Interviews PDF

## Interviews Interviews are another valuable method of collecting data in a variety of areas in psychology. Although interviews might sound familiar and we think that they're pretty straightforward, there are some issues which we need to be aware of when using them for psychological research. ##...

## Interviews Interviews are another valuable method of collecting data in a variety of areas in psychology. Although interviews might sound familiar and we think that they're pretty straightforward, there are some issues which we need to be aware of when using them for psychological research. ### Advantages and disadvantages of using interviews as a data collection tool: | Advantages | Disadvantages | |---|---| | Interviews tend to generate a lot of data. | Interviews rely on self-reported data which may not be correct or difficult for some participants to articulate. | | They provide insight about participants' internal views and beliefs. | Cause and effect relationships between variables cannot be established. | ### Number of participants interviewed In order to decide how many participants are needed for the research, the researcher has to choose between individual interview and focus groups. | Description | Individual Interviews | Focus Groups (group interviews) | |---|---|---| | Interviewing participants individually. | A group interview conducted with a group of people (usually 5-8 participants) at the same time. | | | Participants can talk in more depth about their experience. | Perfect to collect a vast amount of information in a short time. | | | More time and space for participant to speak. | Provide an opportunity for participants to interact with each other. | | | Ideal when dealing with sensitive topics or studies that require rare respondent types. | Allow participants to challenge each other, argue and agree about their views on the particular subject. | | | Require less skill to conduct effectively. | | ### Role of the researcher | Role | Description | |---|---| | Researcher | Continuously asks questions and waits for responses. | | Interviewer | Facilitates the discussion and keeps participants on topic. | | Researcher | Looks at the way the group interacts and facilitates, monitors and records that interaction. | | Researcher | Leads participants with questions and provides topics to discuss. | ### Interview structure There are a lot of different ways to conduct an interview. Although the most popular are face-to-face interviews, interviews can also be done online, or by telephone. All types of interviews have their strengths and limitations, so careful consideration should be engaged to choose the best type of interview for the researchers' specific research intents. Primarily, interviews vary from Structured, Semi-structured or Unstructured. #### Quantitative - Structured interview #### Qualitative - Semi-Structured interview - Unstructured interview ### i. Structured Interviews - Very similar to questionnaires. - These fall under quantitative methodologies since participants are asked specific questions, most of which are close-ended. - The same questions are asked to all the participants in the same order so there is no deviation. - Questions asked are pre-planned and standardised before the interview takes place. - This type of interview doesn't aim to delve very deeply into the topic of interest but to obtain a large amount of information. - The interviewer is neutral as he/she keeps a distance and does not get involved emotionally or personally. The rise in interest in qualitative methodologies brought also a rise in the use of semi-structured and unstructured interviews to gather detailed data for analysis. These two types of interviews are both normally used when conducting a qualitative study as they provide more rich and detailed data than structured interviews. ### ii. Semi-structured interviews - The researcher prepares some of the questions beforehand but is ready to adapt and be flexible according to the situation presented during the interview. - Open-ended questions | Structured | Semi-structured | Unstructured | |---|---|---| | √ | √ | √ | | √ | √ | √ | | √√√ | √√√ | √√√ | | √ | √√√ | √√√ | | √ | √√√ | √√√ | | √ | √√√ | √√√ | | √ | √√√ | √√√ | | √√√ | √√√ | √√√ | | √√ | √√ | √√ | | √ | √ | √ | #### Type of questions Different questions provide different data, so the researcher needs to choose the most appropriate questions. - In a structured interview, the majority of questions asked are **close ended.** These questions only allow participants to choose from options previously included by the researcher. Examples of close ended questions include: - *Marijuana should be legalised in Malta. : Yes / No* - *From 1 to 5, how lonely did you feel during the Covid-19 pandemic? (1 meaning 'Not lonely at all' and 5 being 'Extremely lonely'). - *Why did you terminate from GCHSS?* - a) I did not like the school and/or teachers. - b) I found a job. - c) I left due to social problems e.g. I did not make any friends. - d) I left due to health problems e.g. I need to be hospitalised. - e) I left due to psychological problems e.g.; my anxiety is not allowing me to cope. - In a semi-structured or unstructured interview, questions are usually **open ended**. Some types of open-ended questions include: - **Descriptive Questions:** Questions which aim to elicit a descriptive answer rich in detailed data. - *E.g., can you describe the day of the accident?* - *Could you describe your average week?* - *E.g., can you elaborate? Earlier you said that being a twin is the best thing that could have happened to you, can you elaborate?* - **Contrast Questions:** Questions used to ask the participant to clarify the difference between words or ideas mentioned during interview. - *E.g., can you explain the difference between reduced hours and tele-working please?* - **Structural Questions:** Questions which aim to elicit the meaning of main concepts from the participants. - *E.g., what do you mean by 'feeling depressed'?* ### Considerations made before the interview #### How should I choose the participants? - **If using a structured interview:** - Since structured interviews are quantitative the researcher would probably opt for a random or Stratified Sample (if a list is available). - **If using a semi structured or unstructured interview:** - In this case random and stratified sampling techniques are not recommended, as the aim of the research would not be to generalise the results and so representativeness is not essential. - Instead, one would need to deliberately **CHOOSE** participants who are willing to offer the best information during the interview. - Moreover, these qualitative interviews are often used when dealing with **sensitive topics**, so in this case ethical issues and richness of data gathered precede the benefits of random sampling. - Normally, the sampling technique chosen for semi and unstructured interviews would be either **purposive** or **snowball**, as these sampling techniques allow the researcher to find people who are willing to offer rich and detailed data. #### iii. Unstructured Interviews - This type of interview uses **open-ended** questions and contains no pre-set or standardised questions. - It still requires some amount