Conducting an Interview and choosing the right questions..

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 I have never conducted an interview before and therefore was very unsure how to begin developing my interview questions to ensure that I would only be asking beneficial questions and gaining data relevant to my inquiry topic. 

I decided to use web 2.0 to inform myself about where to begin with creating a semi- structured interview. I came across a really helpful video that broke the preparation for the interview process into stages. That has been the key thing that i have taken from this video, is that it is imperative to prepare! You don't want to waste that precious interview time and ask questions, consequently gathering data that is not relevant to your inquiry and will not further your research. 

In the video posted below, it is suggested that you develop your between 7-10 questions and take different topics into consideration;

  • Behaviour- What a person has done or is doing? 
  • Opinions/Values- What a person thinks about a topic.
  • Feelings- How someone feels towards something rather than what they think about it.
  • Knowledge- What they know about the topic?
  • Sensory- What they felt, saw, smelt, touched and even tasted.
  • Background & Demographic- How does their age, education and background contribute to their answer

It suggests interspersing any more "controversial" questions throughout the interview, rather than delivering them as a "chunk". These questions can lead to interviewees putting up defence mechanisms that may mean that you are unable to gather as much data as originally intended due to them not offering as much. They suggest using open, clear and neutral wording throughout the process and encourage only asking one question at a time. 



With regards to the interview structure, I will ensure that I begin by explaining the format of the interview, how long it is estimated to last and address the terms of confidentiality throughout the whole process. I will inform the interviewees that I will be recording the interview via Dictaphone to ensure reliability of research, but also to allow myself to be present within the process, rather than note taking. I will however take notes on body language. I will go about this by referencing the noted information by a specific time note- which will allow me to pair up my body language and physicality notes with the recording. As soon as the interview is finished, I will write down any other notes that I feel are of relevance. 

One video I watched suggested doing a practice run of the interview if you are inexperienced. This is something that I am going to do, to ensure that the process is as beneficial as possible. 

I would love to hear any more tips on interviewing or how your interview preparation is going!


Comments

  1. Alex Wignall17 February 2021 at 13:46

    Hi Emma, thanks for this. I'm just preparing to conduct my first interview this week. I'm really trying to focus on making my questions as broad as possible, removing my own perception of my topic so that I don't influence any answers yet ensuring that the questions provide answers that will be beneficial to my research. Love the idea of note taking on participants body language and will definitely try this out during my first one. Hope all goes well.
    Alex

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    Replies
    1. Emma Dalton18 February 2021 at 06:42

      Thanks Alex! I hope your first interview goes well this week! I am too doing my first interview and in preparing my questions realised how easily it was to word something and sound assuming! So its been a good learning curve as you say to develop beneficial questions for the research that wont influence the answers!! Look forward to hearing how you get on! Emma

      Delete
  2. Anonymous18 February 2021 at 05:09

    Great post Emma. I am currently preparing for my interviews so it was very relevant for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Emma Dalton18 February 2021 at 06:43

      Thanks Jacqueline! I hope they go well for you!! :)

      Delete
  3. Alys May-James1 March 2021 at 08:05

    Hi Emma,
    I like how they have given different types of question you can ask, like feelings or background or behavior etc. That is really interesting a good tool to help come up with the questions! Coming up with questions can be tricky with trying to keep them open and covering everything. This is a really helpful post- thank you! Alys xx

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