Sampling technique

1. INTERVIEW PLANNING AND DESIGN
SAMPLING, RECRUITING,
AND QUESTIONING

2. • INTERVIEW
INTER-CHANGE OF VIEWS BETWEEN TWO PERSONS CONVERSING ABOUT A THEME OF MUTUAL INTEREST”
APPROXIMATELY 90 PERCENT OF ALL SOCIAL SCIENCE INVESTIGATIONS RELY ON INTERVIEWS
• Interviews are common practice in variety of situations
• including therapy,
• police investigations,
• marketing focus groups,
• Philosophical
• Socratic dialogues,
• medical exams,
• opinion polls.

3. TAIJITU:
DEPICTING YIN AND YANG. INTERVIEWS AND
FIELDWORK COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER,
INTERVIEWS ACTING AS THE MORE OBTRUSIVE,
STRONG, “YANG”-LIKE COMPONENT, AND
FIELDWORK ACTING AS THE MORE SUBMISSIVE
FREE-FLOWING “YIN.” THEY ARE NOT OPPOSITES,
AND SEEDS OF ONE CAN BE FOUND IN THE

4. THE VALUE OF INTERVIEWS Elucidate subjectively lived experiences and viewpoints from the respondents’ perspective
QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS PROVIDE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR MUTUAL DISCOVERY
UNDERSTANDING
REFLECTION, EXPLANATION
GET TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER
INTERVIEWER ALMOST ALWAYS TREATED THE RESPONDENT
MORE CONTROL THAN THE RESPONDENT
IN TERMS OF DIALOGUE DIRECTION
AND TOPICAL EMPHASIS
RESULTING DATA WITH ETHICAL CARE
OPINION, MOTIVATION, AND EXPERIENCES (SOME ISSUES – SUCH AS SEXUAL ACTIVITY, DRUG ADDICTION, BATHROOM OR LOCKER ROOM HABITS,
CHILDHOOD DISCIPLINE, VIOLENCE, AND DEATH, PAST EVENTS, RARE OCCASIONS, DASTARDLY DEEDS, CLANDESTINE TRYSTS, DISASTERS,
CELEBRATIONS, OR BURIED EMOTIONS)
ACCOUNTS – OR RATIONALES, EXPLANATIONS, AND JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND OPINIONS

5. sampling plan design for how to
specifically choose sources for your
data
purposeful sampling purposefully
choose data fit the parameters of
project’s research questions, goals,
and purposes
random samples every member of
a group has an equal opportunity
be selected statistical
generalizations to larger
populations
convenience or opportunistic
sample
Samples, convenient, easy, and
relatively inexpensive to access
extreme instance sampling
purposefully sample data that are
rare, unique, odd, and deviant
Developing a sampling plan
maximum variation sample
wide range of data or participants
wide variations
phenomena under study
snowball sampling
participants recommend other
participants
Theoretical-construct samples
collect data meet certain
theoretical characteristics or
conceptual frameworks
typical instance sampling
interviewees are chosen because
they are typical of the
phenomenon under examination
critical incident sampling
exploring data related to incidents

6. DETERMINING THE BEST
SAMPLE
Structure of interviews
Structured interviews
tightly structured, ordered, and planned
interview schedule
a list of questions that are repeated in the same order and in the
same wording limited set of response categories (e.g., “Sometimes?
Always? Never)
Unstructured interviews
are more flexible and organic in nature
interview guide
control of the discussion to the interviewee may take place during a
slow point of fieldwork, over a meal or drink or they may be
planned for a specific time, unexpected answers from the
interviewees, less structured the interview, the more skill, expertise,
and knowledge are required of the interviewer
interviews or focus groups
research questions determine
type of populations
people who can most appropriately provide data
about the phenomena of interest.
determined the sample before recruiting
participants and gathering the data
Sample size is critically important for researchers
who need statistical power to generalize
course’s specific goals and time constraints
each one-hour interview equates to 15 total
research hours when you consider the time
devoted to planning, scheduling, conducting,
organizing, transcribing, and analyzing

7. INTERVIEW
TYPES
Ethnographic interviews
occur in the field
informal conversational interview
casual exchange of remarks
Participants in such contexts often welcome
ethnographic interviews to pass the time.
Narrative interviews
are open-ended, relatively unstructured
interviews that encourage the participant to tell
stories rather than just answer questions.
Informant interviews
to characterize participants who are
experienced and savvy in the scene
friendly and open to providing information
. Finding good informants usually requires a
long-term relationship
Life-story interviews/ biographic interviews/
elicit stories
ask interviewees to discuss their life as a whole,
their memories, and what they want others to
know
discursive interview
A discursive interview picks up on the fact that
participants’ compassion emerges from and
intersects with larger discourses of race, class,
and myth – for instance the myth of the
American dream
Respondent interviews
take place among social actors who all
hold similar subject positions and have
appropriate experiences, which attend
to the research goals.
a group of volunteers, children,
professionals
Oral history
One type of narrative interview
queries those who eye witnessed past
events for the purpose of
(re)constructing history

