Conducting In-depth Interview and Focus Group Discussion in Randomly

Selected BS Forestry Students of UPLB: A Qualitative Research

Diana Therese A. Samson

Introduction

Interviews are conducted in order to obtain certain information from a

person, also called as the interviewee. The interviewer is the one who is in

charge of the interview itself including the person to be interviewed, the place

or setting of the interview, and the questions to be used. Interviews are one

of the qualitative research techniques; specifically the in-depth interview that

consists of the least number of respondents (mostly 1) by allowing a person

to share knowledge and provide deep insights regarding a topic by narrating

their own experiences with regards to the question asked by the interviewer.

On the other hand, focus group discussion is similar to the in-depth

interview except that it involves a several members of a group with a

facilitator in charge.

In this qualitative research, we need to discuss the differences in

conducting the in-depth interview and focus group discussion, and we need to

analyze the interview parts. The location where the interviews will be

conducted is at the College of Forestry Natural Resources. The significance of

this study is that it will be helpful in the college/department concerning the

demand for the course and finding ways to solve problems and issues of the

students about the degree program. This study is limited only regarding with

time and randomization of students within the section.

Research Question(s)

Main Question: What made a BS Forestry student decide to take BS Forestry

Program?

In order to know the reason(s) of a student currently taking up BS

Forestry Program in relation to his/her decision into choosing the course and

the experiences in the degree program, in-depth interview and focus group

discussion will be conducted.

Research Design

In-depth interview

Firstly, this study applied a selection method in terms of the person to

be interviewed. In my case, it is a one-on-one interview. I have chosen my

seatmate as the interviewee because of the proximity. Being not really close

to each other, it is an advantage for me to know and obtain new information

about a person. When I asked my seatmate, she was just okay with the

interview. Given with a specific time range, we have set a meeting schedule

to discuss interview details. Also, an interview protocol was made including

the set of questions.

The interview protocol that I have made was based on the purpose of

the said interview and on the decision of the interviewee. Given the main

question, I have formulated other sub-questions including probes in

pursuance of deepening the interview. During the interview, the materials

used were: interview protocol, recorder, paper, and pen. These materials are

of importance particularly the recorder because it serves as a back-up

whenever having notes and also not to miss basic and important details. After

the interview, I chose 6 interview papers in the class and summarized it by

Pattern coding; categorizing their answers, making a sub-theme out of it and

lastly, the theme.

Focus Group Discussion

At first, the class was grouped randomly and each group had a

facilitator to ask questions and a secretary to take notes during the interview.

The setting of the interview was at the College of Forestry and Natural

Resources. With the same main question in the in-depth interview, the

facilitator was the first to ask questions. During the interview, it is more like

opinions and agreements on how did we answer the questions. The members

of the group were cooperative and voluntary in answering the questions. Also,

considerations whenever there is a pause, the facilitator was following it up.

After the interview proper, we were given a time to summarize this whole

interview by categorization, answers were categorized, making a sub-theme,

and finally a theme was made out of these methods.

Description of the Setting

Although it was not fully a formal interview, the interview setting in

both places was okay. In the in-depth interview, the location and time of the
interview was in Women’s Dormitory, as respect to the interviewee’s

convenience. It was dusk and being an open place, the sound of jeepneys

and cars in the lobby was heard and being recorded in the recording gadget.

In the Focus Group Discussion setting, it was outside the classroom

and was quiet at that time in the morning. There was no feeling of

awkwardness in the group so we were just discussing continuously.

Results and Discussion

Table 1. Summary of the In-depth Interview

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW
Categories Subthemes Themes
Doña Hortencia Salas Name of High School
Benedicto National High
School (1)
Novaliches High School (1)
Canossa Academy Calamba
(1)

La Carlota City, Negros School Location

Occidental (1)
Novaliches, Quezon City
(1) High School
Calamba, Laguna (1) Experience
C. A. T. (1) School Activities
MTAP (1)
Sports (2)
Arts (1)
Journalism (1)

Travelling (1) Hobbies/Interests

Drawing/Solving math
problems (1)
Inventing/Cooking Food (1)

Father (1) How did you heard about BSF Program?

NCAE Result (2)
UPCAT (1)

Parents (1) Influences in taking BSF

Acquaintances (1)
Relatives (1)
Friends (1)

BS Nutrition (2) First Course Choice

BS Chemical Engineering
(1) College
BS Food Technology (2) Experience
BS Statistics (1)

Passed UPCAT (Chosen Reasons why admitted as BSF

BSF) (1)
Reconsidered (3)
DPWAS (given BSF as
course) (1)

Yes (3) Considered shifting to other courses

No (1)

Fieldworks (4) Unforgettable Experiences as BSF student

 Lab reports (1)
Chosen specialization (2)
Course itself (1)

Working and travelling (2) After College

Take Master's Degree (3) Visions while in BSF Program Plans
Take another course (2)

Based on the table above, the awareness of the BS Forestry degree

program was seen on the NCAE Examination mostly during the high school

days. Most number in the data have not chosen the BS Forestry Program as

the First Course Choice and there were also considering shifting to other

courses. The unforgettable experiences as BS Forestry Student is because of

fieldworks. The vision while under the BS Forestry Program is that he/she to

take master’s degree in the future.

Table 2. Summary of the Focus Group Discussion
FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION
Categories Subthemes Themes
Architecture (1) Other courses considered College
Flight Attendant (1) Experience
Music, Arts and Communication (3)
Law (1)
Foodtech/Nutrition (1)
Psychology (1)

Batch 11 (2) Batch/year admitted as

Batch 12 (2) BSF
Batch 13 (2)
Batch 14 (3)

Parents (5) Influences in taking BSF

Other relatives (2)
Television (1)

Shy/hard to explain course (3) Difficulties encountered

Stereotypes/Misconceptions (1)
Still confused (4)

"..now I can confidently rebut their Lessons learned

misconceptions and perspectives." (1)
Apply forestry concepts to future work(1)
Determination (2)
"Wake up the forester in you. Look back at
your experiences in college." (1)

Take another course (2) Visions while in BSF After

Pursue being a forester (1) Program college
Take job opportunities abroad (3) plans

In the focus group discussion technique, we can see in the table

above that we have different batches of students and different courses

considered. Mostly, the influence of parents was considered in taking BS

Forestry degree program. There were lessons learned during the discussion

and was shared by most students but one is the highest which is

determination.
 I have seen the main reason why the current BS Forestry students

took this degree program; it is mainly influenced by parents and relatives.

Decisions in choosing a course can be affected by external factors like the

parents’ influences and the environment of the person. It could be that a

student does not have any course choice and is open to any courses. I may

say that the students have different course choices and was also based on

the results. Knowing that the institution is UP, the students that did not

passed the UPCAT tried to reconsider in the university and made the BS

Forestry program as their stepping stone because there were ones that

considered shifting. Eventually, many students have considered staying in the

course because of their experiences in the course such as fieldworks and

chosen specializations. However, there were lessons learned in taking the

course. I have quoted one line from a student during the interview which is;

"Wake up the forester in you. Look back at your experiences in college."

Conclusion

There are many factors that affect the decisions in taking a course but

the main decision should come from the student because difficulties will be

experienced during college if we do not want the course itself.