of preparation and guidelines to help start the conversation. - Questions are asked according to the direction which is taken by the participant/s. - Its aim is to go in-depth with the participant on the subject and thus collect valuable and detailed information. - It usually has the structure of an informal conversation. - The interviewer is part of the interviewing process. - Useful when trying to build a new theory where research is lacking. ### Reflexivity during semi-structured and unstructured interviews When interviews serve as an important qualitative research tool, reflexivity should be an essential part of the process. Ideally, a researcher keeps a diary to note down decisions taken when preparing for the interview, during data collection itself and when analysing the data. Later on, these reflections help the reader to consider the **credibility** of the study. ### How to deal with particular ethical issues | Ethical Issue | How to deal with it | Limitations | |---|---|---| | Informed consent | Participants are asked to formally indicate their agreement to participate. This should include suitable information about the nature and purpose of the research and their role in it. | In certain cases when participants are aware of the real nature of the study beforehand, the data they give might be invalid. | | The right to withdraw | Before the interview, participants should be informed that they have the right to withdraw at any time without giving an explanation. | Participants may still feel pressured that they should not withdraw because it would ruin the study. | | Protection from harm | Avoid any situation that may cause the participant to experience psychological (e.g., negative feelings) or physical damage. | Researchers are not always able to accurately predict the risks of taking part in a study. | | Confidentiality and anonymity | Researchers should not record the real names of participants. Numbers or false names should be used instead. | It is sometimes possible to figure out who the participants were on the basis of information that has been provided. | ### How large should my sample be? Generally, when dealing with a semi structured or unstructured interviews, the sample does not need to be very large, as the interviews themselves would provide rich and detailed data. In fact, the larger the sample, the more likely that the researcher needs to shift to a more **structured approach** (quantitative). ### Ethical issues Certain types of research deal with more sensitive topics, which would need careful consideration from the researcher's part in order to assure that the research is carried out in an ethical and appropriate way. #### Language used **during** interview: - Using **politically correct** language (e.g.- 'people with disability' not 'handicapped people'). - Choosing how to phrase sentences in an appropriate manner which makes the participant feel at ease and not judged. - This also applies to structured interviews as the researcher needs to be ethical in forming his questions. #### Researcher's behaviour **during** interview: - Keeping focus on the participant rather than continually taking notes. - Showing the participants that he/she is listening and that their point of view is valued and respected. - Thoroughly explain to the participant what the interview process entails. Otherwise, the participant might be victim of **demand characteristics** and just try to figure out what is expected of him/her and try to please the researcher. - The interviewer needs to be as objective as possible, rather than giving importance to certain statements only. **This skill** is especially vital when restating what participant said without **interpreting** the message or correcting it. - Without the appropriate skills, the researcher might make the situation worse, making the conversation seem unnatural and thus affect the data gathered. ### Debriefing Ethical research includes debriefing the participant **after** the interview is carried out, by repeating the information given at the beginning of the interview. It is also common practice for the researcher to keep in contact with the participants and ask for their opinions when it comes to the way the researcher interpreted the data (member checking). This increases the credibility of the researcher's conclusion. ### Analysing the interview There are a lot of ways how one can interpret and analyse data. The method chosen depends on whether the researcher opted for a structured, semi-structured or unstructured interview. #### Analysing a structured interview: - Since a structured interview helps researcher to gather numerical data, statistical measures are used. - These are then presented visually using pie charts, line graphs or bar charts. #### Analysing a semi-structured or unstructured interview: - Since these provide descriptive data, a method called **qualitative thematic content analysis** is used. - In this type of analysis, the researcher tries to elicit salient themes from the data. **Example:** **Title:** Lived experience of first year students at GCHSS **Step 1**: Reading the transcript and identifying sub themes (simple statements made by participants). "I have a lot of new subjects here" "I never had Psychology in secondary school, so it's a new subject for me" "Post-secondary is different as people change in every lesson" "you don't stick to one class" "I really enjoy that during free lessons I can do what I want and go where I want" "You don't have to stay in class during free lessons" "The stipend is great as at least I have some pocket money!" "The stipend has given me more freedom and responsibility" "The subjects are harder here and contain a lot of information" "Subjects are too vast" "I have to wake up very early to use public transport and arrive on time for 1st lesson" "I live at Marsascala so It take me ages to arrive to school" ### Recording the Interview Some issues need to be taken into consideration when using audio and/or visual recording: - Inform participants that they will be recorded. - Permission needs to be granted prior to the interview. - Explain what will happen t the recordings and how they will be stored. - Researcher needs to take full responsibility that any recordings will dutifully be erased after a certain timeframe has ended. Typically, only audio is recorded during an interview. This brings about some setbacks as the participants' **nonverbal**s cannot be analysed. Nonverbals provide very rich information about the state and emotions of the participants and sometimes might give more valuable information than verbal cues. Nowadays, post-modern transcription techniques have adopted the notion of visually recording or jotting down notes to record participant's nonverbals (e.g., facial expressions, seating position...). Although this makes the data gathered more difficult to analyse, it can be commented upon in the research helping to make the research more credible and genuine. ### Interviewer Training Training is very important when it comes to interviews. Important skills when conducting a good interview include: - **Active listening skills:** Noticing that the interviewee is finding it hard to answer a question, to make the participant feel valued and listened to.