49 What counts as data and how do you get it? (it’s….alive!) – Interviews

In this chapter, we talk about how folks collect data in communication studies (and beyond), especially through interviews. There are different types of interviews we can use, like structured, semi-structured, unstructured, and informal. Each type has its own style and best-use cases.

Structured interviews are like following a script—you ask everyone the same questions in the same order, which is great for consistency. Semi-structured interviews give you a bit more freedom; you have a set of questions, but you can follow interesting tangents. Unstructured interviews are super flexible, and more like a casual conversation where you explore topics as they come up. Informal interviews are the chillest of all, like spontaneous chats that can happen anywhere.

To nail these interviews, you need some solid skills: building rapport, communicating clearly, listening actively, and asking clear questions. These skills help you get the best info from your interviews.

What counts as data and how do you get it? (it’s….alive!)

Qualitative researchers use a variety of data collection methods to gather rich and nuanced information about communication phenomena. These methods often involve direct interaction with participants and a focus on capturing their perspectives and experiences. Researchers can use one or more for data collection. A combination of two or more can help form a more well-rounded approach. In general, interpretive and qualitative approaches generally involve animate and inanimate data – that is, talking to people (such as in interviews and focus groups), watching people (i.e., observation), or collecting documents (sometimes called archival research).

It is very important that researchers justify the method of data collection. If conducting your own research, the subject and RQs should help you choose the best data collection type.

This section discusses the various types of interviews (structured, informal, semi-structured) and their strengths and limitations in gathering in-depth information. Interviews allow researchers to gather extensive information from participants about their experiences, perspectives, and understandings of communication phenomena. Interviews can range from structured interviews with predetermined questions, to semi-structured interviews with a flexible format that allows for follow-up questions and emergent topics. For instance, a researcher exploring the role of social media in political campaigns might conduct semi-structured interviews with campaign managers to understand how they use social media platforms to engage with voters.

Types of Interviews

Interviewing for Data Collection: Interviewing involves asking questions and getting answers from participants in a study. Interviewing has a variety of forms including: individual, face-to-face interviews and face-to-face group interviewing. There are a number of ways to classify interviews by type. Consider reading about all the different types of interviews, since these distinctions are somewhat artificial and there are important similarities and differences across them. The asking and answering of questions can be mediated by the telephone or other electronic devices (e.g. computers).

1. Structured Interviews

Characteristics of the Structured Interview

• The interviewer asks each respondent the same series of questions.
• The questions are created prior to the interview, and often have a limited set of response categories.
• There is generally little room for variation in responses, and there are few open-ended questions included in the interview guide.
• Questioning is standardized and the ordering and phrasing of the questions are kept consistent from interview to interview.
• The interviewer plays a neutral role and acts casual and friendly, but does not insert their own opinion in the interview.
• Self-administered questionnaires are a type of structured interview.

When to Use Structured Interviews

Think of structured interviews as your go-to when you know a lot about a topic. If there’s tons of research already out there, or you’ve done some initial digging with other methods, you’re ready to create a detailed interview guide. This guide will have clear, relevant questions with specific answer choices, making it easy for respondents to pick the best fit.

So, structured interviews are perfect when:

• The topic is well-researched.
• You’ve done some initial observations or less structured interviews.
• You need clear, comparable data.

Benefits:

• Structured interviews are like following a recipe – anyone can do it if they stick to the steps! You don’t need to be best buddies with the person you’re interviewing, and you get consistent answers that are super easy to compare.

2. Semi-structured interviews

Characteristics of Semi-structured interviews:

• The interviewer and respondents engage in a formal interview.
• The interviewer develops and uses an ‘interview guide.’ This is a list of questions and topics that need to be covered during the conversation, usually in a particular order.
• The interviewer follows the guide, but is able to follow topical trajectories in the conversation that may stray from the guide when they feel it is appropriate.

Benefits:

• Many researchers like to use semi-structured interviews because questions can be prepared ahead of time. This allows the interviewer to be prepared and appear competent during the interview.
• Semi-structured interviews also allow informants the freedom to express their views in their own terms.
• Semi-structured interviews can provide reliable, comparable qualitative data.

3. Unstructured Interviews

Characteristics of Unstructured Interviews:

• The interviewer and respondents engage in a formal interview in that they have a scheduled time to sit and speak with each other, and both parties recognize this to be an interview.
• The interviewer has a clear plan in mind regarding the focus and goal of the interview. This guides the discussion.
• There is not a structured interview guide. Instead, the interviewer builds rapport with respondents, getting respondents to open-up and express themselves in their own way.
• Questions tend to be open-ended and express little control over informants’ responses.
• Ethnographic, in-depth interviews are unstructured. Fontana and Frey (1994) identify three types of in depth, ethnographic unstructured interviews: oral history, creative interviews and postmodern interviews.

4. Informal Interviews

Characteristics of Informal Interviews:

• The interviewer talks with people in the field without use of a structured interview guide of any kind.
• The researcher tries to remember his or her conversations with informants, and uses jottings or brief notes taken in the field to help in the recall and writing of notes from experiences in the field.
• Informal interviewing goes hand-in-hand with participant observation.
• While in the field as an observer, informal interviews are casual conversations one might have with the people they are observing.

Benefits

• Interviews can be done informally and ‘on the fly,’ and therefore do not require scheduling time with respondents. In fact, respondents may just see this as ‘conversation.’
• Informal interviews may foster ‘low pressure’ interactions and allow respondents to speak more freely and openly.
• Informal interviewing can be helpful in building rapport with respondents and in gaining their trust, as well as their understanding of a topic, situation, setting, etc.
• Informal interviews, like unstructured interviews, are an essential part of gaining an understanding of a setting and its members’ ways of seeing things.
• Informal interviews can provide the foundation for developing and conducting more structured interviews.

How to be a good interviewer

Effective Interviewing

• • Must have good rapport, communication, and listening skills
  • Must be flexible and adaptable
  • Must be highly organized
  • Must have high attention to detail
  • Must have good recall
  • Must have good decision-making ability
  • Must be able to resolve conflicting information and evidence
  • Asks clear, understandable questions
  • Asks one question at a time
  • Uses words that are sensitive to the respondent’s context and world view
  • Uses illustrative examples if needed
  • Gives clues as to how the interview is going, providing reinforcement, praise, words of thanks and support, etc.
  • Knows what it is they want to find out
  • Asks the right questions to obtain the desired information
  • Gives appropriate verbal and nonverbal feedback