Session 3. Part A: Conducting Personal Interviews
Session 3: Part A
Conducting Personal Interviews
In this session we will learn about the key principles in conducting personal interviews. Below you will find key information about preparing and conducting interviews. This information should be used in combination with what we have learned during our on-line session.
Preparing the interview guide
| Developing an effective interview guide begins with clearly defining the objective of the interview. This includes understanding what information needs to be gathered and why-which can have a clear link with evaluation objectives. It’s important to consider the background and perspective of the interviewees to ensure that the language and focus of the questions are appropriate and accessible. Structuring the guide thoughtfully helps maintain a logical flow; this often means starting with broader questions and gradually moving toward more specific topics. Questions should be open-ended avoiding leading or biased phrasing. It's also useful to identify and prioritize key topics, distinguishing between essential and optional areas based on the interview’s purpose and time constraints. |
| During this stage it is important to prepare a participant information sheet (to be shared with participants prior to the interview) and also a consent form that needs signing. |
Pre-interview checklist
| Complete a practice round of the interview guide and make sure that all questions included in the interview guide are relevant |
| Confirm with the participant the date and the time of interview and the location |
| Take into consideration accessibility issues |
| Check weather conditions in advance and assess whether the interview can go ahead or re-arrange with the participant. |
| Before starting the interview check that the participant has read the aims of this work (go through the Participant Information Sheet) |
| Make sure the participant has signed consents form prior to the interview and has read the Participant Information Sheet |
During the interview
Before beginning the interview, it is essential to secure the participant's informed consent and ensure they understand that their participation is voluntary, including the option to withdraw at any point without consequence. During the interview, the interviewer should refrain from expressing personal views, as doing so can influence the participant's responses and compromise the integrity of the data collected. Some terms or concepts used in the interview may be complex or unfamiliar to respondents, so it is important to explain these clearly and appropriately when necessary. Additionally, several questions may require a gradual approach—starting with broad, open-ended inquiries and then narrowing down with more specific sub-questions to guide the discussion and elicit deeper insights.
Data Analysis
Depending on the number and duration of interviews the data collected can be analysed using qualitative social data software (for example NVivo). A simple thematic analysis would consist of the following steps:
- Read through carefully the transcripts from the interviews;
- Start developing codes and then themes emerging during the analysis; Although themes in qualitative analysis are not usually Pre-defined we recommend that the 4 interconnections that WASC aims to explore are used as a guide). Figure 6 shows an example of how the different questions from the example interview guide can be used to explore these interconnections.
- After the first cycle of analysis review the themes and re-define them if needed;
- Add quotations under each theme and
- Bring the data together under each theme and develop a text (narrative) describing the key findings.
The duration of the data analysis would depend on the number of interviews. On average it would be expected at least 3-4 hours per interview to be dedicated for the analysis. Results of the personal interviews could be used to finalise the SOCIAT structured questionnaire and will also support the interpretation of quantitative data.
Example Interview Guide
Please get in touch (fidelio@warwick.ac.uk) if you would like an example of an interview guide.
Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form
Please get in touch if you would like an example of a participant information sheet and consent form.