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UNSTRUCTURED AND SEMI STRUCTURED

INTERVIEWING

Fabr iz io Salvador

Professor of Operations Management, IE Business School

Adjunct Professor, MIT-Zaragoza Logistics Center

Founding Member, MIT Smart Customization Group

Ecole Suprieure des Sciences

Economiques et Commerciales de Tunis

Tunis, June 28, 2011


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UNSTRUCTURED TO STRUCTURED

Fabrizio Salvador

Informal interviewing:

the researcher just tries to remember conversationsheard through the day while being in the field

Informants do not have to realize that you arestudying them

You have to quick turn your impressions or sketches ofthese interviews into field notes


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Fabrizio Salvador

Informal interviewing:

the researcher asks questions based on a clear planthat s/he keeps constantly in mind, imposing minimalcontrol over the respondent

It is not chit-chat: both the researcher and informantare aware that they are not just engaging in a pleasantchat


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Fabrizio Salvador

Semi-structured interviewing:

They are based on an interview guide, i.e. a written listof questions and topics that need to be covered (in aparticular order?)

The interview guide may also include other instructionfor the interviewer

Particularly appropriate for one-shot data collectionprocesses, when you get only one chance to interview

someone; Unavoidable if you are relying on data collection teams

Recommendable for elite interviewing, when yourinformants are accustomed to an efficient use of time


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Fabrizio Salvador

Structured interviewing:

People are asked to respond to as nearlyidentical a set of stimuli as possible

It is basically questionnaire-based reserach

It i

s a totally different type of interviewing, that

does not belong to qualitative methods!!!!!


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GETTING ACCESS

Fabrizio Salvador

Assure people of anonymity and confidentiality

Share interview protocol, at least the essential pointsyou intend to discuss

Be transparent about your purposes

Anticipate possible anxieties of the informant Sell your research topic and show genuine interest for

what the informant can tell you about it

Be careful of relying on third parties to get access to

your informant

Be aware of the social contract implied


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ON THE RESEARCH SITE

Fabrizio Salvador

Try to establish an emphatic relation with theinformant

Briefly recap the goal of the study and the keypoints you want to discuss in the interview

Re-confirm the agreement relative to the durationof the interview

Better if you are in two interviewers

Be flexible relative to the site of the interview butbe aware of noise


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WHILE INTERVIEWING

Fabrizio Salvador

Listen more, talk less

Make sure you are really understanding

Make sure that the level of detail is the right one

Make sure you are not hearing the outer voice ofyour informant

Be aware both of the processand of the substance (it

is like teaching somehow). Ask questions when you do not understand


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WHILE INTERVIEWING

Fabrizio Salvador

Do not interrupt

The informant: write down your further questions

Do not deviate continuously from the flow of theinterview

If the participant appears to be intimidated by you(deferenceeffect)

Ask participants to talk as if you were somewhere else

Tolerate silence (silent probe)


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WHILE INTERVIEWING

Fabrizio Salvador

If the participants tries unsuccessfully to theorize or is not providing

meaningful information (expectancy effect)

Ask to tell a story

Keep participants focused

Managers always lead you are the one who is incharge

Ask concrete details when people are too vague

Do not take the ebbs and flows of interviewing too personally!!!


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WHILE INTERVIEWING

Fabrizio Salvador

Share experienceson occasions

Ask participants to reconstruct, not to remember

Avoid reinforcing your participants responese

Yesyes / Ahh-ha! / Right!

Explore laughter

Irony / fun / nervousness

Use your interview guide cautiously


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WHILE INTERVIEWING

Fabrizio Salvador

Echo probing

Repeat the last sentence said by the informantand ask to continue / elaborate

Long-question probing

Rely on longer, more articulated questions if you wantto explain complex topics you want to talk about

Probing-by-leading

Ask tough questions, highlight incongruence in whatthe informant is saying without being threatening!

Phased-assertion probing

Use what you know from other informants /sources to

get another informant to open


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CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

Fabrizio Salvador

Close the interview leaving the door open for further exploration

See if informants can refer you to other informants you were notaware of (snowballing)

Get notes scribbled by the informants

Ask for other archival data sources that could complement the

interview


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AFTER THE INTERVIEW

Fabrizio Salvador

Take notes on intriguing aspects / puzzles / new threadsor hypotheses that are opened by the interview

If you were interviewing with a partner, discuss togetheryour interpretation of the interview content, etc.

Have the interview transcribed Explain the importance of accurate transcription

Cross-check the transcripts for systematic errors or fill-in

If applicable, remember to send a feedback to theinformant containing the results of the study

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