Interviews in Education Research.docx

Interviews in Education Research.docx

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InterviewsinEducationResearch

InterviewsinEducationResearch

MaterialsoriginallypreparedbyProfessorAndrewHannan.

NowledbyLizMcKenzie.

©AHannan,FacultyofEducation,UniversityofPlymouth,2007

CONTENTS

A.INTRODUCTION

B.HOWTOUSEINTERVIEWSINEDUCATIONRESEARCH

1.WhyshouldIuseinterviewsratherthansomeotherdevicefordatacollection?

2.WhomshouldIinterview?

3.HowwillIgetaccess?

4.WhatquestionsshouldIask?

5.HowshouldIphrasemyquestions?

6.WhattechniquesshouldIusegetthebestqualityanswers?

7.HowdoIdecideonwhatformofinterviewtouse?

8.Whataboutgroupinterviewsor'focusgroup'discussions?

9.HowwillIrecordtheinterview?

10.HowdoIanalysethedata?

11.HowdoIwriteupthefindings?

12.WhatshouldIavoid?

C.EXAMPLES

D.TASKS

E.FURTHERREADING

A.Introduction

1.Interviewscanbeusedtocollectfacts,eginformationaboutpeople'splaceofwork,age,etc.,butsuchquestionsareusuallynomorethanopeningitemswhichprecedethemainsubstance.Thebulkofinterviewquestionsseektoelicitinformationaboutattitudesandopinions,perspectivesandmeanings,theverystuffofmuchofbothpsychologyandsociology.Interviewsarealsoincommonuseasameansofselection-forentrytoschoolorcollege,gettingajoborobtainingpromotion.Theyarewidelyusedbecausetheyareapowerfulmeansofbothobtaininginformationandgaininginsights.Weusethembecausetheygiveusanideaof'whatmakespeopletick',ofthepersonalityandthemotivationsoftheinterviewee.

2.Interviewsareavailableinarangeofstyles,someofwhicharepre-packedandmassmarketedsotheycanbemoreorlesspickedofftheshelf.Ifyouhaveeverbeenstoppedinthehighstreettobequizzedaboutyouruseoftoiletries,you'llknowwhataclosed-ended,structuredinterviewfeelslikeonthereceivingend.Socialscientistsmakesimilaruseoftightlycontrolledpre-setinterviewswhichhavebeenpilotedonsamplegroupstotesttheirefficiencyandaccuracybeforebeingtriedoutonlargerpopulations.

3.Thesestructuredinterviewsintheirsimplestformaresometimeslittlemorethanoralquestionnaires-usedinsteadofthewrittenforminordertoobtainahigherresponserateorwithrespondents,especiallychildren,whomightnotbeliterateorcapableofcorrectlycompletingacomplexquestionnaire.

4.Attheoppositeextremeininterviewdesignarecompletelyunstructuredconversationsbetweenresearcherandrespondent,wherethelatterhasasmuchinfluenceoverthecourseoftheinterviewastheformer.

5.Thereisahalf-wayhouse,wheretheresearcherdesignsasetofkeyquestionstoberaisedbeforetheinterviewtakesplace,butbuildsinconsiderableflexibilityabouthowandwhentheseissuesareraisedandallowsforaconsiderableamountofadditionaltopicstobebuiltininresponsetothedynamicsofconversationalexchange.Theseareknownassemi-structuredinterviews.Theyaretheformmostoftenusedineducationresearch.

B.Howtouseinterviewsineducationresearch

Onewaytoproceedwouldbetoaskyourselfthefollowingseriesofquestions:

1.WhyshouldIuseinterviewsratherthansomeotherdevicefordatacollection?

Tryandgenerateyourownlistsofwhatinterviewsaregoodat（strengths）andwhattheyarenotgoodat（weaknesses）.CompareyourliststothoseI'vecompiledbyclickinghere.Carefullyconsiderthenatureofyourresearchquestionandtheresourcesyouhaveavailable-woulditbebettertouseotherdatacollectiontechniques,egaquestionnaireorparticipantobservation?

Couldyouuseavarietyofmethodstotriangulate,ietoelicitinformationbymeansofanumberofdifferentdevicessoastobemoreconfidentofitsaccuracy?

Interviewsareaveryusefulmeansofinquiry,buttheydonotfitallcircumstances.Foracritiquefromapostmodernistperspective,seeScheurich（1995）andCaseStudy3fromtheRESINEDcomponentonEducationResearchinthePostmodern.

Bewareofthefactthatinterviewsthemselvesarecontrived,artificialsituationsandthatintervieweesoftenrespondtotheminamannerthatreflectsthis.Thus,theymaydescribewhattheydointermsthattheythinkyouwillrecognise,makingfullplayoftheoreticalconceptsintendedtoimpressyou,ordescribewhattheythinktheyshouldbedoingratherthanwhattheyactuallydo.Teachersinterviewedabouttheirpedagogicstylesoftenrespondwithdescriptionsdrawnfromthe'educationistcontext'thatareverydifferentfromthemannerinwhichtheymaybeobservedtooperateinthe'practitionercontext'oftheclassroom.

