“Be less curious
about people and
more curious about
ideas.”
Marie Curie
Business and Management
BAM201 Research Skills
Session 3
Interviewing skills
Agenda
• Your questions/comments
about the repertory grid
technique
• Interviewing
Repertory grid technique
• Suggestions for possible uses
for the BAM201 assessed
research work
• Suggestions for making effective
use of the technique
Repertory grid technique
• Notice that you did not ask your
interviewee directly what you
wanted to find out
• There is a difference between
investigative questions and the
questions you ask your research
participants
Interviewing
UNSTRUCTURED
Listening to
other people’s
conversations
STRUCTURED
Using
‘natural
conversation
to ask
questions
Semistructured
interviews,
open &
closed
questions
‘Open-ended’
interviews; just a
few key
questions
Based on Gillham (2000)
Structured
questionnaire:
simple,
specific,
closed
questions…
… in effect
verbally
administered
questionnaires
Successful interviewers
• Knowledgeable
• Provides
structure
• Clear
• Gentle
• Sensitive
• Open
•
•
•
•
•
•
Steers
Critical
Remembering
Interpreting
Balanced
Ethically sensitive
Bryman & Bell (2003)
Types of question
• Introducing
questions
 Tell me about X… Have
you ever felt unhappy
about X…?
• Follow-up
questions
 Could you say a bit
more about…?
• Structuring
questions
 I would like to move on
by asking about…
Based on Bryman & Bell (2003)
Types of question
• Direct
questions
 Were you happy with
that role?
• Indirect
questions
 What do most people
here feel about…?
• Specifying
questions
 What does that
company policy state?
Based on Bryman & Bell (2003)
Types of question
• Checking
questions
 So is it fair to say that
you don’t think pay is a
problem?
• Probing
questions
 Do you ever worry
about money?
• Silence
 Pauses signal that you
want the interviewee to
think and say more
Based on Bryman & Bell (2003)
Organising and managing the
research interview
• Setting up the interview
• Basic information about the
project.
• Why the interviewee has been
asked to participate.
• Practicalities - probable length,
when and where interview will take
place, etc.
•
Opening stages of the interview
– Explain the purpose of the interview and
research.
– Explain that you wish to record the
interview.
•
The core of the interview
– Have your questions and prompts in front
of you.
– Mix open and closed questions, but more
open ones.
– Use closed questions only for prompts
and impromptu follow-ups
•
Bringing the interview to a close
– Signal the end, eg ‘now the last thing I
have to ask is . . . . . .’
– Show appreciation, eg ‘You’ve given me a
lot of useful information there and I’m
very grateful’
– Clarify what happens next. Do what you
promise, eg give them a copy of your
report.
You should use prompts and
probes
• Prompt an interviewee to steer them
in the direction of your research
questions
• Probe to expand on responses
– By seeking clarification
– By asking for justification
– By giving an example
– Seeking to extend the narrative
(interviewee offers a story)
Interviewing
• The interviewer is an authority
figure
• The interviewee will want to
please the interviewer
• The interviewer is responsible for
what happens in the interview!
Make some notes
What have you learnt
about your interviewing
skills?
What could (should) you
do to develop them?
Inter-session tasks
1. Read chapters 5 and 15 of Bryman &
Bell (2003) or chapter 6 of Collis &
Hussey (2003), or Gillham’s book The
Research Interview
2. Practise your interviewing skills (using
your own interview schedules)
3. Do some thinking about the kinds of
issues you could address using
interviews for the BAM201 assessment