Method Overview
The interview process is, broadly speaking, a researcher sitting down with a subject and asking open-ended questions. The goal of an interview is to obtain rich information about topics in a subject’s own words and from his/her own perspective. It also seeks to understand the meaning of what the interviewees say.
Most types of interviews fit into one of the following categories:
1) Informal Interview
- No predetermined questions are asked
- Remain open and adaptable to responders’ nature and priorities
2) General Interview Guide Approach
- More focus than informal approach
- Ensures that some general areas of information are collected
- Allows some degree of freedom and adaptability in getting information
3) Standardized, Open-Ended Interview
- Same questions are asked to all participants
- Faster interviews
- Information is more easily analyzed and compared
4) Closed, Fixed-Response Interview
- All interviewees are asked same questions and must answer from a set of alternatives.
Procedure
The process to collecting the data, from start to end, is:
- Thematizing– Formulate the purpose of the investigation and describe the concept of the topic to be investigated before the interviews start.
- Designing – Plan the design of the study, taking into consideration all seven stages, before the interview starts.
- Interviewing – Conduct the interviews based on an interview guide and with a reflective approach to the knowledge sought
- Daily Interpretive Analysis – Prepare the interview material for analysis, which commonly includes a transcription from oral speech to written text. Then, analyze the daily material, addressing the purpose and topic of the investigation
- Verifying – Ascertain the generalizability, reliability, and validity of the interview findings. Reliability refers to how consistent the results are,, and validity means whether an interview study investigates what is intended to be investigated.
- Reporting – Communicate the findings of the study and the methods applied in a form that lives up to scientific criteria, takes the ethical aspects of the investigation into consideration, and that results in an readable product.
In interviews, the researcher has several choices on how to retain responses. He/she can write down responses as they occur, however this can become tedious and interrupt the flow of the interview. The researcher may write down only summaries or major points about what was said, however this can cause distortions in information and leave out matters subsequently found important. Finally, the researcher may use audio or video. If this is the choice, it is still a good idea to occasionally jot down notes to retain the flow of the interview (also backup for technical errors).
Data Analysis
When the interview is complete and the data is ready to be analyzed, some simple steps can be taken to improve the validity of the findings. First, decide on the purpose of the analysis and what methods are appropriate. Next, undergo a Daily Interpretive Analysis (DIA). At the end of each day, a designated team member should review the notes and tapes and write a report that summarizes and interprets the information collected. The DIA is a time consuming process but is consider necessary for the interview process—it reduces the ever increasing ambiguity, and structures the results.
When finished, be sure to verify the validity of the findings before communicating them.
Advantages
The main advantages that interviews have over other forms of research methods stem from the human interaction between researcher and subject. For example:
- Interviewer can ensure that participant answers all questions
- Interviewer can clarify any confusion about questions
- Interviewer can push subjects to delve deeper into their answers
In general, the interview provides higher quality information and high response rates. They are a useful supplement to surveys and are useful for complex problems.
Disadvantages
Interviews require lots of time to administer. There are also some risks to the reliability of the data:
- Interviews are heavily suscept to researcher bias, as the researcher records responses and asks the questions (indeed, the tone and phrasing of the researcher can affect responses)
- It is recommended that interviewers are highly skilled and experienced. By highly skilled, the interviewer is able to standardize as best as possible and remain in control of the interview.
Recommended Usage
Much of the research conducted by SERA is likely to consist of the various interview types. Informal and General Interview Guides would be used when SERA is looking to collect a diversity of ideas the student population, or for a general consensus. Standardized, open-ended interviews would be conducted to obtain more valid and reliable information that can be compiled and analyzed into useful conclusions. Closed, fixed-response interviews will probably not be utilized by SERA because the survey method obtains the same benefits with fewer resources.
