COMMUNICATION ENGLISH III October 11/12 th 2012

Today Interview discussion

Next week (Thursday/Friday) Data presentation: - Your group will give a brief (3-4 minute) presentation about your survey and its data. You will mention: - The purpose of the survey. - Briefly explain the design (the questions you chose). - Explain the results - What your next step will be.

Next week (Thursday/Friday) Data presentation: - Your group will give a brief (3-4 minute) presentation about your survey and its data. Please use power point, but keep it simple. - Survey’s purpose. - Visual aids (graphs, charts, tables). - Examples of questions. - A few words, or a short sentence about your next step THAT’S ALL

Next week (Thursday/Friday) Data presentation: - Your group will give a brief (3-4 minute) presentation about your survey and its data. Evaluation: 10% of your Task 2 grade. Evaluated on: content, presentation skills, organization, time

Data presentation - There will be a short reading about presenting data on he website. Read it before next class. - Next class: We will discuss how to present data.

Interviews The key to a good interview? - PREPARATION - Know your topic. - Know what you want to ask. - Know the type of interview you want to do. - Know how you want to make a record of the interview.

Types of interview Structured interview Semi-structured interview Unstructured interview

Types of interview For this project: Semi-structured interviews will work best (you’ve already done a structured survey).

Semi-structured interviews Interviewer has a list of questions to ask. The order of the questions may be changed if needed. The interviewer can ask follow-up questions to the interviewee if looking for more information. If you interview 5 different people, you probably won’t have 5 identical interviews.

Semi-structured interviews Good for: - Getting a deeper understanding of survey respondent’s attitudes/opinions/perceptions. - Providing more detailed results.

Semi-structured interviews A good qualitative interview builds on conversation skills: - Ask questions + listen to answers. - Conversational turn-taking: When to talk in length and when to be brief. When it’s OK to change the subject.

Semi-structured interviews A good qualitative interview builds on conversation skills: But remember, it’s not a conversation. - The interviewer must focus on his/her agenda. - The interviewer must realize the importance of listening skills.

Good interview questions - Very similar to good survey questions. Avoid: leading questions, overly complex questions, asking for what interviewees don’t know. But branching questions are permitted. - Probing (asking for more information based on the interviewee’s response.)

Good interview questions Generally, for a semi-structured research interview, limit yourself to questions. Remember that you may go into more detail on some questions (probing).

Good interview questions Try to avoid yes/no questions (you will get a yes/no answer). - Ask clear, short, open-ended questions: How, What, Why, Who. Do you think the campus smoking rules are too strict? Vs. How do you feel about the campus smoking rules?

Good interview questions It may be possible to use some of the questions from your survey: - This allows you to get some more information from a limited amount of people. (instead of asking 30 people to give you qualitative data).

Making interview questions based on survey results. First, tabulate the survey results (and analyze…but we won’t worry about that). - For our purposes, add up the responses for each option in each questions. We won’t worry about t-test, ANOVA, MANOVA, factor analysis, etc.

Which factor is most important to you when choosing food? Taste (63) Health (20) Price (15) Other(please specify: ) (2) How often do you eat at a campus cafeteria on an average week? 0 (10) 1 or 2 times (10) 3 or 4 times (60) 5 or more times (20) Rate your satisfaction with the overall quality campus cafeteria food? Highly satisfied (5) Satisfied (15) No opinion (10) Dissatisfied (40) Highly dissatisfied. (30) How do you feel about the food choice at campus cafeterias? Highly satisfied (10) Satisfied (20) no opinion (10) Dissatisfied (40) Highly dissatisfied (20) How do you feel about the food choice at campus convenience stores? Highly satisfied (5) Satisfied (15) no opinion (10) Dissatisfied (50) Highly dissatisfied (20)

Making interview questions based on survey results. First, tabulate the survey results. This let’s you visualize your results. You may also consider making tables, charts, or graphs for this stage. - Whatever helps you to visualize the results.

Making interview questions based on survey results. Look for trends in the data. i.e. What trend can you see through Q.3 – 5?

Making interview questions based on survey results. Look for trends in the data. i.e. What trend can you see through Q.3 – 5? - A strong negative perception of campus food. You would probably want to ask some interview questions to find out more about this.

Making interview questions based on survey results. Look at questions you want more detailed responses for. i.e., 2. How often do you eat at the campus cafeteria on an average week? vs. 1. Which factor is more important to you when choosing food?

Making interview questions based on survey results. Look at questions you want more detailed responses for. - You could use this kind of question as a set-up question. - Ask the initial question, then ask for elaboration.

Making interview questions based on survey results. Interviewer: Which factor is most important to you when choosing food? Interviewee: I would say that taste is the most important factor. Interview: ? Could you explain a little about that, please Probing!

Making interview questions based on survey results. Your chance to ask questions you wished you had on the survey or that you could not do on a survey. i.e., Branching questions Do you think the food quality of campus cafeteria is low? Why do you think that?

Some interview phrases

Probing “You mentioned __________, tell me more about that.” “You mentioned __________, what was that like for you?” “You talked about ___________, describe that experience in as much detail as possible.” “Do you have further examples of this?”

Probing “What else happened?” “Could you explain that?” “What were your feelings about that?” “It sounds as though you had a pretty strong reaction.” “It sounds like you’re saying....”

Asking for clarification “You mean that…?” “Is it correct that you…?” “So what your saying is…?”

Changing questions “I would now like to move on to the next question.” “Is it OK to go to the next question?” “Changing questions…” “Thank you. Moving on…”

Some tips: 1. Never begin an interview “cold” - Chat and make small talk with the interviewee, first. - You want him/her to be comfortable.

Some tips: 2. Remember your purpose - Your goal is to gather information: Keep the interviewee on track. Keep your interview schedule (question list) in front of you.

Some tips: 3. Show the interviewee you are listening Verbal responses. Non-verbal responses: - nodding. - eye contact. - smile if interviewee says something funny. - Do not check your watch.

Some tips: 4. Don’t be satisfied with one word answers Use probing. If the question is a yes/no type, ask a follow-up question.

Some tips: 5. Be respectful Don’t interrupt the interviewee. Thank her/him for their time and cooperation at the beginning and at the end of the interview.