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Interviewing in qualitative research

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Student’s name

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Date
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Contents
Mind Mapping.................................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
The differences between structured interview and qualitative research interviews........................5
Unstructured and semi structured interviews..................................................................................6
Preparing an interview guide...........................................................................................................7
Tape recording and transcription.....................................................................................................8
Sampling..........................................................................................................................................9
Feminist research and interviewing in qualitative research...........................................................10
Qualitative interviewing vs participant observation......................................................................11
The Advantages of participant observation compared to qualitative interviewing.......................11
Seeing through others’ eyes.......................................................................................................11
Deviant and hidden activities.....................................................................................................11
Sensitivity to context.................................................................................................................12
Advantages of qualitative interviewing compared to participant observation..............................12
Issues resilient to observation....................................................................................................12
Ethical reflections......................................................................................................................12
Reaction effects.........................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................13
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Mind Mapping

Ste-Marie, C., Gupta, R., & Derevensky, J. L. (2006). Anxiety and social stress related to
adolescent gambling behavior and substance use. Journal of Child & Adolescent
Substance Abuse, 15(4), 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1300/j029v15n04_03
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Australian government . (1998). Conducting a focus group. WGEA. Retrieved December 12,
2021, from https://www.wgea.gov.au/resources/guide-to-consulting/focus-group.
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Interviewing in qualitative research

Introduction

Interviews are probably the most common tool employed while conducting qualitative

research. When it comes to ethnography normally a significant quantity of interviewing is

involved and this influence backs to the huge normality of usage of interviews when conducting

qualitative research. regardless it is depending on the flexibility of the interview being conducted

that makes it be perceived to be interesting and attractive. Given ethnography involve a more

lengthy period of period reflection, which is troublesome for researchers given the continued

absence of the need to labor and away from household life, highly built mainly on based solely

on interviews makes it a more striking option during the collection of qualitative information

(Mathers et al., 2002) Similarly, during the design of the interviews, the copying of consultations

and reviewing of the same are all time consuming intense, however, they are easily be housed

into the personal subsists of the researchers. The two major types of interviews that are applied

within qualitative research include semi-structured and formless interviews. In some instances,

researchers use the term qualitative discussion to combine the two kinds of interviews.

The differences between a structured interview and qualitative research interviews

Qualitative interrogating is habitually diverse compared to interviews that can be

conducted in quantitive research in various ways. The approach followed in qualitative research

leans towards being less structured as compared to a qualitative study. In the quantitative study,

the interviews are more organized to ensure the approach is more structured to ensure there is

enhanced validity and reliability on the key concepts regarding measurements. Additionally, it is
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structured so that the investigator gets a clearer establishment of the research questions that will

be examined. The structured consultation is designed to ensure stress on higher simplification

during the preparation of the earlier research concepts and interview’s particular perceptions

(Mathers et al., 2002). with qualitative interviewing, there is higher interest to get the

interviewee’s perspective on the other hand, with quantitative research, the interview relies upon

the research’s concerns.

Additionally, in qualitative interviewing research, the researcher focuses on detailed and

rich answers while with quantitative research the interview is aimed at generating feedback that

can be answered quickly and have the capability to be coded. Also, within qualitative cross-

examining, the applicant can be interviewed extra meaning more than once and occasionally

involve numerous events or evens. With quantitative study unless the study is longitudinal in

appeal, an individual that undertakes the interview does it only once.

Unstructured and semi-structured interviews

Although qualitative interviewing varies greatly depending on the approach used by the

person making the interview. The two main types of interviews were mentioned within the

introduction of this research paper. Within the unstructured interview, the researcher utilizes

mostly the “aide memoir” for a quick customary of prods to themselves when dealing with

various categories of themes. This could entail just solo questions asked by the interviewers and

then the contender is permitted to answer spontaneously, while the assessor responds to the

prompts that appear worthy of being surveyed. With amorphous interviewing the interviews tend

to be the same as having a conversation.

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With semi-structured discussion the researcher normally comes with a formulated list of

queries related to the topic that is to be assessed which is known as interview director, however,

the aspirant has boundless freedom of flexibility on how to respond to these queries.

Additionally, the question does not have to follow the exact outline of the questions to be asked.

However, all the questions have to be followed and asked using comparable wording which will

be used by the interviewer to the interviewee. In both cases, the process of interviewing remains

flexible. Similarly, the focus has to remain in what way the interviewee understands and

expresses the issues and proceedings (Mathers et al., 2002). This means what the interviewee

sees to be vital in understanding and explaining forms, behavior forms. Thus, the double diverse

forms of talking within the qualitative study are excesses and also entail lots of inconsistency

within them. For instance, regardless of both of them being descriptive of semi-structured

questioning, utmost qualitative discussions are closer to one form of the other. with none of the

cases does the interviewer trail a given plan, as completed in quantitative interviewing research,

though with semi-structured interviews the examiner has to track given writing to a specified

extent (Mathers et al., 2002).

