Depth Interviews
[0] Introduction
The core data collection activities of Qual research are:
• Depth interviews
• Observations (direct)
• Participant observation
[1] Depth Interviews
o Definition: unstructured interview that seeks an
in-depth understanding of a topic that informants can
speak about.
o It requires intimacy and skill; thus, its preferred for the
researcher to be the interviewer.
Preparing for the interview (5 Recommendations)
When doing depth interview, it is recommended to:
o 1) Forget what you think you know about the topic.
o 2) Have an open mind by appearing that you know little
about the topic or you are unfamiliar with it in order:
▪ Not to shut down informants.
▪ Encourage informants to explain carefully
▪ NOTE: this doesn’t mean an empty head as
you have to be familiar with relevant
literature.
o 3) Remember that it is all about the informant; thus, the
researcher should not interject and disclose his/her
viewpoints and knowledge.
o 4) Take permission from informants to be interviewed
and recorded, and from their management if needed.
o 5) Assure privacy and comfort, and that there are no
right or wrong answers, only informants’ views.
[2] Interviews as Conversations
o A depth interview is a special type of conversation.
o It differs from survey research which has fixed
questions, in a fixed order, with little concern with the
flow, continuity, or logic of the topics.
o Also, interviewers in survey research are generally not
allowed to deviate from the questionnaire.
o Instead, a depth interview uses a protocol—A
predetermined list of topics, with no predetermined
questions or questions order.
Differences from normal conversation
o 1. Both interviewer and interviewee are likely to be
strangers, and the interview is likely recorded.
o 2. At the start, the interviewer describes the topic, set
expectations and duration. Information (especially
personal) mainly flows from informants to interviewers
not the opposite.
o 3. The interview generally begins with a grand tour
about the background of the person being interviewed
and non-threatening general topics.
o 4. Interviewers will direct the conversation (unlike
normal conversations) by requesting, questioning,
probing, showing simple indication of understanding,
using audio-visual materials.
[3] Guidelines for conducting Interview (six)
o 1. Funnel questions sequence from general to specific.
o 2. Do not ask WHY directly (albeit the most important
questions for the researcher); as informants maybe
unable/unwilling to give real reasons (threatened).
o Use indirect ways such as How come? How's that?
o 3. Do not ask yes/no questions (Specific answer Qs).
o We need long and detailed answers with minimal
interference/guidance from the researcher.
o However, if the questions are as long as or longer than
the answers, the interview is not on the right track.
o NOTE: if yes/no questions were used, the researcher
has to follow-up with non-yes/no questions that ask for
elaboration/depth.
o 4. Strategically use probes without interrupting the
answer flow
o Probing encourages interviewees to keep talking and
elaborating on initial answers (getting depth).
▪ Probing: short verbal or non-verbal responses
that request more of an answer.
Examples:
o Repeater probe: repeating the last phrase when the
informant stops speaking.
o Non-verbal probe: nod, or eyebrow raise.
o 5. Wisely circle back to earlier topics
o This enriches depth and fills missing areas.
o 6. Wisely circle back to tangential topics
o Interview should be flexible and deviate from its
protocol to explore emergent topics of interest.
o These topics are called “Tangential topics” and may
turn out to be as informative and helpful as protocol
topics or even more so.
Focus Groups
o It is the most used qualitative method in business/industry
but the least used in academia.
o Its popularity in industry is due to:
o being relatively quick, easy, and inexpensive.
o Its lack of popularity in academia is due to:
o Being complicated by group dynamics (such as
dominant/persuasive focus group member leading to
groupthink);
o Lacking the depth of one-on-one interviews;
o Group settings may prevent some people from
expressing or sharing.
Guidelines for conducting good focus group
o Recruit from 6 to 12 homogeneous people (8 is a common
number) or not more than 5 in online/virtual focus groups
(smaller).
o Utilize the principle of anonymity, so that strangers are
better recruits than friends.
o Nurture a creative environment that result in a free form
sharing of opinions.
Preparing for and running a focus group:
o The techniques for individual interviews also apply to
focus groups.
o Participants should be given name tags to address each
other. When some participants start to dominate, the
moderator may want to stimulate others.
When to use and not use focus groups
o Focus groups are especially good (Advantages):
o to examine shared meanings & terminology.
o for exploratory research.
o Focus groups (Disadvantages):
o Groupthink may decrease representativity.
o Difficulty of attributing who said what and
transcribing.
o Extremely rare that an academic journal will accept a
paper based solely on focus group data.
Projective Techniques
o Definition: “An unstructured, indirect form of questioning
that encourages respondents to project their underlying
motivations, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings regarding the
issues of concern”
o They are exercises to provoke imagination and
creativity that can be used in in-depth interviews.
o The idea behind it is that:
o People are more readily able to project their feelings
onto others than to themselves.
o It help informants say things indirectly that are
difficult to say directly.
Examples/Types:
o In Word Association, respondents are presented with a list
of words, one at a time, and asked to respond to each with
the first word that comes to mind.
o Ex: Volks?
o In Sentence Completion, respondents are given
incomplete sentences and asked to complete them with the
first word or phrase that comes to mind.
o E.g.: A person who shops at H&M is__________
o When I think of shopping in a department store, I ____
o In Personification technique, participants imagine that the
brand is a person and then describe its personal characteristics.
o E.g.: If this brand was a movie star, who would it be?