What Makes a Good Interview?

The intent of a qualitative interview is to encourage, elicit, and illuminate the interviewee’s experience in rich, thick detail. Consider that most interviewees will only have a general idea of your research goals and the depth you need for analysis. Therefore, your presentation of the interview questions and engagement with the interviewee are the tools that guide the process.

As you consider your interview, think about:

  1. Asking of questions to ask to encourage stories and examples
  2. How to “reframe” questions to reduce ambiguity and bias
  3. What you can do to make the interviewee at ease
  4. What you can do to build rapport and trust

For this Discussion, you will examine the characteristics of a good qualitative interview.

To prepare for this Discussion:

  • Review the chapters of the Rubin and Rubin course text and consider the characteristics of a good qualitative interview.
  • Review the Yob and Brewer interview questions in Appendix A at the end of the article and consider how interview guides are used in research.
  • Review the Interview Guide Instructions and the Interview Guide Example found in this week’s Learning Resources and use these documents to guide you during your interview.

By Day 4

Post your explanation of the characteristics of a good qualitative interview. Also include what makes a good interview guide. Use the interview questions from Yob and Brewer’s interview guide to support your post.

Be sure to support your main post and response post with reference to the week’s Learning Resources and other scholarly evidence in APA style.

Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Codes and Coding” (pp. 1–42) (previously read in Weeks 5 and 6)
  • Chapter 2, “Writing Analytic Memos About Narrative and Visual Data” (pp. 43–65) (previously read in Weeks 5 and 6)

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Chapter 5, “Methods of Data Collection” (pp. 145–183)
  • Chapter 7, “An Integrative Approach to Data Analysis” (pp. 215–236) (previously read in Weeks 5 and 6)
  • Chapter 8, “Methods and Processes of Data Analysis” (pp. 237–270) (previously read in Weeks 5 and 6)

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Chapter 6, “Conversational Partnerships” (pp. 71–93)
  • Chapter 7, “The Responsive Interview as an Extended Conversation” (pp. 95–114)
  • Chapter 8, “Structure of the Responsive Interview” (pp. 115–129)
  • Chapter 9, “Designing Main Questions and Probes” (pp. 131–147)
  • Chapter 10, “Preparing Follow-Up Questions” (pp. 149–169)
  • Chapter 12, “Data Analysis in the Responsive Interviewing Model” (pp. 189–211) (previously read in Weeks 5 and 6)

Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspectives  on social change, 1-25.

Document: Interview Guide Instructions (PDF)

Document: Interview Guide Example (PDF)

Use these documents to guide you as you conduct your phone interview for this part of your Major Assignment 2.

Document: Excel Video Coding Document Template (Excel spreadsheet)

Review this Excel template as you view this week’s media program related to coding. Also, you will use this template for organizing your data and preparing for coding.

Required Media

In the following Part One and Part Two media programs, Dr. Linda Crawford provides two separate demonstrations of an interview conducted in a school setting. As you watch, focus on the differences between the two demonstrations in these areas:

  • The interview setting
  • The interview process
  • Interviewer and interviewee behavior and body language (Is rapport being built? How?)
  • The interview questions (Which questions elicited better information?)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2016). Doctoral research: Interviewing techniques, part one [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 9 minutes.

IN WILL SEND YOU THE TRANSCRIPT VIDEO 1

Laureate Education (Producer). (2016). First cycle coding: Structural coding [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 8 minutes.

In this media program, Dr. S. M., Core Research Faculty with the School of Psychology at W. University, introduces the first cycle of coding, structural coding. She will demonstrate how to begin highlighting text to matches the label of social change for example.

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