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Upcoming quiz preview - May 13

Review textbook chapters 5 and 6
Some topics to pay attention to:

Different types of interviews
Different types of interview questions
When to use observational methods
Advice on how to conduct interviews and observations
The role of the observer in a setting

Practice mentimenter

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Agenda

Collecting interview data
Types of interview questions
Drafting and practicing interview questions
Looking ahead

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Why learn about interviews?

Interviews are used in most qualitative studies alone or in combination with other data collection methods

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Interview Data

A research interview is a conversation that has a structure and a purpose

Researchers use interviews:

When we cannot observe human behavior, feelings, or interpretations
To collect data from people representing a range of ideas
In some cases, it is the only way to get data on a topic

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Types of Interviews

Individual Interviews

An interview with a single person.
Best for gathering in-depth data about individual perspectives.

Focus Group Interviews

An interview with a small group of people (e.g., 6-10) around a small number of questions.
Data is socially constructed within the interaction of the group. People hear each others’ views and refine their own.
Not good for highly personal matters.

Online Interviews

Pros: Eliminates geographic constraints on participant selection, and often allows video recording.
Cons: More difficult to build rapport and potential for technological challenges and confidentiality breaches.

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Types of questions

Experience or behavior questions - “Tell me about your classroom”

Opinion or value questions - “What is your opinion on living in San Diego?”

Knowledge questions – ”What are the requirements for the EDS major?”

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Types of questions

Sensory questions – “How did you feel when you learned that you were selected for the program?”

Background/demographic questions - age, number of years in a job, other identity characteristics. Limit to questions that are relevant to the study.

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Question types that can be useful in eliciting information

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Question types to avoid

Multiple questions

“How did you feel about the pandemic, the support you received from the university, and how your friends were doing?”

Leading questions

“What problems have you had with your roommates?”

Yes or no questions

“Do you like UCSD?”

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Asking good questions

How you word questions is crucial. Good questions are open-ended, worded in ways that are clear and familiar to the respondent, and yield descriptive data and stories.

Can you think of a time when….?
What was it like for you when….?
If I was in your classroom, what might I see…?
Give me an example of…
Tell me more about that...

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Interviewing tips

Use probes. Probes are questions or comments that follow up something already asked in order to obtain more details. Could be who/what/when/where or “tell more more” questions or could be more specific. Example:

Main question: Tell me about your experience searching for off-campus housing while at UCSD.

Participant responds with: “It was challenging!”
Probes could address location, expense, transportation, availability, etc.

Pilot your interview. Piloting means trying the interview with someone who is not a study participant before the actual study begins.

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Interviews can range in structure

Structured: Questions and the order in which they are asked are predetermined.

Semi-structured: Questions and issues are set, but wording and order of questions are not.

Unstructured: Nothing is set ahead of time.

Interviews may represent different philosophical orientations (e.g., critical, feminist) or qualitative research approaches (e.g., phenomenological, narrative)

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What is an interview guide (or protocol)?

This is the list of questions you intend to ask in an interview. They are not the same as your research questions.
The interview questions should be related to and inform your research questions
Format and level of detail depend on how structured the interview will be
It is a good idea to ask for relatively neutral, descriptive information at the beginning of an interview.

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Beginning the Interview

Issues to discuss with the participant at beginning of every interview:

The study purpose
Consent and ethical assurances (e.g., participant has signed consent form, data will be held confidential and respondents’ identities will be replaced with pseudonyms, compensation, if any)
Expected duration of interview
The recording can be stopped at any time if the participant wishes

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Ending the interview

End with an open-ended question (e.g., is there anything else I should know about…?) or a reflective question (e.g., do you have advice for someone who…?)

Thank the participant

Ask if they have any questions for you

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Example: Three-Year State Leadership Study

Research Questions

Across diverse state contexts, how does research-practice partnership (RPP) engagement improve the use of existing research evidence among state education agency (SEA) leaders whose work focuses on multilingual learner (ML) policy and practice?

How do structural, cultural, and political dimensions of state leaders’ work mediate SEA leaders’ use of existing research evidence?
How do RPP practices and tools support SEA leaders in leveraging research as they navigate their unique state contexts?
What research evidence do SEA leaders use to enable shifts from compliance to transformation in ML policy and practice, and how?

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Example: Three-Year State Leadership Study

Example Interview Protocol - New Members in Year 3

Example Interview Protocol - Returning Members in Year 3

Also for reference:

Example Meeting Observation Protocol

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Practice interviewing

Take turns conducting a 5 minute interview with your classmate addressing the following research question:

How do UCSD students decide on a major?

Plan an opening question and 1-2 probes questions

Jot down some key words/phrases as your partner is talking.

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What did you learn from your partner that helped you address the research question? Add it to the Padlet.

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Recording the Interview

Audio/Video: The best method: Preserves everything that is said for analysis; video also captures nonverbal aspects.
Detailed note-taking: Use when recording is not feasible or not permitted.

Do this even if you are recording

Subsequent note-taking: Use if writing or recording during an interview might be intrusive.

No matter what data collection method you use, write down your reflections (distinct from the data) immediately following the interview.

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Transcribing Interview Data

Verbatim transcription provides the best data for analysis
Transcription can be done by the researcher, a transcriber, and/or be AI-assisted (e.g. otter.ai). If not done by the researcher, transcripts will need to be carefully reviewed.

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Sample 1 - Transcribed interview data

Interviewer: What do you envision yourself doing after college?

P307 I already know exactly what I’m going to do. Most likely if I can’t find a place

to stay for myself you know straight off the bat I’m probably gonna come back to live with my parents for maybe maximum of a year, and then until I get a job and I get some small income at least to be able to put forth on like a small apartment for myself, and the job that I would want to be is to be an English teacher.

Interviewer: Oh wow. Great. Do you know at what level?

P307 I’m honestly not sure. Originally I was thinking of high school but now I’m

actually kind of thinking of going into teaching middle school first or maybe both.

Interviewer: What are your family’s aspirations for you?

P307 For me I guess as long as I am in a place where I feel happy or at least well off

myself, and I don’t go into something you know…what I enjoy doing for example they’ll be fine with it.

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Sample 2 - Transcribed interview data

Interviewer: What do you envision yourself doing after college?

P310: As far as a career, I’m not really sure. I do know that I’m passionate

about social justice work, so hopefully something related.

Interviewer: What are your family’s aspirations for you?

P310: As far as I know, it was really just for me to be able to go to

college for as little money as possible, and past that I don’t really have too many expectations, just to try my best and hopefully end up doing what I love.

→ What probes could have been asked in this interview?

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Looking ahead

For Thursday, May 1

Be sure you have read all of Chapter 5 in the text

Jot down some possible interview questions related to your topic