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Semi structured interviews for education research
The document discusses the use of semi-structured interviews in educational research, highlighting their advantages such as flexibility, in-depth exploration of individual experiences, and the ability to adapt questions based on interviewee responses. It also emphasizes the importance of planning, active listening, and ethical considerations when conducting interviews. The authors share insights and best practices from their own experiences to aid researchers in effectively utilizing this method.
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Semi structured interviews for education research
- 1. Semi-structured Interviews for Educational Research Dr IanWillis and Dr Debbie Prescott Educational Research seminar series
- 2. Content • Provide reasonsfor using semi-structured interviews • Share our stories & our lessons learnt • Ian • Debbie • Provide a summary of key points • Focused on semi-structured interviews • Share some other key considerations
- 3. Semi-structured interviews “allow researchersto develop in-depth accounts of experiences and perceptions with individuals” (Cousin, 2009, p71) Examine the wording of this statement: What do each of the key words suggest e.g. in-depth accounts suggests individual’s ‘stories’ much less likely to be shown in a questionnaire
- 4. Good for • Learningabout interpretations, meanings and intentions • Giving a space for interviewee to set part of the agenda • Flexibility, has options to refine and to follow unexpected avenues • Probing, following up • Getting in-depth data – ‘a rich picture’
- 5. Not so goodfor: •Standardised procedures •Comparability •‘Objectivity’ •Large numbers •‘Facts’; mostly we are interested in perceptions, motivations and reasons
- 6. Defining characteristic “The definingcharacteristic of semi-structured interviews is that they have a flexible and fluid structure” • Has topics or themes to be explored • not a set of questions asked exactly the same to all interviewees • Flexibility to follow up different areas depending on interviewees responses and interests • Has space for the unexpected • Interviewer and interviewee create the interview together - unlike questionnaire design Mason 2004
- 7. Case study -Ian • Planning and Flexibility • research questions and interview questions • Importance of follow up questions • changing interview questions • responding to unexpected data • Straightforward recruiting interviewees • Strengths/limits of the data • what it is and what it isn’t
- 8. Case study -Debbie • Pilot phase is important and use of critical friends • Have a plan but don’t be afraid to follow up interesting leads – though be careful how much you “wander” off topic. • Recording / data collection… how you will handle the data… issues • What to do if interviewees say things that are sensitive (ethics) • Your role in the process and influence (insider etc?) • Recognise the situation that the data was collected in and the constraints – careful not to generalise or claim too much • How to deal with the amount of data
- 9. Planning: Question development •Designingand revising your interview schedule • Relationship to research questions • Prompts • Follow up questions (next slide) •It’s not just a conversation •Piloting
- 10. Follow up questions:some techniques Getting more depth • Compare and contrast questions • Ask for an example • Ask for meaning • What does that mean, what did that mean for you • Provide some evidence • What makes you say that (avoid why…) • Ask for more detail • Can you tell me more…. • Use NVC; nod, open body language, ‘uh-uhs ahs’! • Reflect back to check understanding
- 11. Questions: Avoid orbeware of • Leading questions • Double questions • Ambiguity • Vague terms or jargon • Assumed knowledge • Perfect recall • Overly sensitive questions
- 12. Active listening, focusand adding clarity and depth • check apparent contradictions or inconsistencies ('Yes, but didn't you say a moment ago…?' 'How can that be so if…?') • search for opinions ('What do you think of that?' 'Do you believe that?') • ask for clarification ('What do you mean by…?' 'In what way?' 'Can you give me some examples?') • seek comparisons ('How does that relate to…?' 'Some others have said that…') • pursue the logic of an argument ('Does it follow that…?' 'Presumably,…?') http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/interviews/inthome.htm
- 13. Active listening, focusand adding clarity and depth • ask for further information ('What about…?' 'Does that apply to…? 'Can you say a little more about…?') • aim for comprehensiveness ('Have you anything more to say on that?') • put things in a different way ('Would it be fair to say that…?' 'Do you mean…?' 'In other words…?') • summarise occasionally and ask for corroboration ('So…?' 'What you're saying is…?' 'Would it be correct to say…?'); • Suggest alternatives ('An opposing argument might run…' 'What would you say to the criticism that…?) http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/interviews/inthome.htm
- 14. Planning: Conduct ofthe interview • Atmosphere generated is a key factor • Use language of interviewee • within reason but avoid researcher jargon • Building rapport • Setting, timing • ‘Rich data’: Exploring nuances, uniqueness • Notice your own reactions • these will affect the interview • Power relationships • Where when
- 15. Other considerations • Ethicalapproval • Your ‘position’: insider? • How many interviews? • Interviewee selection: inclusion/exclusion criteria • Audio recording/ transcribing • Relationships between research approach, research questions, interview data, analysis and writing up
- 16. An example: • Startwith your overall research question • What are students’ study habits in the first year of the Life Sciences programme • Develop a number of topics or areas to be explored • What study activities do you do outside the scheduled learning events (not counting revision time for exams)? • Of the various types: relative time, overall time • Do you know how much independent work your tutors/lecturers expect of you • How do you decide what to spend time on when studying outside scheduled hours? • What sorts of things motivate you to do more study outside scheduled hours
- 17. Finally: • Did weanswer your questions? • Your learning from today? • What is your take away? • Write it down! • What will you do next? • Write it down!
