Interviewing Skills for Research - Blogs at...

Interviewing Skills for Research

Dr Russell Delderfield

Postgraduate Research Skills Adviser

24 February 2017 Resources for doctoral students: blogs.brad.ac.uk/scholarship-skills 1

This practical session is aimed at research students but may also be useful for staff. The session will: • introduce you to the key underpinning principles of interviewing for data collection • outline the essentials of conducting a research interview • provide a practical focus with hints and tips on interviewing. Maps to Vitae RDF Domains: A1, B1, B3 & D2.

https://rdfplanner.vitae.ac.uk/user/signin

Today:

1. Before you begin

2. Essential preparation

3. In the interview

4. Finding out more


Interviewing for Research


Work as a trio or group.

1. Think about previous experience or any knowledge you might have accrued about using interviews.

2. Nominate a scribe.

3. You have 5 minutes to gather your collective information about interviewing (when used as a research data collection method).

4. Write this on the flipchart paper so we can show others.

We are trying to harness and use what you already know – so no detail is too small.

1. Before you begin


Is interviewing the only way to gather

this data?

What will interviewing you

give you that nothing else will?

Is it a questionnaire that’s needed?

Can the ‘interview’ be conducted by

email?

What are the risks of conducting an

interview? To whom?

How will you ensure that the environment is

suitable?

What will you do if the interviewee

‘struggles’?

What does the interviewee need

to know in advance?

What does the interviewee need

to know on the day?

1. Before you begin


Semi-structured

1. Before you begin


Avoid:

• Long questions

• Double-barrelled questions

• Closed-questions (unless this is deliberate)

• Jargon

• Bias (unless this is deliberate)

(Robson & McCartan 2016)

Questioning

Practice!


2. Essential Preparation

1. Run through your intended interview with: - a fellow

researcher - A lay-person.

You’ll learn different things from each experience.

2. Volunteer to be an interviewee – there are plenty of projects running at the Uni that need participants. Being interviewed for research is a real ‘eye-opener’ in terms of being exposed to good & poor practice.

Decide in advance: • The Interview Schedule – even unstructured interviews have them.

• Practical management:

– What kit are you taking with you? What have you done to ensure good working order? Do you have a back-up? Are you at ease and conversant with any equipment?

– How you will handle things if travel plans go wrong. What will you say? How can the interviewee communicate with you?

– How much control, if any, will you have over the interview environment? Can you decide on seating arrangements? Arrangements for privacy?

– Are there any circumstances where the interview might be terminated early? What are these? What will you say?

– How will you deal with any interruptions once the interview has begun?



Decide in advance: • Boundary management:

– What personal information you feel OK sharing (if any) and what you will not. And, more importantly, how you will manage this boundary.

– Potential responses to:

• minor issues such as a talkative Interviewee, a reticent Interviewee, a cross Interviewee, an overly-personal Interviewee.

• major issues such as an aggressive Interviewee, a distressed Interviewee, an Interviewee with issues of capacity.

• to negative or positive feedback to the experience of being interviewed.

• Arrangements for follow-up

– Does the Interviewee need signposting to any support or services? – Is the interviewee to be contacted again? Does this contact need re-

negotiating? – Does the Interviewee get to see the transcript or not?



Interview ‘Schedule’ or Guide



• Is for the Interviewer not the Interviewee.

• Is an outline of the interview event.

• It provides a checklist of all the information & to-dos for the beginning of the interview.

• It includes questions to be asked, any details about the running order. – Opening questions >>> Key questions >>> Closing questions

• It anticipates any probes that might go with certain questions.

• It might anticipate possible re-phrasings of a question in case the Interviewee needs it.

• It records any important information for managing the end of the interview.

• It may contain model responses or phrases for use with anticipated questions or

comments from the interviewee (as an aide-mémoire). (Hennink et al. 2011)

SOLER (Egan 2013)

S

• Sit up straight – you need to look alert and attentive. If you can, choose the furniture carefully.

O

• Open your posture up, avoid folded arms and a bowed head, and where possible, minimise barriers between you and the interviewee.

L

• Lean in slightly as the interview starts, it communicates empathy and attentiveness.

E

• Maintain eye contact, even if the interviewee is struggling to do so, when they look at you show that you are fully present.

R

• Relax your voice once formal proceedings are out of the way, this shows the interviewee that they can relax too and speak freely around you.




3. In the interview

• Listen more than you speak

• Put questions in a straight-forward way

• Eliminate cues that lead the interviewee

• Enjoy it (or at least, try to look like you do) (Robson & McCartan 2016: 274)


3. In the interview


3. In the interview

Do… Don’t…

… transcribe as soon as possible afterwards. …discount positive feedback from the interviewee.

…be confident with any kit or equipment you’re using.

…encourage reciprocal personal exchange unless it is part of the research design.

…practice SOLER.

… allow your attention to wander or engage in selective listening (Wilkinson 2000).

…check that the participant has read any information you have supplied and choose what to re-iterate on the day.

…succumb to any pressure to give out personal details or information.

…check if there is anything else the interviewee would like to say before the interview terminates.

…let small talk at the beginning of the process degenerate into ‘how hard it was getting here’ or any other negative obs. about your experience.

…probe where appropriate – an interview schedule is a guide not prescription.

…probe so much that the interviewee feels as if they haven’t time to answer before you ask a follow-on question.

Interview Practice


3. In the interview

Interviewer

Participant

Observer

• Work as a trio (minimum), you can also work as a quad (2 Observers instead of one).

• In a trio, you have 15 minutes to conduct the interview. Then 5 more minutes for feedback.

• Each person should have the chance to be Interviewer, Participant (Interviewee) and Observer.

• Once the interview is in progress, try to keep it going to the end.

• We will debrief once everyone has had a turn to interview.

P – be yourself and answer the questions as honestly as you feel able. I – Practise what we have learnt in the session and use your briefing sheet. Manage the time. O – Feedback to the interviewer at the end. You can take notes but do not speak during the interview.


4.Finding out more

Essential Reading?

• Gubrium & Holstein (2012)

• The Sage Handbook of Interview Research: the complexity of the craft.

Feminist Interviewing

• Doucet & Mauthner (2008)

• Sage Handbook of Social Research Methods

Focused Interviewing

• Flick (2014)

• An Introduction to Qualitative Research

Life Story Interviewing

• Atkinson (1998)

• The Life Story Interview

Ethnographic Interviewing

• Heyl (2001)

• Handbook of Ethnography

Contact me

Dr Russell Delderfield

• 01274 236849

• [email protected]

• http://www.bradford.ac.uk/academic-skills/scholarship/

• @MaleEDResearch


http://www.brad.ac.uk/eating-disorders-in-men/

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.bradford.ac.uk/academic-skills/scholarship/



https://twitter.com/MaleEDResearch

References

Curtis, B. and Curtis, C. (2011) Social research: A practical introduction. London: Sage. Egan, G. (2013) The skilled helper: A problem-management and opportunity-development approach to helping 10th edition. Belmont: Cengage Learning. Flick, U. (2014) An introduction to qualitative research 5th edition. London: Sage. Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A. (2011) Qualitative research methods. London: Sage. Robson, C., and McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research. John Wiley & Sons. Wilkinson, D. (Ed.) (2002) The researcher's toolkit: The complete guide to practitioner research. Abingdon: Routledge.


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