This lecture explores the practical aspects of conducting qualitative interviews, focusing on key elements such as recording, listening, questioning, and maintaining rapport. The session emphasizes the reflexive relationship between these components—how effective questioning builds rapport, and rapport enhances the depth of responses. It covers some of the basics of successful interviewing and introduces the idea of ‘reflexivity’.
Key Topics Covered:
1.Recording Interviews – The necessity of reliable recording methods (using backup devices) and adapting to different formats (face-to-face, Skype, etc.).
2.Active Listening – The critical role of focused listening to foster trust and elicit rich data, avoiding distractions or premature interruptions.
3.Questioning Techniques – Types of questions (open/closed, probing, follow-up) and their strategic use to guide the interview without leading the respondent.
4.Interviewer Moves – Beyond questions, employing silence, reflections, and backchannels to encourage elaboration while maintaining neutrality.
5.Flexibility & Rapport – The importance of "going with the flow," adapting to interviewee cues, and navigating sensitive topics with empathy.
6.Reflexivity – The influence of the researcher on the co-construction of interview data.
7.Common Challenges – Addressing issues like reticent interviewees, overly dominant respondents, or technical failures, with strategies to mitigate them.
The lecture underscores the need for piloting interviews, refining question sequences, and critically analyzing interactions (e.g., through conversation analysis) to understand co-constructed meanings.