- 18. References Arksey, H., andKnight, P. (1999) Interviewing for social scientists. London, UK: Sage Burton, N., Brudrett, M., and Jones, M. (2008) Doing your education research project. London, UK: Sage. Cousin, G. (2009) ‘Semi-structured interviews’. Chapter 5 in Researching Learning in Higher Education. London: Routledge. Freestone 2012 The use of semi-structured interviews in pedagogical research http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/disciplines/biosciences/2012/Le icesterPedR/Freestone.pdf Hannan (2007) Interviews in Education Research http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/interviews/inthome.htm Kvale, S. (2007) Doing interviews. London, UK: Sage Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications. Legard, R., Keegan, J., and Ward. (2003).’In-depth interviews’, in Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (ed.) Qualitative research practice. A guide for social science students and researchers. London, UK: Sage. Punch, K. (2005) Introduction to social research. Quantitative and qualitative approaches. 2nd edn. London, UK: Sage. Robson, C. (2002) Real world research. 2nd edn. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Mason (2004) Semi-structured interviews in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods
Editor's Notes
- #3 3- 5 minute ‘table’ discussion - members to introduce themselves - share experiences of interviewing and being interviewed - identify questions for the session and record on post-it notes Collect post-its
- #4 In your area what is an example of a research question where this method might be applicable And an example where it is not applicable
- #8 IW 1 Describe how questions changed; not all well constructed (needing to explain the question / terminology; internationalisation and globalisation) Really important to have repertoire of follow up questions e.g. can you give an example (more examples later). To get depth (rich picture) Describe UoL does not look international interview (unexpected) and importance of the city in internationalisation Surprise can be wonderfully interesting Need some idea of how much you are willing/able to change through the interview process “what it is and what it isn’t“: an account created under those particular circumstances, not the truth but a rich picture of particular experience
- #10 Just for my benefit… two approaches... Kvale and Brinkmann (2009) recognise that there are two contrasting metaphors for the role of the interviewer in this process, and it is important to recognise that each describes a different epistemological conception of the interview process. The first metaphor is that of a “miner” (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p. 48). This approach assumes that the interviewer is simply uncovering knowledge that is already there, waiting to be found. Therefore, the actions and conduct of the interviewer do not affect the knowledge that is obtained from the interviewee. This approach searches for pre-existing truths and pertains most often to a positivist and empiricist approach where data collection and data analysis are seen as separate procedures. The alternative metaphor is that of a “traveller” (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p. 48). Here, the interviewer encourages the interviewee to tell their own stories of their lived experiences. This approach is not a search for pre-existing truths and the interview is an intertwined phase of knowledge construction. Indeed, Kvale and Brinkmann suggest that: “Knowledge is constructed in the inter-action between the interviewer and the interviewee” (2009, p. 2). Although Mann (2010) recognises that this approach means that the influence of the interviewer must be acknowledged in the interview process.
- #16 Ethics covered in earlier session – brief mention only Analysis is later session
- #19 MH