Interviews and Surveys

Interviews
Steinar Kvale, Svend Brinkmann, InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing.

The Interview

Interviewer

Interviewee

Interview

Interviews

Unstructured
Semi-structured Structured

Interviews

Unstructured Interviews

Researcher has a small set of self prompts to investigate research question. One question can lead to a number of followup questions depending on the response. They tend to be more like conversations than interviews.

Interviews

Semi-Structured Interviews

Some interview questions fully decided, others might not be fixed, and the other of questions in not fixed. The researcher has leeway in asking followup questions.

Interviews

Structured Interviews

Fixed and predetermined questions and sequence of questions. No new questions added during interview, and questions given to interviewee by interview begins.

Kvales Seven Stages

1.

2.
3. 4.

5.
6. 7.

Themazing Designing Interviewing Transcribing Analyzing Verifying Reporting

Kvales Seven Stages

1. Themazing

What is the theme of the interview?

Kvales Seven Stages

2. Designing

How will the intended knowledge be obtained?

Kvales Seven Stages

3. Interviewing

Conduct the interviews carefully

Kvales Seven Stages

4. Transcribing

Converting interview into written text

Kvales Seven Stages

5. Analyzing

Based on the appropriate type of investigation

Kvales Seven Stages

6. Verifying

Checking that validity, reliability, and generalizibility of the findings

Kvales Seven Stages

7. Reporting

Communicate findings in a scientific and ethical manner.

Interview Questions

Introductory Questions

Direct Questions

Introducing a new topic Projective questions

Warm up questions

Indirect Questions

Followup Questions

Listen for Red Lights Unlimited scope question

Structuring Questions

Probing Questions

Transitioning to new topics

Specifying Questions

Interpreting Question

Clarifying questions

Exact information

Silences

Interviews

Establish a rapport Treat interviewees with respect Think about your appearance Think about body language Maintain firm eye contact Dont Invade their space

Interviews

How are you going to record

Tape recorder Pen and paper - veratim Video recorder

Analysing Text

Analysing Text

Faced with the lack of organisation of data and the sheer amount of rambling can be somewhat overwhelming With the best will in the world about trying to avoid bias, when there is multiple interpretations of data, selecting the one that best matches your research question becomes very tempting.

Simple Tabulation
Subject
1 2

Money
15 5

Fame
6 3

Power
4 6

Social
0 5

Fulfilment

Other
38 27

1 4

12

21

46

.. Total

Reasons for Choosing a career

Choosing categories

Use ones from the literature

Blame someone else / comparison

Use categories connected with your research question Derive categories from data

Deriving Categories

Verbatim Analysis

Knowledge management <> Knowledge engineering <> Knowledge representation <> Knowledge reasoning Compatible with Windows <> Windows-Compatible Compatible with Windows == Windows-Compatible Derive superclasses Windows-Compatible + Linux-Compatible => category of Compatibility

Gist Analysis

Superordinate Analysis

How are you going to analyse

Colour Coding

Analysis of Interviews

Meaning Analysis

Meaning Coding

Adding tags or keywords to text segments that represent the main themes of the interviews Summarising larger sentences into short, simple sentences. Adding more details, background and context to specific parts of the interview

Meaning Condensation

Meaning Interpretation

Language Analysis

Linguistical Analysis

Looking at the linguistics and grammar Treating the interview as a conversation Treating the interview as a story Try to evaluate the truth of the responses Taking the interview apart and putting together again

Conversation Analysis

Narrative Analysis

Discourse Analysis

Deconstruction

Eclectic Analysis

Bricolage

Using a collection of techniques as a collage Creating your own reading on the text

Theoretical Reading

Interviews FAQ

What books should I read about interviews?

Anything and everything by Steinar Kvale Interpreting Qualitative Data by David Silverman Research Design by John Creswell

Do I need to record the interview?

Yes, definitely, you can use

Pen-and-paper Audio recording Video recording

But whichever you use, you must do a verbatim recording of the interview, both questions and answers.

How do I think of questions for the interview?

There really should be two sources

All questions need to come from the research question of the experiment If you find literature with a sufficiently similar research topic, you can use or adapt those questions

How many people should I interview?

15 10 people
is a good rule-of thumb

Are there situations where I shouldnt use interviews?

Yes, loads of situations, e.g. electoral voting behaviour, or capturing a persons attitudes and interactions with their environments.

When should I do the interviews?

Typically there are two times to do interviews;

As part of the requirements gathering process As part of the evaluation process

Are there software packages that can help me ??

Loads

ATLAS.ti nVIVO MaxQDA NUD*IST HyperRESEARCH

But, do not underestimate the power of Excel, its a brilliant tool when used well

Further Tips

Decide on an order of questions that easily flows one to the next Try to use language that is easy to understand and relevant to the interviewee Avoid Leading questions Try to stop the interviewee using qualifiers Add a few control questions into the interview for validation Avoid smalltalk during the interview LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN

Questionnaires
A.N. Oppenheim, Questionnaire Design

Questionnaire

Identify which organisation you work for, or are studying at. Check your grammar, twice (Rule of Thumb two proofreads gets rid of 95% of errors).

Surveys: Questionnaires

Think clearly about questions (need to constrain answers as much as possible) Make sure results will answer your research question Can use Internet for conducting surveys if need to cover wide geographic reach

Surveys: Questionnaires

This survey sets out to ... Please note if you fill in this questionnaire, your answers will be treated in highly confidential way. Neither I, the Dublin Institute of Technology nor any other third part will identify your name, email address or any other personal details, nor will it be possible to identify you in any way in the report I will publish as part of my MSc dissertation. I would like to personally thank you for your time in taking part in this survey.

Questionnaires

Open-ended Close-ended Combination of both

Questionnaires

Open-ended

Close-ended

Questionnaires

Open-ended

Slower to administer Harder to record responses Does not stifle response Answerer can raise new issues Answerer feels they can speak their mind What does a blank answer mean ????

Questionnaires

Close-ended

Faster to administer Easier to record responses Answerer can only give predefined answers Answerer cannot raise new issues Answerer feels constrained More likely to answer all questions (box tick)

Questionnaires

Self-administered
Interviewer administered

Questionnaires

Questionnaires

Keep questions short and simple Avoid questions with not Avoid questions with bias Avoid sensitive questions (ask indirectly) Do not ask compound questions, just ask one question at a time

e.g. "Do you know what services are available to you and how to find out?"

Questionnaires

Likert scales

Poor, Weak, O.K., Good, Excellent Very Low, Low, O.K., High, Very High 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Thank them

"Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey"

Incentives

Survey research suggests that there is a chance that offering an incentive may add bias to a survey
e.g. Singer, E., Bossarte, R., 2006, Incentives for Survey Participation: When Are They Coercive?, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 31, Issue 5, Pages 411-418

Other Useful Approaches

Focus groups

Take time to arrange, so prepare in advance (use an intermediary to help you if you can) Who will be in your focus group? (e.g. age, gender) Size of focus group (8-10 is typical) Consider whether or not to have separate focus groups for different ages or genders (e.g. discussing sex and sexuality)

Site visits and observation

Site visits involve visiting an organization, community project etc Consider using a guide Observation is when you visit a location and observe what is going on, drawing your own conclusions Both facilitate making your research more relevant and concrete

Case studies

Method of capturing and presenting concrete details of real or fictional situations in a structured way Good for comparative analysis

Participatory research

Allows participation of community being researched in research process (e.g. developing research question; choosing methodology; analysing results) Good way to ensure research does not simply reinforce prejudices and presumptions of researcher Good for raising awareness in community and developing appropriate action plans