Characteristics
Interviews are excellent techniques to collect rich, subjective data from respondents in a qualitative research. Therefore, they should be devoid of ambiguity, jargon, and tailored to achieve data saturation from a respondent. Several aspects make a good interview fit to be used to conduct a proper qualitative study in the field. A good interview should only be used if it is the best method of data collection, as decided by the researcher. If the researcher wants to collect subjective opinion from respondents concerning an identified phenomenon, they should use interviewing data collection ( Ravitch & Carl, 2021) .
Good Interview Guide
Additionally, a good interview should be aligned to the scope of the research and selected research methodology ( Rubin & Rubin, 2012) . The interviewer should have background information on the phenomenon under study, besides selecting a comfortable venue to conduct the interview. Further, the researcher should conduct a test interview to identify irrelevant questions that could compromise the quality and richness of data collected from respondents. The researcher could also use the test interview to identify jargon, inappropriate language, and insensitive information that may undermine the goals of data collection.
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Reflection/ Questions
Furthermore, a good interview should not be invasive, to avoid eliminating openness in the interviewee, which is essential for collecting excellent quality information. The interviewer should also design an interview guide and ensure to consider the power and cultural dimensions of the interviewee’s community in the questions designed ( McGrath, Palmgren, & Liljedahl, 2018) . For instance, for some cultures, it would be inappropriate to interview women alone for cultural or power dimension reasons and the interviewer should be aware of the same. The interviewer should also build a rapport with the interviewee to create a feeling of close proximity ( Yob & Brewer, n.d.) . For instance, the interviewer could write a brief summary of the interview questions and send them to the interviewee to give them an idea of what to expect on the actual day of the interview Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Lastly, the interview should be less talkative and more attentive during the interview, to encourage data saturation. The best approach for the interviewer would be to use the semi-structured interview questions and then remain silent as the interviewee answers them extensively.
References
McGrath, C., Palmgren, P. J., & Liljedahl, M. (2018). Twelve tips for conducting qualitative research interviews. Medical Teacher , 41 (9), 1002-1006. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159x.2018.1497149
Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological . SAGE Publications.
Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working towards a common good: An online university's perspective on social change.
