.

10. Interview Protocol: Opinion and Values Question Examples What do you believe about….. What do you think about…... What is your opinion of……..

11. Interview Protocol: Feeling Questions Aimed at eliciting emotions Feeling responses of people to their thoughts and experiences “How do you feel about that?”

12. Interview Protocol: Knowledge Questions Inquire about the respondent’s factual information Knowledge about a program may include knowing what services are available, who is eligible for the program, what the rules and regulations are for the program, or how one enrolls in the program.

13. Background/Demographic Questions Identifying important characteristics of the individual being interviewed Age, education, or occupation are a few examples

14. The Time Frame of Questions Questions can be asked in the present, past, or the future. You can ask someone what they are doing now, what they have done in the past, or what they plan to do in the future.

15. Matrix of Question Options

16. Sequencing of Questions Ideally we want participants to feel comfortable with the interviewer Often interviewees can most easily answer demographic questions—begin interview protocol with demographic questions (also gives better understanding of the context) Then move to open-ended questions

17. Wording Good Open-Ended Questions How a question is worded affects how an interviewee responds. Good questions should be open-ended, neutral, and clear. Avoid academic jargon or terms that might not be understood. {How do you close the loop?} Include probes in your interview protocol.

18. Recording Responses to Interview Questions You can take notes as you conduct the interview, but do not let note taking behaviors affect your ability to focus on asking your questions. Ask each interviewee if you can tape record the interview. Then you have formal record of your interview and can re-listen to accurately capture what the interviewee said. For dissertation research and other more expanded studies, you would transcribe verbatim each word of the interview

19. Next Steps Think about the specific individual you would like to interview for this assignment: either a school district financial officer OR an academic leader in a community college. Let Dr. Jones know who the specific individual is that you would like to interview Draft of interview protocol is due to Dr. Jones by Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Dr. Jones will provide feedback on draft interview protocol

20. Next Steps Revisions based upon feedback from Dr. Jones will result in final interview protocol due by Tuesday, October 25. Analysis of information will be discussed sin future class meeting