Best Practices in Interviewing-Qualitative Research

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Interviewing Techniques Part Two Program Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] FEMALE SPEAKER: We have now observed one interview. Let's see how the next interview compares with the first.

Oh, hi, Laura. Glad to meet you.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Pleased to meet you too.

FEMALE SPEAKER: I'm Linda.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Hi.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Please have a seat. Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Your participation in this educational project on workplace morale for teachers is really important as a study. It will help us understand more about how to support teachers, and ultimately help the student achievement and student outcomes.

We'll be interviewing yourself and about 10 other teachers, so we'll have all this information that will contribute to the project. Now, I know you've read about the project and how we're conducting it, but I'd just like to review a few items with you. First of all right, as you know, your participation is totally voluntary.

So if I ask you a question that you don't want to answer, or if you need to stop the interview at any time, just let me know. OK?

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Also, as you know, I'll be audio taping the interview, and also be taking some notes. When we finish the interview, I'll be giving you a transcript of the audio tape and sharing my notes with you, so you can look at them, review them, make any corrections that you see need to be made. Make sure that we really capture what it is you want to say.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Great.

FEMALE SPEAKER: This study may be published, and in publication, we won't use any of your names. Yourself or any of the other teachers. Even if we use direct quotes, we'll use pseudonyms. And it also might be presented in conferences and professional meetings.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Do you have any questions?

FEMALE SPEAKER: No.

FEMALE SPEAKER: As you know, we've set aside about 30 minutes for the interview. And that seems to be OK for you?

FEMALE SPEAKER: That will be OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. We won't go beyond that time unless you wish to do so.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Audio taping is still fine?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes, that's fine.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK, ready to go?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Let's start, then. Laura, what does workplace morale mean to you?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Workplace morale, I would say basically means that it's a fun place to work. That it's a place where you are looking forward to getting up and going to every day, and that there's a nice people there that you enjoy working with.

FEMALE SPEAKER: What makes it fun?

FEMALE SPEAKER: I would say the idea that you can try out new ideas, that your colleagues support you. That there's a sense of friendship, camaraderie, flexibility on the part of the supervisor. And support. Just feeling supported, I'd say.

FEMALE SPEAKER: So support actually makes you enjoy the work.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.

FEMALE SPEAKER: I'd like to hear some stories about workplace morale.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: And if you could tell me a story that might have enhanced workplace morale, and one that de-enhanced it, without naming any real names, that would be really helpful to me. do you have some stories like that?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah. I think I'll start with the one that you called de-enhanced. At a school I worked at before, there was a principal who, he just didn't give us the flexibility to try out new ideas. I had a program I had my heart set on starting.

I spent so much time on it, and I really felt like it would help solve some of the problems and difficulties that kids were having. It was an after school program, and I just thought it would just be so-- the creativity and the critical thinking involved would just really help the kids. And he just said no way. He squashed the whole idea.

And I felt bad because I felt like I had nowhere to go. I couldn't even-- every I tried to bring it up, to the point that he said just please don't bring this up to me again. Stick to the basics. That's what you were hired for. And I was completely deflated after that. So that didn't make me feel very good about my job.

FEMALE SPEAKER: After that, did you propose any other new programs?

FEMALE SPEAKER: No. I knew it wouldn't work out. But I had other times, and it was because I other times where little things, he would just squash. And that was just sort of like the icing on the cake. And I knew that there was nothing else I could do at that point.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Had you shared this idea with any of your colleagues?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. They liked the idea, and then they told me about times the same thing happened to them. We were all very frustrated.

And it got to the point that we were just complaining to each other. And that didn't help, because after complaining, and just that negative talk, at least for me, sort of makes me feel even worse. We were trying to support each other, but that wasn't helpful.

FEMALE SPEAKER: When you say that you're open to constructive critique, I'm interpreting that to mean that you don't need to be told everything you do is right and good.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Right. Right, like for instance, there's guidelines. We need to be told that we're going to keep in those guidelines. But it's all in the way you do it, the way it's presented.

FEMALE SPEAKER: So my understanding is pretty much on target of what you're saying?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Mm-hm.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. As we think about the responsibility for workplace morale, we've talked about the employees are the teachers, and the supervisors are the principals. But typically in education, does the community at large have any role in it? And what

might be the relative roles of those three groups, the supervisor, the teachers, and the community at large?

FEMALE SPEAKER: I would say the community at large, the only thing I can think about is parents as another group that affects are workplace morale, in terms of if they're too negative, if they're not open, if they're not supportive and helpful, that makes our job harder. And especially if they're not supportive if we have new ideas or new programs.

