Audio Transcript Auto-generated
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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