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    Hi I'm Pamela Sinha crop.

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    I'm going to talk to you today about conducting qualitative interviews.

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    So first off

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    the purpose of interviewing is to allow us

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    to enter into the other person's perspective.

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    So we want to learn things that we cannot directly observe.

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    We want to understand how people have organized the world and

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    the meanings they attach to what goes on in the world.

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    And we have to ask people

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    questions about those things.

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    So the other important thing to

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    consider when we're thinking about conducting interviews

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    is the importance of the interviewer or the researcher in qualitative research.

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    You are considered the instrument not a survey, not a slide rule, not a scale.

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    The researcher is the instrument.

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    The quality of the information obtained during an

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    interview is largely dependent upon the interviewer.

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    So just realize how important you are as an interviewer.

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    The quality of the e the quality of the information we get will really directly

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    depend on you and the rapport that you're able to establish with your interviewee.

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    It is through the researchers facilitated interaction

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    that a conversational space is created.

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    That is an arena where respondents feel safe to

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    share their stories on their experiences and life worlds.

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    So this just really emphasizes that point.

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    So just understand that it's really important that you

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    be prepared for your interview um that you've taken

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    the time to think about your feelings and thoughts

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    about the interview topic and maybe the person you're interviewing

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    and generally as a qualitative researcher before I start conducting interviews.

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    I want to make sure that I know the interview guide really well

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    that I have journal about my feelings about the research enterprise

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    and um

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    that I am in a just a very

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    calm space

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    and I'm prepared before I conduct an interview.

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    So I don't want to have like appointments going right up to my interview time.

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    I want to make sure that I have time

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    to kind of calm down and really be focused in on the interview itself.

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    Um along the same lines as the

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    having that conversational space where people feel comfortable to share with you.

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    And really the quality of that conversational space that you create really

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    does dictate whether or not you're going to get really good quality responses

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    because of this.

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    It's a good thing to recognize that it's often helpful to have interviewers

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    in a research study who share certain traits in common with their interviewees.

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    It just helps to establish rapport.

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    And on the other side of that if you don't

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    have a lot in common with your interviewees then you

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    need to really take extra care to establish rapport with

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    that person before you really get started with the interview.

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    So there are multiple kinds of interviews.

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    Um the informational conversational,

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    that's where there's really not an interview guy.

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    You just say tell me about this and you just have a conversation and it meanders.

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    It goes in multiple directions and really the way that things

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    move depends upon what the interview he wants to talk about.

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    You don't guide them at all. You just kind of

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    go through it and then you might ask though that's very interesting

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    and then you just never know where the conversation might go.

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    Um Then there's an interview guide approach where you have really just like an

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    outline not actually written out questions but

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    general areas that you want to cover.

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    And then you have the standardized open ended interview

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    and this is really the kind of interview that we tend to conduct.

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    We do have specific topics that we want to get covered.

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    We might write some probes so we can get additional detail on our on

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    some of the questions that we've asked and some of the domains of interest.

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    Um

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    We do give the respondents flexibility to answer and we give them

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    time to answer but we do make sure we cover certain things.

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    Um The pros of this are that if you're you can make sure

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    that you get certain questions answered that you need for your research.

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    If there's multiple interviewers doing a research study then you all have kind of

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    a general guide that you're all following.

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    You're all asking the questions in a similar way.

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    So you it might be easier to compare responses across interviews.

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    Then there's the closed fixed response interview.

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    The closed fixed response is more like what you're asking yes no questions,

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    maybe some basic demographic questions

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    um Pretty pretty standard but you really don't get

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    you're really guiding your interviewee and you're not really

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    giving them much flexibility to give you information.

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    Um Then there's the combination approach and um

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    we often do use a combination approach.

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    Um The primary approach being the standardized interview but

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    we might have a few closed fixed response questions

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    and then there may be times where we go off the interview because

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    something that comes up in the interview

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    is very interesting and probably worthwhile.

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    And the interviewer

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    um goes more towards an informal conversational approach

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    and each of these approaches has pros and cons.

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    So I'd like you to think about what the pros

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    and cons might be of each of these approaches.

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    So types of questions.

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    So when you're writing questions you want to think about what kind of

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    questions am I going to ask in a certain domain of interest?

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    And you can ask about opinions and values you

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    ask about feelings how it makes them feel sad,

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    angry, worried, scared knowledge, what they know about a certain program.

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    Um Say if you're doing a program evaluation,

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    sensory how something feels smells those kinds of questions

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    and then background and demographics and then timeframe.

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    So you might be asking about something,

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    any of these types of questions that you might be asking about them in the present,

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    past or future.

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    So these are good good types to keep in mind as you're writing questions

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    and as you're doing your analysis because you can code in these areas,

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    ordering of questions what I'm gonna say. I'm not going to go through all of this.

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    But you want to um ease somebody into an interview.

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    Start with easy questions that they can answer first.

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    Maybe even start with an icebreaker. Um If

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    if you need to you can take a little

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    time just to talk and establish rapport with someone

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    don't jump into something intense right away.

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    Um A good place to start is with questions about

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    something they know and maybe start in the present tense.

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    So how to develop that standardized open ended interview guide.

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    So the first thing you want to do is identify what you want,

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    what to learn about the topic selection and

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    then I identified domains of interest within that topic

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    and then within each domain you want to write some open ended questions.

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    Um Try to write questions that don't lead your participant

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    um that don't establish

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    values for them.

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    Let them establish their own,

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    give them a chance to tell their story or opinion in their own words.

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    And then if somebody if you need more detail or

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    if you want to make sure that certain areas are covered

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    within those domains you want to write what's called probes

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    and these are additional questions you can ask if they're needed

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    and that just gives them a chance to give more detail.

