Interviews

 Types of interviews
 Why use interviews?
 Strengths
 Limitations
 Practicalities

 Further reading
Types of interviews

There are a number of different types of interview formats e.g. structured, semi-structured or
unstructured. The more unstructured the interview, the more it is expected that the main issues
will emerge from the interviewee, rather than being imposed by the structure of the interview.
These different interview formats are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to combine them
effectively in an interview to be flexible and focused when it is appropriate.

Interviews can be conducted face-to-face, by telephone or online (see Email interviews).

Back to the top

Why use interviews?

 To explore the thinking, assumptions, emotions, attitudes, perceptions which may be

influencing observed behaviour of those involved in some way in the cange in learning
and teaching (L&T) being evaluated.


 If more in-depth qualitative exploration of an individuals’ perceptions is needed than can

be obtained from questionnaires.


 To follow up unexpected results or confirm interpretations generated by other methods of

data collection and analysis.

Back to the top

Strengths
 

 Interviewing offers the flexibility to adapt questioning according to the responses of

interviewees, to clarify questions or answers, or to probe answers more deeply with
supplementary questions as appropriate, to explore issues that emerge from the
respondents. This is particularly the case, the more unstructured the interview becomes.


 Data obtained, particularly from semi-structured and unstructured interviews, can be

much richer and informative than data obtained from other methods.

Back to the top

Limitations

 Interviews can be very resource intensive compared to other data collection methods.


 Data analysis becomes more difficult as the data collection process becomes more
unstructured, particularly if trying to identify and explore patterns, although software is
now available that can help with this. (See link at top of this page.)


 Selecting interviewees that will provide you with representative perspectives is not easy,
because you are unlikely to have the resource to be able to conduct many interviews to
evaluate any single change in L&T. The voluntary nature of the interview may mean that
your sample is biased towards those that have not become disengaged with their
experience of the change initiative. Bias may also be introduced by other factors such as
the interviewee’s emotion at the time of the interview, their ability to recall events and
feelings, and their interaction with the interviewer.


 Transcription costs and telephone interviews can be costly, and the scale of the project
and its evaluation may mean that such costs cannot be justified.

Back to the top

Practicalities


 The type of interview you decide on will depend on how you intend to use data to inform
your evaluation questions with that collected using other methods. Choice of format will
depend on your assumptions about what kind of dialogue between interviewer and
interviewee will give you a representative insight into the interviewee’s experience or
perspective.


 A pre-prepared interview guide helps to keep the interview focused on topics that address
the evaluation questions. If this is unstructured this will allow for flexibility in how the
interview is approached. For semi-structured interviews other tools might be appropriate,
such as prompt cards. These can be used to question interviewees about specific issues
and seek rated responses, which can be followed by more open discussion about the
interviewee's reasoning for their response.


 An interview schedule helps you to manage your time during data collection, factoring in
time allowance for transcription and analysis.


 Piloting the interview beforehand enables you to test it for running time and the value of
questions.


 It may be difficult to find appropriate help with undertaking interviews, if needed. Unless
the interview is highly structured, the interviewer will need to be knowledgeable about
learning and teaching, and possibly the more specific context in which the change is
being evaluated.


 Interviewees may be more open in a one-to-one interview situation than they would be in
a group discussion or by putting their views down on paper. Ethical evaluation involves
respecting any confidentiality requested by an interviewee in later stages of the
evaluation, including in the written report.


 Starting the interview with fairly easy, open questions seeking descriptive information
about the interviewee’s experience of the change in L&T will help them to relax and
focus on the purpose of the interview. These can be be followed by more difficult and
probing questions about their emotions and opinions. Background questions, for example
about the interviewees’ demographic characteristics, could be left until the end.


 When conducting the interview body language and the physical environment can be as
important as verbal cues for encouraging interviewees to relax and be open and honest. It
is also important to be in an environment with few distractions. You may want to use
recording equipment, as long as this is not intrusive or is not likely to breach a
relationship of trust with the interviewee.


 Telephone and online interviews can work out cheaper than face-to face interviews if
travel costs would be incurred for face-to-face interviews. Telephone interviews will
require specialist equipment and set up for recording.


 Skype is an example of software that enables telephone calls to be made free over the
internet. However, both parties must have this installed on their network computer. This
can be downloaded free from www.skype.com. The software establishes a connection for
voice data transfer across the internet, and users will need headphones and a microphone
or headset. A web cam could be used to create a face-to-face experience.


 Because of the interactivity between the interviewer and interviewee your

communication and action plays a large part in influencing responses and the findings
from the evaluation. Taking a reflexive and reflective approach involves thinking about
how you may have unintentially as well as intentionally, influenced the process, and
other factors that may have had an influence (such as interviewee's emotions, external
environment, distractions).


 Qualitative approaches to analysing data are needed to identify key themes in

interviewees’ perspectives.