8. INTERVIEW STANCES
Interviews vary according to the interviewer’s power, emotional stance, and
extent of self disclosure
deliberate naïveté
lies somewhere between these extremes. It asks interviewers to drop any
presuppositions and judgment while maintaining openness to new and
unexpected findings
collaborative/interactive interviewing
interviews are jointly created, so that the researcher and the participant are
on an even plane and can ask questions of each other.
Pedagogical interviews
encourage researchers to offer expertise in the form of knowledge or
emotional support.
responsive interviewing
researchers have responsibilities for building a reciprocal relationship,
honoring interviewees with unfailingly respectful behavior, reflecting on their
own biases and openly acknowledging their potential effect, and owning the
emotional effect of interviews.
friendship model of interviewing
feminist type of interviewing in
which participants are treated as
intimate friends rather than as
objects
confrontational interviews
The interviewer may contradict or
challenge the interviewee and, in
doing so, highlight their differences
of opinion.
Creating the interview guide
interview guides refer to fewer
formal lists of questions, which are
more flexibly drawn upon
depending on the situation and the
participant
(a) explore new themes; (b) attempt
to test emergent hypotheses; (c)
explore feelings and opinions; or (d)
gather factual data.

9. Wording good questions
simple and clear, inquire, one thing at a time, open-ended and complex, , yes/no questions should be followed
“Why?” or “In what ways?” straightforward, neutral, and non-leading, uphold rather than threaten the
interviewees’ preferred identity, accompanied by appropriate follow-ups, example, story sharing,
neutral, and non-leading.
Interview question types and sequencing
The best interviews are characterized by a wide range of questions
Opening the interview
first few minutes of an interview should break the ice and set expectations
informed consent usually required for audio-recorded interviews.
build rapport helping the interviewee feel comfortable, likeable, and knowledgeable.
experience questions that will prompt the participant to tell stories
factual issues Certainly, fact-based questions
generative questions – non-directive, non-threatening queries that serve to generate (rather than dictate)
frameworks for talk
Tour questions ask the interviewee to overview familiar descriptive knowledge or memories about an activity or
event. Tour questions can be usefully followed with probes asking for examples

10. timeline question also adds contextual depth to tour questions
Hypothetical questions ask interviewees to imagine their behaviors, actions, feelings, or thoughts in
certain situations
behavior and action questions same time, past behavior questions can be threatening if they bring up
bad behavior from the past, so take care to ask about positive or neutral issues before asking about
negative ones
Posing the ideal generates responses in which interviewees can starkly contrast reality with their
wishes, dreams, and desires.
compare–contrast questions. These ask interviewees to consider one idea or category in relation to
another
Finally, asking about motives can include asking about feelings, actions, or behaviors
you might ask the participant to reflect upon other people’s motives
you ask about past and present experiences, interesting data can emerge through future prediction
questions

11. Directive questions such questions put more control in the hands of the interviewer and can be more
complex, threatening, or difficult for the interviewee to answer
closed-ended question, which, like a survey question, asks respondents to choose among two or more
potential answers. These could include “yes/no”
Typology questions ask respondents to organize their knowledge into different types or categories
Elicitation questions use a picture, a video, a text, or an object in order to prompt and elicit discussion.
Elicitation is often used in focus groups when, for instance, members watch a commercial, pass around a
new kind of toothpaste tube, or evaluate various print brochures.
Data-referencing questions are those that refer to data collected in the past.
in vivo language – Latin in vivo means “in the living (being/organism/situation)” – is distinctive or unique
to a certain population or context.
member reflection questions, the interviewer posits a certain understanding of the data collected thus far
and asks the respondent to comment upon it
devil’s advocate question, in which the interviewer takes a deliberately skeptical view of the respondent’s
position or answer.
potentially threatening questions. Leaving personal or political questions for the end is advisable
because, first, they may be less problematic if good rapport is already built and, second, if these
do cause offense, at least other questions have already been asked and answered.

12. Closing the interview Several questions are common at the close of the interview
Catch-all questions can effectively capture and tie together loose ends or unfinished stories.
identity-enhancing questions, which encourage the respondent to leave the interaction feeling smart,
expert, well liked, and appreciated.
demographic questions they should be asked at the beginning
preferred pseudonym – which you can do by saying something like: “I’m going to be using fake names
when I write up these data.
Interview question wrap-up
In summary, interview guides can include a large range of questions.
follow-ups and probes Following up can be as easy as saying “Uh huh,” “Oh,” nodding, or shrugging.
Through probes, interviewers pursue questions to a deeper level. Probes may include pre-planned
up questions. Silence can also be an effective probe.