1. MA in Educational Leadership (Teach First)
Research Methods Training: June
Qualitative Methods
Interviews

2. Interviews
“a conversation with a purpose” (Dexter, 1970:123, cited in Ribbins, 2007: 207)

3. Advantages of Interviews
Allows the interviewer to probe responses for more information or clarification.
Provides the best means of assessing feelings or attitudes.
Provides an opportunity to assess ‘body language’.
Provides the flexibility to adapt the approach to the requirements of the research, the respondent or the situation.

4. Disadvantages of Interviews
Interviewer bias 
Subject bias
Question bias
Sample bias
Not generalizable
Very time-consuming

5. Main Types of Interview
Structured – oral questionnaire
Unstructured – discussion, requires great skill
Semi-Structured – probes and prompts
Chats??? – ethics?

6. Who to interview Individuals Pairs Groups – how big?
Group interview versus focus group?

7. Group interview versus focus groups
Interviewer + individuals = tighter structure
Focus group:
Moderator + consensus = loose
Dynamics between people of varied opinions
Personal matters will not emerge
6 to 12 participants (more than 8 is demanding)
Useful tool in conjunction with others:
Hierarchy of individual interviews / group interviews
Questionnaires / group interviews
Documentary analysis / group interviews
Discuss data recording!!

8. Forms of interview Face-to-face (preferred) Telephone interviews
interviews
On-line discussion forums
Written

9. Interview Schedules
The design of interview schedules should proceed through four stages:
Initial design based on research questions and objectives (informed by literature review and your knowledge of the phenomenon).
Discussion with your supervisor or co-researcher.
One or more pilot interviews with people who have similar characteristics to your main sample.
Final design
Have to show that your questions are rooted in your reading.

10. Recording the Data
The main alternatives are to use a recording machine or to take notes.
Contemporaneous note-taking is an acquired skill.
The recording machine provides the merit of giving accurate and complete records of the interview if the environment is suitable. It also makes it easier to record responses verbatim for use as quotations in writing up the research.
The researcher has the option of making notes from the recordings or verbatim transcriptions.

11. Recording the Data
Some respondents may be uncomfortable with a recording machine
You must obtain the permission of the respondent to use a recording machine (for ethical reasons)

12. Recording the Data
Very time-consuming to transcribe the whole interview.
Good to take notes also in case the machine malfunctions.
If a recording machine is used, make notes and only transcribe the parts you want to quote.
But think (before interviewing!) about how you will analyse data if you do not transcribe it. Using pilot interview data to practise analysis can be useful.

13. Respondent validation?
Majority view is YES It is good practice after the interview to take the reports of the interview back to the interviewee to check that it is an accurate record and that the interviewee is willing for it to be used in the research. Sometimes people realise that they have not said what they meant to say and this provides an opportunity to put the record straight. Bassey (1999:76)
BASSEY, M. (1999) Case Study Research in Educational Settings, Buckingham, Open University Press.

14. Respondent validation?
Minority say NO Rather than commenting on the accuracy of your summary, they [the informants] are liable to want to expand and explain their answers, thereby introducing their own subjective bias into the interview record (Drever, 1995:64). Validation is “a flawed method” (Silverman, 2000:177) because it does not verify your data; it merely increases them.
DREVER, E. (1995) Using Semi-structured Interviews in Small-Scale Research, Edinburgh, The Scottish Council for Research in Education.
SILVERMAN, D. (2000) Doing Qualitative Research: a practical handbook, London, Sage Publications.

15. Remember: Be respectful
Ensure that the interviewees give their informed consent to participating
Fully explain the purpose of the interview, what the data will be used for, etc
Assure confidentiality (and maintain it!)
Listen more than you talk
When first approaching the interviewees try to give an accurate estimate of the time the interview will take and then try not to exceed that time
Thank the interviewees for their time and help

16. Analysis of qualitative data
This has three stages:
Coding: organisation of data into patterns and categories
Interpretation: looking for relationships and linkages
Focus: relate it back to the original purpose of the study
All three stages may draw on literature cited previously.
In other words - the same as you were doing with the quantitative data