While conducting qualitative research it is necessary to use a manual or guide.  This allows researchers to focus their attention on the key questions central to the subject under investigation.  The manual should be tested before being used in the field to collect and analyse data.  The pre-testing phase also allows the researchers to decide on the optimal size of the sample for each stage of the research.

This technique is generally used with participants who have experience of a particular situation and who can make contributions to the research being undertaken. Usually, a trained interviewer uses a list of open-ended questions.  Interviews generally last between 15 and 40 minutes, sometimes longer depending on the participants’ interest in the subject. This technique allows the researcher to obtain detailed descriptions of individual experiences.

For certain studies, it is more appropriate to use an individual interview rather than a group interview.  Consider the following:

• The subject is too personal or sensitive to be discussed in a group;
• The opinion of a participant risks being influenced by other members of the group;
• It is important to know what people know about a subject and what they do not know. In a group situation, well informed participants can prevent those who are less well informed from expressing themselves. This prevents the researcher from exploring areas of ignorance or erroneous perceptions;
• Logistical problems make organising a group session impossible; the participants are geographically dispersed and time and travel costs prohibitive;
• Participant confidentiality is imperative;
• The participants belong to different or competing organisations and may be hesitant about  expressing their ideas in a group setting;
• It is important to question participants in a specific setting.

Unstructured interviewing is the most widely used method of data collection in cultural anthropology.  In this approach to interviewing the researcher has an idea in mind of the topics to be covered, and may use a topic list as a reminder, but there is minimal control over the order in which the topics are covered, and over the respondents’ answers.  In unstructured interviewing, neither the specific questions to be asked nor the range or type of possible answers are pre-defined.

Unstructured interviewing is informal and conversational, and the aim is to get the informants to “open up,” and to let them express themselves in their own terms.  The key to successful unstructured interviews is learning how to probe effectively – that is, to stimulate an informant to produce more information without injecting the researcher’s words, ideas or concepts into the conversation.

1.2.1  Strengths of unstructured interviews
The main strength of an informal conversation approach to interviewing is that it allows the interviewer to be responsive to individual differences and situational characteristics. Unstructured interviews are especially useful in situations where the researcher has a lot of time to interview informants on many separate occasions.  This style of interviewing builds well on observations, and can help to discover relevant questions and their appropriate wording for semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.

1.2.2  Weaknesses of unstructured interviews
Because there is no set format for conducting conversational interviews, each interview tends to be unique. This makes it difficult to systemise and analyse the data.  It may take several conversations before obtaining a similar set of information from each informant.

The aim of semi-structured interviews is to obtain points of view, reflections and observations of people who have:

• specialised knowledge;
• a particular status or position;
• information that the researcher can not obtain elsewhere.

This type of interview uses an interview guide. It is a written list of questions or themes which must be covered during the interview.  The order and formulation of the questions, however, can vary from one participant to another. If the interviewer wants to further investigate certain themes and subjects, the guide contains clear instructions on the main questions and themes to probe.

Semi-structured interviews use the following types of guides:

1.3.1  Depth/focussed interviews
Depth interviews, in contrast with more exploratory interviews, intensively investigate a particular topic. The purpose of a depth or focussed interview is to gain as complete and detailed an understanding of the topic as possible.  Depth interviews involve semi-structured interview guides, and assume enough prior exploration of the topic to know what the relevant questions are that relate to the topic to be investigated.

1.3.2 Case studies
The purpose of case studies is to collect comprehensive, systematic and in-depth information about particular cases of interest.  A case can be a person, an event, an illness episode, a programme, an organisation, a time period or a community. The case study attempts to describe the unit in depth and detail, in context, and holistically.  Case studies are particularly useful when the researcher needs to understand particular people, problems or situations in great depth, and when information-rich cases can be found which provide great insight into the phenomenon in question.

1.3.3  Life histories
Life histories (personal biographies) are usually collected over a series of many, lengthy interviews (usually both unstructured and semi-structured).  Life histories are often collected and presented in order to relate abstractions and ethnographic description to the lives of individuals. Life histories are prone to being unrepresentative, because the people who are willing to recount their life histories to researchers are often atypical of their communities. Nonetheless, life histories can be useful for examining general values, points of cultural interests, and perceptions of social relationships.  It is probably best to use life histories as explanatory and illustrative materials in connection with other kinds of data that have been collected in a more representative manner.

1.3.4  Strengths of semi-structured interviews
The use of an interview guide means that the interviewer has decided how best to use the time available for the interview.  This is particularly useful in projects dealing with people who are used to efficient use of their time and may not be willing to spend their time in open-ended, everyday conversation with the researcher.  Interview guides help to show that you are clear about what you want from the interview, and are still flexible enough to allow both the researcher and informant the freedom to follow new leads.  Also, because the same core list of questions are asked of each respondent, the data from these interviews are easier to systematise.

1.3.5  Weaknesses of semi-structured interviews
Developing an interview guide requires sufficient time to explore the topic of interest beforehand in order to know the relevant questions or topics to be covered.

1.3.6  Structured or systematic interviews
In structured interviews all the participants are asked the same questions.

To avoid making mistakes during an interview the interviewer should:

• Explain who commissioned the research and its aim;
• Explain why it is in interest of the participant to answer the questions;
• Make it clear that the information given will remain anonymous;
• Remain in control of the interview;
• Keep promises.

Do not be too nice during an interview; a good interview is more like a discussion than a question and answer session. It is through argumentation that an interviewer may obtain interesting information relating to hypotheses.

Be careful not to go too far.  An interview that finishes in an argument is worthless; after a lively debate, calm things down by asking less emotive questions.  The amount of emotion that can be safely introduced largely depends on the character of the respondent.

If you feel that the respondent is holding back information, you can, with the help of a few simple techniques, get them to open up.

A - Silence
Silence makes us very uncomfortable during a discussion. Generally the last person to speak feels responsible for the silence.

Example

B - Mirroring
Repeating what someone has just said is very irritating. Generally, one of the participants in the conversation may repeat exactly the same thing, but it is highly unlikely that a third participant will do so.

Example

C - Verbal markers
We all use verbal signs to indicate when we are about to stop talking, such as falling intonation or certain words that indicate the end of a sentence.  The listener generally expresses interest by nodding his or her head and/or saying “oh,” “uh huh,” etc.

Example

It goes without saying that the researcher should always be polite and respect the religion and customs of the respondents.

If you are asked a question that you do not want to answer then say so.  You should always take your respondents seriously because for them answering your questions is a serious business.