Interviews Types of Interviews 1. Unstructured All interviews different Qualitative Exploratory: when you know little 2. Structured Questionnaire Quantitative Confirmatory: when you know a lot Danger of not knowing you are asking the wrong questions Generalisability depends on sample

3. Semi structured Flexible but comparable Greater potential, but danger of worst of both worlds Generalisability depends on sample Gaining Access Obtain a recommendation Write then call Ask ”to talk” not ”interview” Explain why project is important but unthreatening Explain why you want Mr X, not category A Logistics Tape or notes Time to write up afterwards Write out questions, question order, prompts, priority questions if time is short

Starting Introduce yourself and project Sound knowledgeable but less expert than interviewee Do not reveal your hypotheses or opinions Begin with a question that will get them talking Questions Clear, Non-leading, Non-judgmental Do not challenge directly: cite another source Grand Tour questions Prompts Silence Go back to unsatisfactory answers later - without seeming to do so

Listening Do it and prove you are doing it: Summarise using interviewee’s own vocabulary, do not reinterpret Lies and perceptions … are interesting! Interviewees often least useful when talking about themselves Limitations Minimise them Accept them Report them Best if combined with other types of evidence Not inherently better just because it is harder work!