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    Um Please remember just start with the easier questions and be patient,

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    let participants tell their story.

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    So these are just examples of some open ended started

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    questions as well as some closed ended questions so you

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    really want to focus on those open ended questions and

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    so um how to what extent why tell me about?

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    Help me understand these are ways that you can structure your questions

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    so you can give your respondents a chance to um really

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    fill these questions in with lots of detail

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    and description.

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    So telephone interviews,

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    especially during Covid we've been conducting more and

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    more telephone interviews that aren't face to face,

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    so these are generally going to be more structured interviews

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    um Sometimes that they can be a benefit if we're talking about sensitive topics,

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    sometimes it's easier for people to talk about things that are

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    sensitive when they're not right there um in the room with you

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    um it is definitely easier to access participants because they don't

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    have to drive in and park and do all those things.

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    Um so it's often just easier to get the interviews done.

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    Um The downside is that there's less nonverbal cues and

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    observations that you can write about in your field notes.

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    Um it is definitely cost effective,

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    it's less expensive and sometimes it's the only practical approach

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    like during Covid um and then I haven't really,

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    I haven't really presented on this but of course

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    we're also doing zoom interviews which in my opinion

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    is um if people are have the digital literacy and

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    they have um access digital access then zoom is a

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    great option because you can still see the person.

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    Um some general interviewing tips,

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    be friendly and personable um provide

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    orienting statements to guide participants,

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    um

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    listen actively. So listening actively means that you need to um

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    first of all really pay attention to what they're saying,

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    but when you listen actively you might at times repeat back to them

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    um what they said just to make sure that your understanding,

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    so you would say like oh so what you've said is this

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    and then they'll either agree with you or they'll um clarify

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    remember to express empathy um

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    when when needed.

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    If someone is telling you about something that happened to them

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    then expressed sympathy towards them um validate and clarify exchanges,

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    so that's part of that active listening

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    um communicate regard for your for the interviewee and their

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    contribution so let them know you appreciate them taking the time

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    to come in and meet with you and and let

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    them know how valuable that they're um interview really is.

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    Um Again you can chat engage in small talk to establish

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    rapport before starting the interview and they're probably one of the

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    biggest tips is just too

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    slow down, show patience and calm throughout.

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    Um Oftentimes you need to just talk slower than you think it's

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    normal and actually when you're doing that um you'll probably sound normal.

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    Um redirecting.

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    So this is something that comes up in an interview um there there will be some

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    interviewees who may take you down rabbit holes.

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    Um

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    So the first thing is to make sure they feel

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    heard and respected no matter how much they are talking.

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    So if you want to get them back to the interview questions after,

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    if they've been talking going off topic a lot

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    um example you can say oh that's really interesting,

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    I hope we get to follow up on that sometime but

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    oh for now let's just get back to the interview or try

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    another one is to try interjecting a yes no question or one

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    that permits a one word answer just to break things up.

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    And then you can use that little break to redirect back to the interview.

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    Um I'd love to hear from others what strategies have worked for them in the past.

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    Um And then the other thing is there's

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    the opposite problem when someone isn't talking enough,

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    there will be some people who will just really just the facts man.

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    And um that can be just as challenging as someone who talks too much.

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    So you need to have those probes written into your interview

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    written into your interviews so you can get people to speak

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    more and then use some of that reflective listening to get

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    them to clarify and add more detail to their answers.

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    Um Also if an interesting line of conversation comes up

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    then it's okay to probe further.

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    Um And that's just something that comes with

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    a little bit of experience and also it comes

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    with having a really in depth understanding of

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    both your interview guide and your research topic.

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    So this is just a review of how to start the interview.

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    You want to introduce yourselves, put your interview at ease.

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    Then you wanna prove orient the interviewee

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    to the study purpose asked permission to record

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    and then begin start with that ice breaker question and then you can take notes.

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    So this is another topic I prefer to take really small notes while I'm interviewing.

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    It helps me stay focused.

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    Other people are distracted by taking notes and other people take

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    really detailed notes so it really depends on what you're comfortable with

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    And with you understanding that the most important

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    thing is establishing report with your interviewee.

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    So you need to do what works best for you.

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    I always schedule 15 minutes after every interview I do to take notes

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    and I work that into my schedule.

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    So how to take notes. So notes can be included

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    as data and the analysis process.

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    So they're generally a combination of answers

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    to interview questions and observations about them.

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    And then also you can start your analysis and your notes.

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    You can write down things that you're noticing and questions you might have.

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    Um Those are really helpful because you're the closest to the data

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    as an interviewer.

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    Okay? And then now I have some homework for you.

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    So I have some videos on how to conduct interviews at the end of this presentation.

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    I'd like you to watch them they're pretty

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    brief but they give you they really illustrate

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    the points well and I think it's really

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    helpful um to watch other people conduct interviews.

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    One of the interviews pretty funny. It gives you dudes and don't.

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    Um I want you to print out the interview that you're gonna be

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    conducting and I want you to practice asking the questions with someone else.

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    I want you to record yourself and play it back.

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    I want you to hear yourself giving an interview.

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    It's really informative and helpful.

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    Um If you do that you can see where you need to

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    slow down or where you might trip up in the interview,

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    the more practice you have the better.

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    Um I want you to come up with

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    some questions about the methodology of qualitative research

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    or the practical aspects of conducting an interview

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    that we can discuss when we meet.

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    And I want you to come ready to to share your experiences with qualitative research

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    and I want to know um what you want to get out of your training.

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    If there's any areas that we'd like to cover

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    that aren't covered in the presentation, I'm happy