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        University of Michigan

      National Center for Postsecondary Improvement

        Project 5.3 on Student Learning and Assessment

                    A Checklist for Interview Researcher

Preparation

•             Conduct a literature review on the topic of interest. Sources to be used include journal articles, books/monographs, conference papers, and others.

•             Conceptualize the literature around the topic. Look for themes emerging from the literature that may be applied to your research

•             Based on your topic and the review of literature, make an interview plan (substantive frame) concerning who to talk with and about what.

Logistic Considerations

•             Develop a budget for your research

•             Prepare materials necessary for interview: tape recorders, microphones, tapes, and notepads, among others.

•             Prepare a schedule of your research

•             Check with Institutional Review Board (IRB) concerning research regulations, secure IRB approval if required

•             Develop a consent form - link to a detailed description of what a consent form should include

Developing an Interview Protocol

•             Be clear about the goals to be achieved in the interview

•             Determine the time each interview can take

•             Develop your interview questions

•             Develop an interview protocol 

•                    Here is a detailed description of what an interview protocol should contain checklist  and a sample 

   

• (Here is a an interview protocol checklist  and an example of it)            

•             Do some preliminary interviews to try out your protocol

Respondents

•             Identify respondents

           Key informants: people who are experts in an area, or

                                       People who are key witnesses to an event

            Sample of representatives: selection of people from a population

            Convenience sampling: selection respondents because they are what we can get

•             Recruit respondents

                        Be prepared to explain to potential respondents about the study

Consider various recruiting strategies: phone calls, email, formal letter, or a combination of these

Some kinds of sponsorship may be needed in some cases in order to approach a potential respondent.

•             Schedule interviews with your respondents who agree to participate

Interviewing

•             Getting started

                        Introduce yourself and your project to the respondent   

                        Ask the respondent for permission of taping

                        Ask the respondent to sign the consent form, explain to her/him if necessary

•             Tips for Interviewer

                        Learning interview by doing (Here some tips in interviewing)

Data Analysis

•             Issue-Focused Analysis: what could be learned about specific issues from the respondents

Coding: link what a respondent says to the concepts and categories of the study.

Sorting: organizing excerpts of interview according to concepts and categories

Integration: Making sense of the sorted interview data

Case-Focused Analysis

                        The focus is to construct a clear story of a specific case

Report Writing

•             Keep your audience in mind: academic, professional, clients who commissioned your study, general reader, or a mixture of these?

•             Watch your tone: you can be an advocate, a critic, or a detached reporter.

•             Use excerpts as illustration and evidence of your arguments

•             Keep confidentiality of your informants

References for Interview Method

            Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design: Qualitative & quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

            Krathwohl, D. R. (1998). Methods of educational & social science research: An integrated approach (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.

            Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA:     

                    Sage Publications.

            Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd 

                    ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

            Weiss, R. S. (1994). Learning from strangers: The art and method of qualitative interview studies. New York: Free Press.

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