Preparing an interview guide.

The concept of preparing an interview director is less precise compared to the idea of a

structured interview plan. The tenure can be used to refer to the transitory concepts on memory

reminders of sectors to be tackled that are those that are occasionally used with unstructured

interviewing and a rather more structured list of queries to be asked during semi-structured

interviews. What is vital is that the questioning gives liberty to interviewers that collect how

those taking part in the interview consider their social world which shows the flexibility during

the conducting of the interview (Walters, 2010).

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During the preparation of qualitative interviews, ask oneself the same questions. This

can be done to all the questions that are to be asked and could also be a means of generating

more research questions. Thus the formulation of the given questions does not have to be specific

to the optional paths of inquiry that could arise throughout the conducting of fieldwork

information that is locked off. In such a scenario the examination aims and focus would be

unpredictable within the procedure of qualitative research, where the focus of the people being

interviewed and approaches used in data analysis such as grounded theory the focus on not

wanting to begin with numerous preconceptions (Walters, 2010). Slowly, an arrangement and

assembly will start to arise around the research questions which form the basis for the interview

guide.

The kind of questions followed in qualitative interviewing is very variable. There are

nine diverse forms of questions. Numerous interviews will entail nearly all of them, however,

interviews which depend on a specified list of themes are most likely to be guided by a little

different format. Some of the main questions that are asked include introducing queries, follow-

up queries, probing queries, specified queries, straight and indirect questions, organizing

questions, silence, and understanding questions.

Tape recording and transcription

The concept of this scenario has been made clear and repeated occasionally that with

qualitative research, the interview is on most occasions transcribed and tape recording is done

whenever possible. Qualitative researchers are in most cases not only interested in the answers

they receive from people but also the method in which they communicate it. This feature is

entirely integrated into the analysis, where it is a necessity for a whole interpretation of the series

of interactions when an interview has been done. Additionally, since the interviewer is expected
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to grasp all the vital points during the interview paying attention to answers being given, thus

those conducting the research do not have to worry about any kind of distraction.

As with anything else while conducting social research, it comes with a cost, by use of

the tape recording, the recorder could distort or disconcert respondents that become self-

conscious of their sayings being saved. Numerous people agree to the request of those

conducting the research to be recorded however some people will normally decline. In such a

scenario, the interview still has to be conducted as the most vital information will still be passed.

Additionally, among those that would agree to speak into a microphone, they will not get

alarmed by their voices and speeches being recorded.

On the other hand, one main delinquent with copying interviews is that they are very

time intensive. Therefore, it is superlatively recommended to permit around six hours for text for

every given hour of dialogue. Additionally, transcriptions take vast volumes of paper, that will

want to be waded through while analyzing the data.

Sampling

Numerous if not most, issues brought up in linking while sampling in ethnographic

investigation conducting use more or less same selection within qualitative interviewing. Mostly

the lack of honesty which is in some occurrences a feature used in qualitative research is

principally apparent concerning selection. Most of the time it is hard to distinguish between the

researcher's account of their techniques either how their interviewees were picked or the number

of them that were present. In most occurrences, qualitative researchers are clear that their models

are unprincipled and in other instances the readers perceive this to be the circumstance. Other

times convenience samples could result in restrictions being positioned on the scholar. For
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instance, associates of a society may pick on interviewees instead of giving the researcher permit

sovereignty to do so. Similarly, on other given occasions snowball selection is employed to

interact in groups of people where there is no sampling frame. On other occasions, the

probability sampling technique is used. The same kind of sampling technique takes place when a

sample of interviewees is done using a much bigger sample made for social determinations.

These approaches allow the researcher to sample with the purpose to make sure a huge range of

the characteristics of the interviewees.

Feminist research and interviewing in qualitative research.

With unstructured and also semi-unstructured interviewing has become very common

approaches to information collecting from a perspective of feminist study background. A part of

the reference concerning the preference of feminist researchers, and also imitates a perception of

the nature of interview with which qualitative exploration is linked permits numerous goals of

feminist examination to be noticed. Similarly, it is specific questioning of the same scenario

seen in a qualitative study that is noticed to have latent for a feminist approach, not the structured

discussion within which social survey is interlinked with (Doucet & Mauthner, 2008).

