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Chapter8-QualitativeInterviewing.pptQualitative Interviewing
Chapter 8
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Introduction
Qualitative interview: an interaction between an interviewer and a respondent where the interviewer has a general plan of inquiry, including topics to be covered
The interviewer might not have a specific set of questions to be asked in a particular order
Can be thought of as a purposeful conversation.
Allows researchers to study more complex processes or the “hows” involving human perspective
Topics Appropriate to Qualitative Interviewing
Qualitative interviews can be the sole way of gathering data in criminal justice studies
Allows the research to understand the subjects’ perspectives
Can gather first hand accounts of their impressions and their lived experience.
Can also be used to understand how people feel about their roles and identities
Key Features of Qualitative Interviewing
Richness, meaning, and shared cultural views
Thick descriptions that reveal meaning of actions in addition to describing actions
Critical realist approach and qualitative interviewing
Critical realist perspective: each perspective contributes to some reality of behavior
Platform for creating questions
Before creating questions, you need to figure out who you will interview and the depth of your questions
Different Kinds of Qualitative Interviews
Interview schedule: the structure of the interview that may have predetermined questions or topical areas to be discussed
Structured interview: consists of predetermined questions and answer sets
Semi-structured interview: have standardized questions but allows the interviewer to explore themes that emerge during the interview
Unstructured interview: are the most open style interviewing; provides the most breadth, depth and natural interaction with participants
Focus Group Interviews
Focus group: 6-12 people brought together to engage in guided group discussion of some topic
Used to generate hypotheses, or combined with other types of data gathering such as participant observation
Can show how opinions are produced, expressed, and exchanged in everyday life
Can be either natural groups or artificial groups
Natural groups have an existing connection
Artificial groups are made up of individuals selected according to some criteria and are brought together for research purposes
Designing Qualitative Interview Questions
Must decide what order to tell the story
A diachronic delivery of material starts at the beginning and progresses chronologically.
A synchronic framework does not depend on time
Probes
Prompt participants to elaborate on responses by filling in more detail and depth.
It is important to have built in prompts in case you have quiet respondents
You can use an attention probe (e.g., lean in), a continuation probe (e.g., nod), clarification probe (e.g., ask the respondent to clarify), or follow-up questions
Gaining Access to Participants 1
Establish your role to determine if you are an insider or outsider
Insider/outsider status: your level of insiderness depending on how close you are to a group
To gain access to a formal organization, you will need identify yourself as a researcher and make a formal request and receive formal approval
Gaining Access to Participants 2
Best to use a four step process: sponsor, letter, phone call, and meeting
To gain access to informal subcultures, researchers can use a sponsor or hang out where subjects hang out
Compensation might be necessary to encourage participation
Example: Gaining Access to an Informal Subculture
- Sudhir Venkatesh conducted qualitative research on a gang in Chicago. He gained access to the gang by visiting a housing project where he befriended a gang leader named JT. Through his friendship with JT, Sudhir gained access to the gang and others living in the project. For seven years, he studied the criminal activities in the project and the crack-selling activities of the gang. His research is presented in his book Gang Leader for a Day.
Conducting Qualitative Interviews
Qualitative interviews can be in-person, on the phone, online, or a survey
Face-to-face are most common
Reflexivity: refers to your subjectivity and the meaning you give to information
During interviews you will need to develop a rapport with respondents
Can be done through informal conversations or finding something you and the respondent have in common
Rapport 1
Rapport: how you connect with subjects
Influenced by insider/outsider status
Can do a number of things to maintain rapport once an interview begins
Converse
Listen
Pay attention to meaning
Probe
Persist
Rapport 2
Play innocent
Pay attention to interview length
Word questions clearly
Sequence your moves
Be candid
Show respect
End on a positive note
Conducting Focus Group Interviews
Must decide whether to have a natural or artificial group, what the physical arrangement of the group should be, and the appropriate length of the interview
Need to be aware of groupthink and dominant group members
If you are gathering data on a sensitive topic, you must realize that participants can be upset by having to share such information and that you cannot ensure confidentiality
Recording Data 1
After recording information, researchers must transcribe the dialogue verbatim
After returning from interviews, you must write up field notes no later than the morning after
Memoing: involves writing about your research process and is important to recognize subjectivity
Recording Data 2
Operational, coding and analytic are three types of memos
Operational memos are steps that you took in the research process
Coding memos allow you to document how you coded data
Analytic memos provide ways to explore relationships in the data
Data Analysis and Making Claims
Data is managed through tables, charts and other visual displays
Data reduction involves putting aside information that seems irrelevant
Thinking units: simple framework for making sense of all the stories that emerge
Possible thinking units: meanings, practices, episodes, encounters, roles, relationships, groups, organizations, settlements, social worlds and lifestyles
Sensitizing concepts: general references and guides about what you are looking for
Grounded Theory
- Grounded theory: stems from an analysis of patterns, themes, and common categories discovered in data
- Combines a naturalist approach with a positivist concern for a systematic set of procedures
- Theoretical sampling might be used to confirm themes that are observed
- Theoretical saturation occurs when you reach the point when additional interviewing will not yield new results
Identify Codes and Themes
- Coding information from interviews assigns units of meaning to data
- Involves the organization of raw data into conceptual categories
- Often involves lower-level concepts and higher-level concepts
- Themes: higher-level concepts which include a group of lower level concepts that are usually produced from open coding
Quality and Rigor in Analyzing Qualitative Interviewing
To enhance the quality of qualitative analysis, researchers should have an established audit trail
Audit trail: extensive log of data
An important check is to look for negative cases that contradict the emerging themes
Also perform member checks where other researchers read the descriptions and verify the accuracy of the work
