Running head: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Interview Protocol
Ashley A. Curtis
Loyola University Chicago
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

Interview Protocol

1) Tell me a little bit about yourself?

a. Probing question: What influenced your decision in becoming a STARS intern?

2) Please tell me about your experiences as a STARS intern?

a. What has been an experience that has had a significant impact on your perception
of the STARS program?

3) Please describe in what ways, if at all, you feel supported as a STARS intern?
a. Probing question: Can you tell me about a time in which you felt you either did,
or did not receive support?

4) Can you provide an example of a time in which you received mentorship from someone
in the STARS program?
a. Probing question: Who do you feel has been your strongest mentor in this
experience?
b. Probing question: What do you look for in your mentorship experience?

5) What challenges, if at all, have you faced as a STARS intern?

a. Probing question: If you experienced a challenging situation, what steps did you
take to overcome this challenge?
b. Were you supported in identifying solutions to overcome this challenge?

6) How, if at all, would you like to be further supported as a STARS intern?

7) How has this experience as a STARS intern defined the way in which you view
leadership?

a. How do you define leadership?

8) How and in what ways do you feel this experience as a STARS intern has developed your
leadership abilities/skills?

Interview Protocol Rationale

In determining the process of how to conduct this assessment, I first began by

considering whether to utilize an interview or focus group approach. According to Lichtman

(2012) as cited in Henning and Roberts (2016), interviews are frequently used as a means to

“understand participants’ feelings, intentions, meanings, sub contexts, or thoughts on a topic,

2
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

situation or idea” (Henning and Roberts, 2016, p.169). Acknowledging the intention of the

STARS assessment, to gain insight into the feelings and thoughts from the STARS mentors in

order to better understand their experiences within the program, and also being mindful that in

utilizing an interview approach, this has the ability to foster an environment that will allow the

participants to open up, be more vulnerable, and better engage in each of the questions,

influenced my decision to select an interview approach.

The next stage of this process, was determining which type of interview would be

selected. For this process, I have utilized a semi structured interview. In selecting a semi

structured interview, I have created a series of questions that will be consistent across all

interviews. One of the advantages of utilizing a semi structured interview is that “although the

core questions are the same across participants, the interviewer may vary the additional probes

depending on responses”. (Henning and Roberts, 2016, p.170). While I have provided a set of

probing questions in the interview protocol, I have also allowed for room, for the questions

from each interview, to take the interview where it needs to go, in order to collect the most

information necessary to benefit the overall assessment.

Upon determining the interview approach and structure, I turned towards the interview

implementation and consideration for question order during this interview. It is imperative that

during the interview process a welcoming and safe environment is created for each

interviewee. The hope is that in doing so, creating such an environment will elicit more

vulnerable responses that will contribute to the overall data collected. In order to create this

environment, and according to Henning and Roberts (2016) “In regard to the question order,

3
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL

easier and noninvasive questions should be put first. Starting with low-risk questions helps

build rapport between the interviewer and interviewee” (Henning and Roberts, 2016, p. 173).

In addition to considering the question order, are the types of questions themselves. According

to Henning and Roberts (2016), Fraenkel, Wallen, and Hyun (2014) have suggested six types of

questions/prompts: background, knowledge, experience/behavior, opinion/values, feelings and

sensory. In the interview protocol above, each of these prompts have been utilized. The first

question in the interview protocol, focuses on background, which is used not only to “clarify the

background characteristics of participants” but also contributes to creating a safe interview

environment (Henning and Roberts, 2016, p.171). In addition to a background question, I have

primarily utilized experience and opinion, values and feeling questions. These question prompts

get to the heart of the assessment, which is to determine how STARS mentors experience the

STARS program, and whether or not they feel supported as mentors.

Resources

Henning, G. & Roberts, D. (2016). Student affairs assessment: Theory to practice. Sterling, VA:

Stylus