Observations and
in-depth interviews
India FETP
Competency to be gained
from this lecture
Identify the use of observations and
in depth interviews in public health
Key elements
• Observations
• In-depth interviews
• Practical aspects of key informant interviews
Observations
• The oldest, most basic source of human
knowledge
• Range:
 Casual understanding of the every day's world
 Systematic tool of social sciences
• Brings the researcher in direct interaction
with people and their activities
• Requires getting close to make people feel
comfortable
Observations
Perspectives in observation
• Outsider’s perspective
 Maintain distance
 View events from the observer’s perspective
• Insider’s perspective
 Reduce distance by joining activities and
interacting with people
 View events from participants’ eyes and ears
• Somewhere in between
 Emphatic neutrality
Observations
Limitations of observation
• Occurrence of selective perception
• The eyes do not see what the mind does not
know
• Requires:
 Training
• Difficult as people may perceive themselves as natural
observers
 Preparation
• Concentration
Observations
Types of interviews
• Structured
 Structured questionnaire
 Mostly close-ended answers
• Semi-structured
 Fixed questions
 Open answers
 In-depth
 Questions are based upon the responses collected
In depths interviews
Methodological challenges
for in-depth interviews
• Most researchers in community based health
areas have much experience in structured,
quantitative survey interviewing
• Developing the skills for unstructured
interviewing often requires unlearning
elements deeply instilled in survey
interviewing
In depths interviews
Objectives of in-depth interviews
• Discover the interviewee’s own framework
of meanings
• Obtains rich, contextualized, in-depth
information
• Avoid imposing the researcher’s structures
and assumptions
 Avoid being directive
In depths interviews
Directiveness scale for
interview technique
Making encouraging noises
Reflecting on remarks made by the informant
Probing on the last remark by the informant
Probing an idea preceding the last remark
by the informant
5. Probing an idea expressed earlier in the
interview
6. Introducing a new topic
More directive
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In depths interviews
The questionnaire
• List of core questions
 Topics
• Variations
 Order
 Terminology
• Adapt to the terminology of the respondent
• Additional questions may be introduced
In depths interviews
Types of questions for
in-depth interviews
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Behaviour / experience
Opinion or belief
Feelings
Knowledge
Sensory
Background / demography
In depths interviews
Qualities of questions in
in-depth interviews
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Open ended
Neutral
Sensitive
Clear to the interviewee
In depths interviews
Keeping control of the interview
• Knowing what needs to be found
• Asking the right questions
• Giving appropriate verbal and non verbal
feedback
In depths interviews
Common pitfalls in interviews
• Counseling
• Presenting the
perspective of the
interviewer
• Superficial interview
• Receiving secret
information
• Inaccurate translation
Interruptions
Competing distractions
Stage fright
Embarrassing questions
Jumping from a subject
to another
• Teaching
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In depths interviews
Recording interviews
• Notes during the interview
 Distracting
• Notes after the interview
 Potential for missing information
• Tape recording
 Labour intensive
• 1 hour interview: 6 hours transcription
In depths interviews
Use multiple interviews to cross verify
and address limitations of key informants
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Are not infallible
May be reluctant to admit they don’t know
May want to satisfy the researcher
May have their own biased interpretation
Key informants
Perception of the key informant –
researcher relation by the community
• Community members may perceive that
interaction as close
• Close interactions with key informants may
have an impact on acceptance with the
wider group
Key informants
Practical aspects of key informants
interviews
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Number of interviews
Status of informant
Recording of information
Use of exact words
Dynamic of the interview
Leading role of the informant
Prepared questions
Sequential interviews
Probing
Relationship
Key informants
1. Number of interviews
• Interview each informant more than once
• Allow a social relationship to develop
Key informants
2. Status of the informant
• Regard the informant
as an “expert” who
imparts important
information to the
interviewer
• Act the part of
someone interested in
learning from the
informant
Key informants
3. Recording information
• Learn from the informant
• Record as much as possible of the
information presented by the informant
 Recording is part of the demonstration that the
data from the “expert” are important
Key informants
4. Use of exact words
• Seek to get key portions of the “testimony”
in the informant’s exact words
• Use words, phrases and whole sentences
Key informants
5. Dynamic of the interview
 Avoid relying on asking a series of focused
questions
 Try to get the informant to narrate, list and
enumerate and elaborate explanations of
topics
Key informants
6. Leading role of the informant
• Try to get the informant to lead the
discussion
 Elaborations, explanations and new topical areas
Key informants
7. Prepared questions
• Don’t use prepared questions to structure
the entire interview
• Prepared questions are introduced
occasionally, secondarily, for example when
the informant has finished explaining a topic
• One “exception” to this rule:
 “Pre-testing”
Key informants
8. Sequential interviews
• Bring up materials from the previous
interviews during the subsequent encounters
• Probe for more information
• Verify understanding
• Obtain more details
Key informants
9. Probing
• Probe for details, information, examples or
“cases”
Key informants
10. Relationship
• Continue the relationship through the
duration or the project
• Try out hypotheses, models or themes
• Get the informant’s reaction on hypotheses
• Ask comments on drafts of reports
Key informants
Take home messages
• Appreciate the complexity of observations
• Unlearn quantitative methods to learn
qualitative interviews
• Develop rapport with key informants to
understand the information in its context