A stimulating problem that is sometimes not easily determined is the question of how

feminist researchers must react given their interpretation and understanding of women’s accounts

could either fail to be divided among some of them or represent a form of threat or challenge

concerning their perception, coping strategies and choices. This is one of the situations that is

supposed to be examined since despite it being significant to activist scholars, its allegations are

wider. The awkward question that is raised is how distant the focus on seeing through the eyes of

folks can be stretched. Thus though qualitative questioning has become an extremely known and

used research technique for researchers that are feminists that are researchers, due to its
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flexibility within a procedure that can support the values of feminism, very fascinating questions

come up concerning the terms of the relationship between participants’ and researchers’

accounts. Given the questions that come up, they entail significance usually in conducting a

qualitative study.

Qualitative interviewing vs participant observation

The main target within this segment aims at comparing the facts and confines of

questioning procedures within qualitative exploration with individuals of participant observation.

They entail the two utmost common approaches of data gathering with qualitative study, thus

there is some advantage in examining their strong point. within this segment interviewing is

being equated to participant observation as an alternative to ethnography, since the latter

invariably consist of a significant amount of interviewing (Cacciattolo, 2015).

The Advantages of participant observation compared to qualitative interviewing

Seeing through others’ eyes

one of the core tenets of qualitative study, although an aspect of it, the participant

observes are more focused on acquisition a perspective concerning communal reality in this

manner. Given the researchers' involvement, that is prolonged within a social scenery would lead

the observer to see better as others perceive. The contributor observer is nearer interaction with

various individuals for an extended period, and the researchers engage in numerous kinds of

activities such as the associates of the given social scenario undergoing assessment (Jamshed,

2014)

Deviant and hidden activities

As much of what is known concerning unlawful and divergent subcultures have been

garnered through participant observation. The zones that those from the inside are expected not
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to participate in a given interview context. These are aspects that insiders are likely to be

unwilling to indulge in an interview setting. For the same motives, participant-observers noticed

they are likely to increase admission in parts like outlines of struggle at workplaces of people

that provide a divergent dogma.

Sensitivity to context.
partaker observer’s long interaction within a social scenery allows the setting of

individual’s behavior to be laid entirely. The participants' observation relates to persons in a

variety of diverse circumstances possible, to make it possible to link context and behavior to be

forged.

Advantages of qualitative interviewing compared to participant observation

Issues resilient to observation

It is most probable around an extensive variety of problems that are not acquiescent to

observation, given that requesting individuals nearby gives feasible earnings of discovery of

them using qualitative research approach. Assessors can't indicate the lives of vegans to discover

problems such as motives for their conversion to these eating policies and habits (Whorton

Email, 2016). Thus, it is not sensible for the participants' observations to make observations

related to something episodic.

Ethical reflections
Various sectors can be experiential indirectly through concealed hardware such as the

use of a microphone that could lead to ethical considerations. One of the most interesting areas

includes discussions between clients and prostitutes over the usage of condoms in the spread of

aids infections. Such inconvincible scenarios could have been observed by using secreted

hardware and it is possible the prostitutes could have settled to being wired up for the same

interview.
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Reaction effects
The question of reactive reactions is in no way a forthright matter. Given structured

observation, it could be expected that the attendance of a participant-observer could cause

volatile outcomes. individual’s consciousness on the knowledge that they are being observed

makes them change behavior compared to their usual routine. Numerous people have different

problems but it could be argued that the abnormal behavior of the participants taking a role

within the process of the interview can be considered to be a reactive emergence to the very

situation that is being studied. The given scenario is in no way easy to resolve and hence can be

perceived as mutual participant reflection and qualitative questioning sets the same outcomes but

of diverse varieties.
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References

Cacciattolo, K. (2015). (PDF) a comparison of depth interviews and observations as ...

Retrieved December 12, 2021, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281114348_A_Comparison_of_Depth_Intervie

ws_and_Observations_as_Methods_of_Data_Collection.

Doucet, A., & Mauthner, N. (2008). Chapter  19: Qualitative interviewing and feminist research.

Sage Research Methods. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from

https://methods.sagepub.com/book/the-sage-handbook-of-social-research-methods/

n19.xml.

Jamshed, S. (2014). Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of Basic

and Clinical Pharmacy, 5(4), 87. https://doi.org/10.4103/0976-0105.141942

Mathers, N., Fox, N., & Hunn, A. (2002). Using interviews in a research project - simmons

university. Retrieved December 12, 2021, from

http://web.simmons.edu/~tang2/courses/CUAcourses/lsc745/sp06/Interviews.pdf.

Walters, R. (2010). The Complete Interview Guide - . Retrieved December 12, 2021, from

https://www.robertwalters.pt/content/dam/robert-walters/global/files/complete-interview-

guide/Interview-guide-web.pdf.

Whorton Email, K. (2016). Qualitative interview pros and cons. ASAE. Retrieved December 12,

2021, from https://www.asaecenter.org/resources/articles/an_plus/2016/january/

qualitative-interview-pros-and-cons.
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