Designing an Interview Protocol

1. Designing an Interview Protocol

2. Why an Interview Protocol • Keep your focus on your research question. • Maximize the probability that the interview will collect all the data you need. • Keep your attention on the dynamics of the interview.

3. Choose your words to be specific and concrete. • Ask questions that are not biased or judgmental. • Provide a framework for research ethics. • Link your methodology to your epistemological commitments. • Anticipate possible responses and plan logical follow-up questions. • Think about how to approach sensitive subjects. • Become aware of unconscious assumptions or categories.

4. Facilitate getting the interview back on track if it does not go according to plan. • Collect data sets that are comparable between participants. • Allow data collected by several interviewers to be synthesized. • Allow conducting on-line interviews asynchronously. • Even in an unstructured interview, the more prepared you are, the easier it is to improvise questions.

5. Paradigms • Structured • Query/Response • Facts • Unstructured • Conversation • Experiences, Opinions, and Feelings

6. Designing the Protocol • Start with your research question (and hypotheses). • Clarify your purpose. • Decide what kind of data will be useful. • Imagine yourself conducting an interview. What kind of data you are recording? • Imagine yourself analyzing the data. What methods are you using? • Envision the ideal form that your research report might take. What kinds of evidence does it include? •  Decide what kinds of questions will elicit this data, support these analysis methods and produce this kind of report. • Decide on a structure for the interview that is most likely to elicit the type of data that you are looking for.

7. Looking for Facts? • Begin with open questions to elicit a narrative. • Follow with specific questions to clarify details. • Close with dichotomous questions to establish facts free of interpretation.

8. Looking for Opinions/Attitudes? For each theme, topic, or event: • A general question that orients the participant and discovers if they are familiar with the topic. • A open question to discover if the participant has any views on the topic. • A specific question to elicit data on a particular aspect of the topic. • An open question to explore this aspect more deeply. • An open question to explore the depth of the participant’s feelings.

9. Looking for Interpretations • Unstructured. • Participant has control. • Open-ended questions asking for descriptions, experiences, and meanings from various perspectives. • Questions designed to trigger feelings, memories, associations, interpretations rather than categories.

10. Narrative Interviews More concerned with getting the whole story rather than establishing categories. • Start with a conversational question. • Discuss the topic/issue conceptually. • Ask an open question to elicit a narrative account. • Ask follow-up questions to get the details.

11. Ask for examples and probe for details. • Ask for context. • Ask for intentions and expectations. • Use time referents. • Ask what happened before and after. • Ask for a demonstration: • Ask about settings, places, and landscapes. • Ask about feelings, ambience, and moods. • Ask about objects. • Ask for associations, similes, and analogies: • Use metaphors and concrete visual imagery. • Use counterarguments (but attribute them to someone else). • Quotations from the classics often evoke stories. • Asking for e-mail follow-ups is a good way of getting stories.

12. Setting Up Initial Conditions • Statement of purpose and first question are critical. • Avoid jumping in too quickly. • The initial question can serve to introduce the topic. • Easy to answer. • Reinforces the participant’s self-esteem. • Demonstrates you are prepared for the interview. • Follows logically from your statement of purpose.

13. Epistemological Considerations Your beliefs about how and why we know should be reflected in the design of the protocol. • Knowledge is generated by rigorous scientific methods highly structured protocol with limited response set. • Knowledge discovers the plotline of lived experience  unstructured protocol with no preconceived categories. • Knowledge should be tied to action  the protocol should be a catalyst for action. • Semi-structured interview protocols • Collect rich data in a form that lends itself to analytical methods. • Can reflect a synthesis of epistemological positions.

14. Example: Heuristic Research Knowledge expands outwards from your own experience of a phenomenon (Moustakas). • What do you know about the experience? • What qualities or dimensions of the experience stand out? • What examples are vivid and alive? • What events, situations, and people are connected? • What feelings and thoughts are generated by the experience? • What bodily states or shifts in bodily presence occur? • What time and space factors affect your awareness and meaning? • What are the significant constituents of the experience?

15. A Note on Postmodern Interviewing • The protocol is negotiated. • The meaning of questions is constructed collaboratively. • Particularly concerned with context, situations, gender, race, social status, age. • Minimizing power differential is of paramount importance . • Priority on eliciting the voice of the participants, focusing on local narratives, and drawing in whatever has been marginalized.

