qualitative interview
NO PLAGIARISM
FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS
ORIGINAL THOUGHTS ONLY
Guidelines for Qualitative Interview: Exploring Your Domain of Interest (60 points) Arrange an interview with someone whose work interests you regarding the domain(s) for your master’s studies and research – a colleague, a faculty member, a professional acquaintance. Domains can follow those of your vocational and research interests – for example, child welfare, substance abuse, mental health, etc. Plan for a one-hour, intensive, exploratory interview, not to last less than 45 minutes nor more than an hour and a half. Arrange to audio record this interview and be sure that you have the person’s consent for audio recording. Draft a list of four to six exploratory questions to get at understanding of the person’s research and/or professional experience in a domain that interests you – you can decide how to ask the questions and the person whom you interview can interpret your question in a variety of ways. Note: One question that all students must include in the interview is: How do you use research and evaluation in your social work practice? You may or may not end up asking all of your questions, and the person’s responses may lead you to ask different questions. Use the time to develop the interview as a special kind of conversation, listening and seeking to understand the person’s experience, perspective and reflections on the domain. Audio record this interview. (Do not video record the interview.) You will also want to jot down key terms and phrases during the interview, to note highlights and to note key words to guide you in conducting the interview. Immediately upon finishing the interview, make some notes to yourself about key words, phrases, and passages – these notes will help you focus in listening back to the interview and in summarizing it. Listen back to the interview all the way through. Do not transcribe the interview verbatim (unless you have reasons beyond the assignment to do so!) – to transcribe an hour long interview can take 4-6 hours. Rather, create a “log†of topics to organize your notes from the interview — identifying the flow of questions and answers but also indicating topics as they come up, highlighting important comments, key phrases and passages. You will want to transcribe selected statements as exact quotes (verbatim) – direct quotes for 3 to 5 points you feel are most important will be enough, so that you don’t spend too long on the process of listening back and annotating the recorded interview. The summary of the interview should include: Your name; a pseudonym (not the real name) for the respondent and his/her occupation; a brief reference to the setting in which the interview was conducted, your pre-prepared questions, and a description of the interview, its key points, 3-5 direct quotes, and what you learned about the domain. Conclude with your reflections on the interview. Areas to focus your reflection are the following: (a) the use of audio recording; (b) the interactions and dynamics between yourself and the person interviewed; (c) how you experienced audio recording the interview; (d) your analysis of the key points that arose in the interview; (e) how having the interview audio recorded affected your analysis of the interview; and (f) any comments about what the interview suggests for your on-going research or vocational plans, and any other observations you have. The description should be typed, 2-4 pages
