Interviewing
“..the aim of an interview is not to be representative (a common but mistaken criticism of this
technique) but to understand how individual people experience and make sense of their own
lives. The emphasis is on considering the meanings people attribute to their lives and the
processes which operate in particular social contexts. The fluid and individual nature of
conversational-style interviews means that they can never be replicated, only corroborated by
similar studies or complementary techniques” (Valentine 1997, 111)
Types of research strategies it is used with
 Case study
 Ethnography
 Grounded Theory
 Phenomenology
 Narrative research
3 main types of interviews:
 Structured – a set of standard questions which are asked in the same order with all
research participants. Most important to do pilot research for this type of interview. The
focus in this style is answering particular questions.
 Semi-structured - some standard questions and/or a list of topics to cover. The focus in
this style is on obtaining participant views/understandings on a specific topic. The
researcher still guides the conversation, but it allows for more interaction between
researcher and participant.
 Unstructured – generally to obtain a life or oral history. The interview is guided by the
participant’s story.
*There are multiple ways to design interviews –they are situation and research question
dependent. There are some common considerations to enhance data reliability and credibility.
Preparing for the interview
 Conduct preliminary research/lit review to come up with research questions and topics
 Interview guides and schedules
o Schedules have a list of specific questions to use. Generally used in structured
interviews
o Guides are generally a list of topics, but may have several questions for researcher
to fall back on. Generally used in semi-structured interviews.
 Interview questions:
o Primary and secondary questions
o Order of questions
o Types of answers desired: opinions, facts, stories, etc.
o Don’t make questions too lengthy or complicated; be careful not to phrase
question in a way which invites a particular answer
 How to select participants – not a representative sample like survey questionnaires – want
people who can speak well to your research questions
o Questionnaires

o Gatekeepers
o Snowballing
o Cold calling
How to select location
o Noise considerations
o Safety
o “Neutrality”
o Comfort of participant
Conducting the interview
 Rapport
 Length
 Role of researcher
 Opening and closing the interview
 Allow for silence
 Cultural issues
 Language issues
 Note taking vs. recording
 Participants can say no
 Key skills: listening, remembering, balance between speaking and listening, watching
body language, recording (Cloke et al. 2004, 159)
After the interview
 Transcribing
o What to include
o When to do it
 Field note log
Reflexivity
 Positionality
 Intersubjectivity
 Power relations
Ethical issues
 Informed consent
 Privacy
 No harm
 No exploitation
 Awareness of cultural and power issues
 Copy of final product to participants
Strengths
 Individual understandings of processes
 Can “investigate complex behaviors and motivations” (Dunn 2005, 80)
 Examine diversity and consensus of understandings and experiences
 Allows participants more power/engagement in the research process
 Researcher can control events and line of questioning if desired
 Flexibility
 Open format – researcher can find out what is interesting/meaningful to the participant
 Can be used for action research if desired
Weaknesses
 Participants need to understand the concept of research
 Research can’t be replicated – need to consider triangulation, peer review, member
checking as part of analysis process
 Researcher’s identity may affect responses
 Not all participants can discuss their perceptions and understandings equally well
References
Bloor, Michael. 1997. Techniques of validation in qualitative research: A critical commentary.
In Context and Method in Qualitative Research. eds. Gale Miller and Robert Dingwall, 3750. London: Sage Publications.
Bowler, Isobel. 1997. Problems with interviewing: Experiences with service providers and
clients. In Context and Method in Qualitative Research. eds. Gale Miller and Robert
Dingwall, 66-76. London: Sage Publications.
Cloke, Paul, Ian Cook, Philip Crang, Mark Goodwin, Joe Painter, and Chris Philo. 2004.
Practicing Human Geography. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Creswell, John W. 2009. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
* Dunn, Kevin. 2005. Interviewing. In Qualitative Research Methods in Human Geography. 2nd
ed. ed. Iain Hay. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
England, Kim V.L. 1997. Getting personal: Reflexivity, positionality, and feminist research.
Professional Geographer 46, no.1: 80-89.
Valentine, Gill. 1997. Tell me about…:Using interviews as a research methodology. In Methods
in Human Geography: A guide for students doing a research project. eds. Robin Flowerdew
and David Martin, 110-127. Essex, England: Longman.