So they're an important piece. And then the colleagues are also important, very important in terms of that support. But if I were to put it in rank order, I would say for teachers, the principle's most important. The colleagues second, and then parents third. Even though they're all important, that's how I would rank them.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Could we go back to an earlier question a little bit? Do you believe that you've given me enough information, or all the information you want about a positive and a negative experience?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Oh, yeah. I'm glad you mentioned that because the situation I'm in now is like night and day.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Comparing to the other one. We really have a collegial atmosphere. It all starts with a program. This principal said to us, and it was his idea. He said, I want each of you teachers, whatever your interests are, to develop a program that's going to enhance student learning, student critical thinking, and student creativity.

And he left it open to come up with what we wanted to. And he said, I want you to meet every week, provide each other support and feedback. I'll be at these meetings, and we'll help each other and we'll brainstorm. Because he really believed that that's going to really help things. And for me, I just felt like I was so thrilled, based on my other experience.

I thought, this is wonderful. So I developed a media literacy and documentary producing program for the kids in my class. And other teachers did totally different things. And we meet every week, and we talk about it. And we give each other really helpful feedback. And it's become just this great-- It's really enhanced our interest.

And we're interested in each other. We care. We give each other good feedback. I'm friends with some of the teachers now that I didn't hardly know, just because of the support. And the principal's there. He reigns us in when he needs to do. And we can handle it, because we know we have his support. We know he's just sticking to the guidelines that are there.

And if we're going too far, he'll help us brainstorm for a way to work around it, or address it so that it's appropriate. And I'm just really thrilled. And the interesting thing is,

it is more work. But we're able to really make changes, and we can see every day in that classroom, we see it with the kids. We see it on their faces.

And then we see it, I see it in their assignments and grades going up. And struggling kids doing better because they're excited about school. And we're starting to bring in pieces of each other's programs. All these programs are quite different, and it's just been wonderful. It's still in process, but so far everything is completely good.

And I think part of it is that it's a good principal, but all of us as teachers at this particular school just jumped in. And we're ready, we're open and ready to try it out, and it's been working really well. So I'm happy.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Laura, I want to respect your time, and I notice we're at 30 minutes.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Oh, we are? OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah, already.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Wow.

FEMALE SPEAKER: I do have one more question, but time's up, so I'd like to know if you'd like to stay or go?

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK, well I was going to go, but I have to say I'm really enjoying this. I don't mind answering another question.

FEMALE SPEAKER: You sure?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Go right ahead. I'd like to.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. All right. I'd like to know some of your ideas on how a school might ensure a positive workplace morale.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, I guess a typical school that aren't doing sort of these unusual motivating programs, one simple thing they can do is just more social occasions for the teachers. More opportunities for teachers to get to know each other on a social level.

Because I've been at schools where I only have one or two teacher friends that are my close friends at the school. And don't really know the others. And I feel, it can be a bit isolating. And just to be able to talk and to be able to share experiences and ideas, and I think I could start with just social parties. A little after school get together hour.

Just to, informally. I think that would help. I think that would be a simple way to help, to be able to support each other. And then I guess the key thing is a supervisor who sort of

makes it a point to be flexible, and trusting, and supportive. I think that's a key element, and that's going to affect everything.

FEMALE SPEAKER: If you had to, like, say three or five words, really key in terms of this area, what would you say?

FEMALE SPEAKER: Respect, support, and openness.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Laura, is there anything else you would like to share with me on this topic that I've not asked you about, or that you would like to have an opportunity to say?

FEMALE SPEAKER: No, I can't think of anything else. I think we've covered everything on this topic.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, thank you so much. And as I said, I'll be sending you a copy of the transcript, and also my notes. If you see any corrections, or anything that I've missed please, do let me know.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Thank you so much, Laura.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Thanks.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Bye.

FEMALE SPEAKER: Have a good class.

FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.

FEMALE SPEAKER: You now have observed two interviews. As a researcher doing qualitative studies, you need to carefully plan for the time it takes for you to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data. It can be quite a bit of time. Estimate for yourself, for example, how much time it would take to collect data for 10 audio taped, 40 minute interviews.

As you estimate the time, plan for contacting and scheduling the interviews, travel time, conducting the actual interview, and transcribing the interview. That estimate feeds into your feasibility planning for the study. It is important for you in order to allocate adequate resources to fulfill your research goals. You have observed various qualities of interviewing.

Now imagine yourself as an interviewer. What would your body language be like? How would you establish rapport? What about the phrasing of your questions? How would you phrase questions to draw the participant into dialogue? In order to practice that, you might consider a question and write it three, four, five different ways.

Then evaluate the phrasings in order to see which would be most effective. You might even try them out with some folks. As an interviewer, you are a scientist and an artist. As a scientist, you must use strong and rigorous research designs and procedures.

As an artist, you are painting a relationship to establish comfort with your participant so that the participant can contribute as much as possible to the study. Practice your science and art by designing and conducting interviews. Invite people to observe those interviews and give you feedback.

Participate yourself as an interviewee, and observe others conducting interviews. One way to do that is to observe and critique interviews conducted on news programs. Study, observation, and practice will develop you as a skilled interviewer.