16. Semi-Structured Interview Guidelines • Clearly define the topic and what information you are looking for. • Explain the objective of your inquiry and the purpose of your questions. • Provide instructions at the beginning of the protocol. • Consider telling the participants what kind of report you envision. • Ask questions that promote a positive interaction and keep conversation flowing. • Include words to motivate participants to respond. • Don’t forget to include demographics. • Confine each question to one idea. • Limit questions to one verb tense, one person, and one number. • Avoid qualifying phrases and clauses. • Use words that are likely to be familiar. • Limit questions to twenty words. • Limit the number of keywords in each question. • Avoid negatives such as “not” or “disagree” except for contrast or comparison. • Use specific, concrete words that participants are likely to interpret in the same way. • Avoid words that have multiple meanings or have moral or legal overtones.

17. Narrow questions to the scope of your research question. • Use concrete examples and specific categories. • Embed definitions of key terms. • Use referents that establish a context. • Instead of a scale, try to ask for specific examples. • Define abstract words such as often, good, approve, like, agree. • Do not embed conflict in a question. • Never use the words all, always, each, every, never, nobody, only, none, if any, or if at all. • Avoid yes or no wording (except for highly structured interviews). • Be careful about embedding assumptions. • Don’t word questions in a way that suggests a particular answer. • Ask open, general questions before closed, specific ones. • Ask about discrepancies but do not force participants to be consistent. • If the word “you” is used, be explicit about whether it is individual or collective. • Instead of how, where, and why, ask a series of questions about different possibilities. • Put cues in the question to stimulate memory. • Ask about key events, documents, associations, or images. • For a chronology, it is sometimes better to work from the present backwards.

18. Relate the questions to specific experiences. • Refer questions to specific aspects of the experience. • Ground questions in a timeframe – past, present, or future. • Ask questions from multiple perspectives. • Ask about competing alternativesin separate questions. • Keep hypotheses in mind and ask questions to confirm or disconfirm. • Include questions to elicit data that will fit or extend previously seen patterns. • Ask for supporting evidence. • Ask for counterpoints and exceptions. • Don’t ask about attitudes of other people. • Questions should be stand-alone. • Includepossible follow-up questions. • Include reminders to yourself about any comments that you want to make. • Offer a chance to rethink answers or comment on areas you did not cover. • Allow the participant the chance to have the last word. • Read your protocol out loud. • Anticipate where silence might be more effective than a question. • Run a pilot study to refine the protocol!

19. The Interview as Intervention • Catalyst for change. • Identify problems. • Provide diagnostic feedback. • Create a felt need for change. • Provide factual information. • Offer potential solutions. • Identify opportunities. • Confront obstacles. • Suggest directions for movement. • Stimulate learning. • Encourage reflection on practice. • Engage participants change. • Provide a space for creativity.

20. In management inquiry, questions should be designed to direct energy towards change. • Collect data that are useful for problem-solving and are likely to support beneficial outcomes. • Linked to actual behavior. • Useful starting point for discussion of issues of concern to participants. • Limited to things that participants can do something about. • In action or participatory research, consider involving the participants in creating the interview protocol.

21. Example: Appreciative Inquiry Appreciative inquiry aims to discovering the factors that generate health and vitality in an organization. • When you are feeling best about your work, what do you value about the task itself? • Can you recall an outstanding or successful achievement that you have been involved in pulling off. What made it possible? • Think of a time when you felt most committed to your organization and its mission. Why did you feel such commitment? • Can you think of a time when there was an extraordinary display of cooperation in the organization? What made such cooperation possible? • Give an example of the most effective team or committee of which you have been a part. • What are some of the things you value about your organization and your work? • If you could transform the organization in any way you wished, what would you do to heighten its vitality and health?

22. Types of Interview Questions • Introducing “Can you tell me about…” • Filtering questions establish whether participant is qualified to answer or has opinions. “Do you know anything about…?” “Does it make any difference to you…?” • Descriptive “How would you describe…?” • Experience/Example “Can you recount your experience of…?” “Can you give me an example of…?” “Can you tell me your impressions of…?” • Specifying “What has been your experience of…?” “How do you actually feel about... ?” • Number questions can help to establish specifics and comparisons. “How many times…?” • Developing: Asking for further detail. “Tell me more.”

23. Comparison/Contrast “Can you tell me some of the similarities between … and …?” “Can you tell me some of the differences between … and …?” • Diverging “Do you see any conflict in that? • Conceptual questions seek underlying causes or principles. “Can you explain… for me?” “Can you identify the causes of…?” “Can you tell me your underlying premise for saying…?” “What do you think is the real reason…?” • Narrative “Can you tell me what happened?” Can you tell me the story of…?” • Interpretive “What do you think that means…?” “Do you see any connections with …? • Clarification “Can you clarify…for me?” “Can you tell me exactly what you mean by…?” “Do you mean to say?”

