research interviews

  • structuring interviews by broad to narrow topic - funnelling into sensitive or complex topics
  • make a full interview schedule and test it, refine approach
  • whatever you transcribe from real life is a construction of those hearing the story, telling the story, experiencing the story, context-specific data that could change each time
  • create your own structure around your own methods
  • not the same person each day or to each person
  • include an extensive debrief so you can be clear on your interest and they can ask questions.
  • you have resources/position/perspective they don’t, which gives you power to be mindful of
  • ‘experts’, politicians or those in an industry might have understanding of the area and toe a ‘party line’
  • what do you owe to the person you’re interviewing
  • who might struggle with your format the most and how can you adjust to them
  • sit in the discomfort and let it take time
  • avoid cloud-based storage of research data like audio interviews
  • coding interviews - highlight bits relevant to research question and give an interpretative summary