Tocontextualiseallthisinyourowncontext,makeacaseforchoosinginterviewsasadatacollectiontechniqueforyourownresearchproject,perhapsreferringtotheliteratureonresearchmethodology（seesectionE.FurtherReadingforsomesuggestions）.Considerpossiblecriticismsofyourchoice.

2.WhomshouldIinterview?

Asinallsurveys（usingeitherquestionnaireorinterviewasthemeansofdatacollection）,youshouldattempttoobtainasbigaresponseaspossible.However,asyoursurveyisusingaresearchinstrumentthatistime-intensive,youwillprobablybeconsideringalimitednumberofcases,chosenforparticularinterest.Yourcasesaremorelikely,forexample,tobeindividualteachersthanwholeschoolstaffs.You'llbelookingtopickoutthosewhocanprovidethebestinsights,whorepresentthefullrangeofexperienceandopinion,whocanbesaidtobetypicalifyouclaimrepresentativenessortobeillustrativeofcertaintypesifyouwanttoexploretheoreticalmodels.Youmaydecidetointerviewjustthoseyouconsidertobethemostimportantinformants,themostpowerfulor,perhaps,theleast.Youmayhavelittlechoicebuttousean'opportunitysample',iethepeoplewhohappenedtobeavailable.Whateverchoiceofsampleyoumakeyouneedtojustifyit,ietomakeacasetothereaderwhoexaminesyourresultsthathe/shehasgoodgroundsfortakingyourfindingsseriouslyintermsoftheirrepresentativeness.

PeterWoodsdiscussessamplinginqualitativeresearchineducationinhisRESINEDcomponentonQualitativeResearch:

Wherequalitativeresearchisseekingtogeneraliseaboutgeneralissues,representativeor'naturalistic'samplingisdesirable.Thiscoversplaces,timesandpersons.Thus,ifwewerestudyingteachers'orpupils'perspectives,orthecultureofagroup,wewouldneedtoconsiderthemindifferentsettings,sincebehaviourcandiffermarkedlyindifferentsituations-forexample,theformalcircumstancesofateacher'sclassroomoroffice,thestaffroom,differentclassrooms,theinformalambienceofapub,andthepersonalstrongholdoftheteacher'shome.Thesamepointappliestotime.Weeklyandyearlycycles,forexample,arecriticalinschools.Ifourresearchsampledatjustthebeginningsand/orendsofterms,weeksordays,wewouldendupwithadistortedstudyifweweretoclaimourresultsappliedmoregenerally.Again,ifweareseekingtorepresentagroupinourfindings（the'EnglishDepartment',the'Year10Girls'）,weshouldensurethatwehavesampledacrossthatgroupaccordingtosomeappropriatecriteria,suchasage,gender,ethnicity,experience.

Representativesamplingcannotalwaysbeachievedinqualitativeresearchbecauseofa）theinitiallylargelyexploratorynatureoftheresearch;b）problemsofnegotiatingaccess;c）thesheerweightofworkandproblemsofgatheringandprocessingdatausingonlyonesetofeyesandears.Often,onehastomakedowithanopportunitysampleinthoseareaswhereaccessisoffered;orasnowballsample,wherethesampleisdevelopedthroughpersonalcontactandrecommendationastheresearchproceeds.Inthesecases,thebasisofthesamplingmustbemadeclearandnoinappropriategeneralisingclaimsmadeforthefindings.

Foradiscussionofsurveyresearchfromalargelyquantitativeperspective,visit

Foradviceonusingpersonalinterviewsinsurveyresearchofthiskind,visit:

Forinformationaboutsamplinginlarge-scalesurveys,visit:

AlltheselinkstakeyoutoTheResearchMethodsKnowledgeBase,2ndEdition,Trochim,WilliamM.InternetWWWpage,atURL:

（versioncurrentasofSeptember24,2004）.

3.HowwillIgetaccess?

Generallyspeaking,peoplearequiteflatteredbyattentionandthissometimesovercomesanyinhibitionssothatmattersquitesecretareparadedbeforetheinterviewerwithseemingabandon.Atothertimes,particularlywhereanissuehasbeenthesubjectofrecentpressattention,theshuttersgoupandthereisnowayin.Allyoucandoinsuchcircumstancesistogiveupandtrysomethingelselikelytobemoreproductive-youhaven'tthetimetospendonlengthynegotiation.Crucialtothebusinessofinitiallygainingaccessisthewholematterofassurancesofconfidentiality,anonymity,etc,assetoutinyourethicsprotocol（seehttp:

//www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/beginning/begresed.htm#Ethics）.Itisadvisabletoproduceaneasilyreadableversionofyourethicsprotocolthatyoucansendinadvanceorprovideforyourinformantsbeforeyoubegintheinterview.Theyshouldfeelhappiertellingyoualltheyknowiftheyareconfidentthatyouwon'tusetheinformationinanywaythatwillharmthem,thatyouwillrespectconfidentiality,thatyouwillseektheirapprovalbeforeusinganythingthatmightrevealtheiridentity,thatyouwillprovidethemwithatranscriptoracopyofyournotes,thatyouwillshowthemhowyouintendtomakeuseofwhatthey've