24. Probing “Can you give me more detail…?” • Passive probe signals readiness to hear more. “I see…” • Responsive probes are more animated suggestions to add more. “How interesting…” • Mirroring repeats the participant’s words to encourage continuing. • Transition questions should be planned to move on to the next topic. • Structuring questions maintain the focus of the interview or break off irrelevant answers. “How do you think your experience relates to the issue of…?” • Control questions ask the same question in different words. Useful for establishing validity. • Follow-up questions can sometimes be anticipated. It is a good idea to have some possibilities prepared in your protocol. “Can you tell me more about…?” “What was your reaction to…? “Anything else…”?

25. Direct questions are usually postponed until after the participant has had a chance to respond spontaneously. “Can you tell me what happened when you…?” • Indirect questions are used to test attitudes. “How do you think your coworkers felt about…? • Reflective questions allow respondent to choose the direction of the reply. • Participants are often as prepared for interviews as you are. Sometimes the best question is “What should I ask you?” • Creative questions are based on some hypothesis you develop about patterns that appear during the interview. • Closure. “Is there anything else…?” “How did you feel about this interview…?”

26. Sensitive Questions • Questions about morality, loyalty, responsibility, judgment, hygiene or political, social, professional, or financial standing. • Ask only if they are directly relevant to the research question. • Locate later in the interview after you have established rapport. • Do not spring with no warning. • Design questions that distance the participant from the response. • E. g.; lead with a quote from the background study. • “Many authors report that….What is your experience?”

27. Example of an Interview Structure(Frost and Stablein, 1992)

28. Examples of Research Protocols Research Question “In what ways has the Internet made an impact on the American workplace?” Assignment Design a semi-structured interview to collect data for an inquiry on this research question.

29. Protocol 1 How has the internet affected the American workplace? How has the internet affected your workplace? In what ways has the internet affected you? Has the internet caused layoffs in the workplace? Does the internet prevent you from completing your job effectively? In what ways does the internet prevent employees from completing their assigned duties on time?

30. Protocol 2 The purpose of this research is to determine in what ways the Internet has made an impact on the American workplace. Data received will help employers determine the importance employees place on the Internet. As well as determine if employees feel the information received through the Internet is a viable source of information. At any time during the interview if you need further clarification on the questions, please ask. You may change your answers at any given time if you may choose to do so. All data received is appreciated and will be used in the most honorable way possible.

31. How often do you use the Internet a day? a. 0-3 b. 4-6 7-10 On average how many hours are you on the Internet? a. 0-3 b. 4-6 7-10 Did you find your last job on the Internet? a. Yes No Did you research your current employer before interviewing? a. Yes b. No How did you research your current employer prior to interviewing? a. Internet b. Periodicals c. Other (explain) Have you ever researched co-workers via the Internet? a. Yes No If yes, how often in the past six months? a. 0-3 b. 4-6 7-10 Have you used information found on the Internet as leverage when negotiating salary requirements? a. Yes No Have you used the Internet to look for a new job while working at your current employer? a. Yes No How would you feel if your employer disabled the Internet from your computer? a. Upset b. Indifferent Happy

32. Protocol 3 Thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview. The purpose of the interview is to gather data in an effort to understand in what ways the Internet has had an impact in the American workplace. While I have a series of prepared questions, I encourage you to expound on your answers beyond the scope of the question if you feel it would be helpful for our study. If the intent behind my question is not clear please do not hesitate to ask for clarification. If it is okay with you, I will be taking notes throughout the interview. Your responses will be kept confidential and I would be happy to share my notes with you if you would like to review them for accuracy. We have allocated 45 minutes for the interview and we will be respectful of your time. Before we get started, what questions do you have for me? • Date: • Name: (your identity will be kept confidential) • What is your job title? • How long have you been at your current company? • How much time would you estimate you spend on the Internet at work on a daily basis? • Can you give me some examples of how and when you use the Internet in your workplace? • Can you describe how you think these examples affected participation, knowledge, and productivity of management and employees in your workplace?

33. Has telecommuting using internet technology been a part of your job at any time during the last two years? If so, please describe how working “virtually” affected your productivity? • Have you seen any decreases in sales and marketing expenditures due to the use of the internet in your workplace? • How have specific internet applications such as collaborative online document retrieval or online attendance at business meetings or conferences impacted participation, knowledge, or productivity in your workplace in the last two years? • Can you give me an example of a time when a team at your company worked more collaboratively with the use of internet technology? • Can you think of any time when your company’s competition used internet technology to move ahead of your company? • If the Internet went down in your office for one week (and you had no other means of accessing it) describe how it would impact your workday and your ability to do your job. • Apart from using the Internet to complete your tasks at work, in what other ways would you say it impacts your work life (e.g. how you communicate with colleagues, time spent on the internet doing non-job related activities, etc.)? • What do you believe is the single biggest way the Internet has impacted your workplace? Why? • Before we conclude, are there any other thoughts or experiences you would like to share that are pertinent to our research?