INTERVIEW
RESEARCH AND
STRATEGIES
Miriam Matejova, PhD
October 4, 2021
Agenda
◦Methodology vs methods
◦Qualitative interviews
1. Definitions, purpose
2. Philosophical underpinnings
3. Ethics
Methodology vs methods
◦ Methods: “techniques or procedures we use to collect and
analyze data” (King et al. 2019)
◦ Methodology: “a process where the design of the research
and choice of particular methods (and the justification of
these in relation to the research project) are made evident”
(King et al. 2019)
◦ “approach” or “perspective”
◦ Requires assumptions underlying the methodology
Methodology vs methods
1. What is an interview?
◦ Interchange of views between people conversing about a theme of
mutual interest
◦ Conversation with a purpose:
◦ to understand perceptions of a ‘living’ source
◦ to generate information on views, attitudes, experience, opinions,
etc.
Interviewing: traditional views
◦ Simple and self-evident (?)
◦ A step-by-step method
◦ Asymmetrical relationship: powerful interviewer – passive respondent
◦ ‘Objective’, neutral interviewer
◦ Need to ask the right questions to uncover psychological or social realities
◦ Emergent themes, meanings or questions are less important
New trends in interviewing
◦A more sensitive and constructivist perspective
◦ Participants as active subjects, storytellers
◦ Researchers not uninvolved, not objective
◦Significance of emotions, feelings, motives, desires, biases
◦Interactional co-construction of ‘reality’
Types of interviews – structure
◦ Quantitative vs. qualitative
◦ Close-ended vs. open-ended
◦ Structured vs. semi- and non-structured
◦ Individual vs. group (focus groups)
◦ “Surface” vs in-depth
Types of interviews - participants
◦ Expert interviews
◦ Elite interviews
◦ Children and teenage interviews
◦ ‘Ordinary’ interviews
Expert and elite interviews
◦Use experts and/or elites as participants
◦Usually one-time, uncovering exclusive, non-public
knowledge
◦Often considered as different to ‘ordinary’ interviews –
peculiar, unique, demanding research setting (access,
participants, status and power in interview relationship,
sensitivity)
Expert vs. elite interviews
Source: Jelen 2021
What can interviews give us?
◦ In-depth information about the social life
◦ Access to knowledge, experience, views, perceptions, attitudes,
thoughts, feelings, activities and their interpretations
◦ Stories and narratives
◦ Access to observation of behaviours and beyond
◦ Understanding of the nature of the phenomena,
uncover/reconstruct hidden meanings, develop (new) knowledge
and explanations and generate ideas and concepts
2. Philosophical underpinnings: positivist
understanding
◦ Traditional model
◦ Social world is objectively knowable
◦ The ‘truth’ is out there waiting to be discovered
◦ Extract information through interrogation
◦ Data are independent of social interaction
Interpretivist understanding
◦ Postmodern/constructivist model
◦ Social phenomena depend on meanings
◦ Data emerge dynamically through dialogue and in context
◦ Learn how to make sense of the world through interaction
3. Ethics in interview research
◦Participants first, you second, research third
◦ Psychological, emotional, physical, and social wellbeing
◦ Protect your participants: data protection, especially personal,
sensitive and off the record information
◦ Transparency of research purpose/researcher’s background
General ethical guidelines
Source: Christians 2011
Ethical review process
◦ Institutions and universities increasingly sensitive to ethics and
adopting policies
◦ Ethical committees
◦ Ethics forms and templates
◦ Ethical research codes of conduct setting the minimum of ethical practice
◦ Follow your institutional procedures and requirements
◦ MUNI: The Research Ethics Committee (REC)
◦ Covers every project that involves research on human subjects
Consider…
◦ Informed consent
◦ The right to withdraw
◦ ‘Off the record’
◦ Assessing risk or harm (physical safety and welfare of the researcher and the
participant)
◦ Accuracy, honesty, integrity and deception
◦ Confidentiality and anonymity
◦ Use of incentives and payment
◦ Clarity on the role of researcher
◦ Ethical treatment of data and data protection