Qualitative InterviewingMary Jean Ronan Herzog

Western Carolina University Educational Leadership & Foundations

North Carolina Scholarship of Teaching and Learning DayUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro

May 30, 2008mherzog@wcu.edu

Purposes of Using Qualitative Interviews

• ‘To allow us to enter into the other person’s perspective… We interview to find out what is in and on someone else’s mind, to gather their stories” (Patton, 2002, p. 341).

Types of Qualitative Interviews

According to Patton(2002) there are

• Three approaches to collecting data through open-ended interviews

• The informal conversational interview– Most open, relies on the natural flow of

conversation

• The general interview guide approach– Open, but uses a guide to cover topics

• The standardized open-ended interview– The same set of questions used for each

participant– (Patton, p. 342, 2002)

You can always use a

combination of approaches

Good Open-ended Probes & Questions

• Open-ended

• Singular

• Neutral (avoid leading probes & questions)

Interviewers

• Plan ahead

• Make sure to use working equipment to tape interviews

• Develop rapport and trust– Many ordinary people do not understand why

people would want to interview them. They may feel skeptical or distrustful when approached…

Participants

• Must have the experience, interest and willingness to talk (Colaizzi, 1978)

Questions & Probes

• Truly open-ended

• Avoid dichotomous, yes-no questions

• Probes are often more effective than questions

Examples of questions and probes that may or may not be effective in eliciting

rich, storied narratives

• How do you define school censorship?

• What do you think of school censorship?

• Think of a time when you had a school censorship experience. Tell me about that time.

• Tell me about the animal rights movement.

• Why do you think people get involved in the animal rights movement?

• How did you get involved in the animal rights

movement?

Questions about Teaching

• How would you define good teaching?

• What are the qualities of good teachers?

• How would you define bad teaching?

• What are the qualities of bad teachers?

Good Interview Questions & Probes

about Teaching & Learning

• May lead to an analysis of teaching qualities

• May lead to an analysis of components of teaching as defined in various sources

• May lead to an analysis of learning environments and factors

Focus on Experience

• Think about a class that you felt went really well. Think about how the students were situated, where you were physically in the room, what you were doing, what the students were doing. Tell me about that class.

• Think about a class that you felt went really well. Think about how the students were situated, where you were physically in the room, what you were doing, what the students were doing. Tell me about that class. What made it go so well?

• Think about a class that you felt went very badly. Think about how the students were situated, where you were physically in the room, what you were doing, what the students were doing. Tell me about that class.

• Think about a class that you felt went very badly. Think about how the students were situated, where you were physically in the room, what you were doing, what the students were doing. Tell me about that class. What made it go so poorly?

• Avoid tags that derail the main questions.

Important Tips

• Listen.

• Don’t talk much.

• Just listen.

• Take notes.

• Probe.

• Ask questions to follow up responses.

Final Tip

• Pilot interviews

• Practice with a few pilot interviews

Your Topics & Questions

Conducting Interviews Related to the

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning