1. ROI, Chap. 9
Kimberly A. Turner

2. Tips for Planning Your QR Interview

3. Planning Your Interview
Decide who to interview!
Write a script!
Prepare a list of dates & times to conduct interviews!

4. Decide What You Should Ask
Consider. Your. Research. Question.

5. Writing Interview Questions

6. Start With the Basics
Ask your interviewee basic background data about her/himself
Way of warming up your participant
Builds trust
Ex. name, where they grew up, etc.

7. Questions Should Be Open-Ended
Goal of qualitative research = uncover as much about the participants & their situations as possible.
Avoid closed-ended question (Y/N questions).

8. Begin With Easy to Answer Questions
Don’t start with a big, probing, “high stakes” questions!
Build up to questions that are more difficult or controversial.
Arrange questions in order from those that are least difficult or contentious to those that are most difficult.
Slowly build confidence and trust with the interviewee.

9. “Tell Me About…”
The phrase “tell me about…”is great way to start a question!
Invites interviewee to tell you a story.
Assumes interviewee will talk and it subtlety commands the interviewee to begin talking.
Impossible to create a question that is too complicated, too detailed, or too difficult to answer with phrase “tell me about.”
Keeps the question general -- interviewee can take the question in several directions and leaves room for ideas, impressions, and concepts which you have not thought of to emerge from the data.

10. Write Big, Expansive Questions
Writing big, expansive questions allows the participant to take your question in several directions.
Interviewee might say things that you would have never thought to ask – could become one of the most important parts of your study!

11. Avoid Confusing or Wordy Questions
Avoid multi-part questions!
Writing lots of small, detailed questions does not allow the interview to freely flow -- makes it a choppy back & forth.
When they are finished, you can prompt them to talk about anything they missed that you want to know.
Confusing questions: What do you think about parking? (This is confusing because the question isn't clear about what it is asking--parking in general? The person's ability to park the car? Parking on campus?) Do you believe that the parking situation on campus is problematic or difficult because of the lack of spaces and the walking distances or do you believe that the parking situation on campus is ok? (This question is both very wordy and leads the participant.)
Revised question: What is your opinion of the parking situation on campus?

12. Avoid Biased Questions
Biased questions are questions that encourage your participants to respond to the question in a certain way.
They may contain biased terminology or are worded in a biased way.
Biased question: Don't you agree that campus parking is a problem?
Revised question: Is parking on campus a problem?

13. Avoid Questions That Assume What They Ask
These questions are a type of biased question and lead your participants to agree or respond in a certain way.
Biased question: There are many people who believe that campus parking is a problem. Are you one of them?
Revised question: Do you agree or disagree that campus parking is a problem?

14. Avoid Double-Barreled Questions
A double-barreled question is a one that has more than one question embedded within it.
Participants may answer one but not both, or may disagree with part or all of the question.
Double-barreled question: Do you agree that campus parking is a problem and that the administration should be working diligently on a solution?
Revised question: Is campus parking a problem? (If the participant responds yes): Should the administration be responsible for solving this problem?

15. Avoid Unrelated Questions
Be sure that your questions directly relate to what it is you are studying.
A good way to do this is to ask someone else to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the responses fit what you are looking for.
Unrelated questions: Have you ever encountered problems in the parking garage on campus? Do you like or dislike the bus system?

16. Prepare Follow-Up Questions
Main questions can lead to several follow-up questions.
Ex. ”Why do you think this happened?”
Ex. “How did X react to the new policy?”